When he arose from prayer and came to the disciples, he found them drowsy with sadness. And he said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation
The apostles had neglected the Lord's command. He had left them there, close to Him, to watch and pray so that they would not fall into temptation: but they still do not love enough, and they let themselves be overcome by sleep and weakness, abandoning Jesus in that moment of agony. Sleep, the image of human weakness, has allowed an evil sadness to take hold of them: decay, lack of fighting spirit, abandonment of the life of piety.
We will not fall into this situation if we keep alive the dialogue with God in every moment of prayer. Often we will have to turn to the Holy Gospels or to another book - like this one you are reading - to help us to channel this dialogue, to bring us closer to the Lord, in which nothing and no one can replace us. This is what many saints did: "Unless I had just received Communion," says St. Teresa, "I never dared to begin to pray without a book, for my soul feared so much to be without it in prayer, as if I were going to fight with many people. With this remedy, which was like a companion or shield in which I had to receive the blows of many thoughts, I was consoled "
We have to put the means to make this mental prayer with recollection. In the most suitable place according to our circumstances, whenever possible, before the Lord in the Tabernacle. And at the time we have determined in our ordinary plan of life. In prayer we will also be forewarned against distractions; this supposes, to a great extent, the mortification of memory and imagination, putting aside whatever prevents us from being attentive to our God. We must avoid having "the senses awake and the soul asleep "
If we fight resolutely against distractions, the Lord will make it easier for us to return to dialogue with him; moreover, the Guardian Angel has, among other things, the mission of interceding for us. The important thing is not to want to be distracted and not to be distracted voluntarily. Unintentional distractions, which come to us in spite of ourselves, and which we try to reject as soon as we are aware of them, do not detract from the benefit or merit of our prayer. The father and mother are not angry because a child who does not yet know how to speak babbles nonsense. God knows our weakness and is patient with us, but we must ask him: "grant us the spirit of prayer "
The Lord will be pleased if we make the resolution to improve in mental prayer every day of our life, even those days when it seems costly, difficult and arid, because "prayer is not a matter of speaking or feeling, but of loving. And we love by making the effort to try to say something to the Lord, even if we say nothing. If we do this, our whole life will be enriched and strengthened. Prayer is a very powerful beacon that gives light to better illuminate problems, to get to know people better and thus be able to help them on their journey towards Christ, to place in their true place those matters that concern us. Prayer leaves in the soul an atmosphere of serenity and peace that is transmitted to others. The joy it produces is a foretaste of the happiness of Heaven.
No person in this world has known how to treat Jesus like his Mother St. Mary, who spent long hours looking at him, talking to him, treating him with simplicity and veneration. If we go to Our Mother in Heaven, we will soon learn to speak with Jesus, full of trust, and to follow Him closely, closely united to His Cross.