Journey of the Heart / Jennifer Burger

Hospital visit reminds us that our prayers transform time and space

Sitting in the balcony section of the surgery waiting area at Community North Hospital in Indianapolis, I recently settled into a chair to pray a rosary.

My husband had just gone in for a procedure and my intentions were for those who had been and were praying for us.

As I was finishing my rosary, a shiny ribbon dangling from a helium balloon that was trapped beneath the atrium ceiling caught my eye—then I saw another.

I was curious about these “abandoned wishes.” I could not see the balloons from where I was sitting, but imagined them being imprinted with “Feel Better Soon!” or “It’s a Girl!” or some other message of consolation or congratulations.

It occurred to me that these balloons were not likely carelessly released nor were they “spent,” but remained perhaps for others to see and receive the blessing of the message?

Are not our prayers the same? Are our prayers ever spent or used up? There are no doubt numerous theological discourses on this, but I will continue to share from my own experience.

Since this was the second of two procedures for my husband (I had been in this same waiting area two months before), I recalled the many prayers that had been prayed for us then and that carried us through the healing and recovery.

Although we had called on our “prayer warriors” for this second round, the prayers that were prayed for us two months ago were not “used up,” but just as present as they were then! They had been held deep in our heart as they, and those who had prayed them, had become a part of us in a bond of love that is not easily broken. God not only answered our prayers, but used those prayers and people to expand our hearts to “love more.”

Prayer is the air that we breathe—or rather the breath of the Holy Spirit in our midst. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that prayer is “persevering in love” (#2742). It is God’s love that dwells within and around us—and is permanent.

Sitting in the hospital, I thought of the many prayers that are “collected” there: all the utterances of need, protection, healing, rejoicing, cries of despair and of gratitude—where God, bidden or unbidden, in his infinite love and mercy, meets those whose hearts are turned outward in expression from a place of deep love and who entrust and place their fears and hopes in the hands of the divine. This hung in the air, not oppressively so, but in an uplifting way, like the helium balloons that had gathered in the atrium as a reminder from God, saying “I am with you”—now and always.

Let us be open to how God wants to capture our attention with “what remains”—perhaps confetti or a rumpled Kleenex on the floor, a wedding or funeral program or even a Cheerio left in a pew. What prayers might have been prayed in these places?

May we become part of these prayers too, receiving blessings from them and lifting one another up, desiring the good and consolation of our sisters and brothers in Christ.

We all pray in different ways, but we can all pray. With or without words, our prayers are an outpouring of our heart, given to God, for the well-being of another, for our own needs or in praise or thanksgiving to God. The spirit by which our prayers come forth, which is love, transcends time and space and is embedded in our hearts.

This kind of prayer, by the grace of God, has the power to transform us and the world around us.

Let us pray!
 

(Jennifer Burger is program manager at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis and a member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. She is also a spiritual director.) †