NO GREATER LOVE: MEDIATION OF PRAYER BY THE CHURCH

When we engage in mental prayer, we are listening to God “directly”. However, even this “direct” communication with God needs mediation. In the book, Prayer, theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar tells us about this mediation. In the Christian life the believer is never more an individual than in contemplative prayer. In the liturgy he is entirely a member of the community; all face toward the altar, toward God, and voice the same cry of thanksgiving, petition and worship. Even in private vocal prayer the believer uses the formulas, or at least the forms, of ecclesial prayer. But in contemplation, he is simply an open ear to the ever-new word of God. Here God is speaking to this person and no other; to this beggar at the Temple gate who receives some gift, this person who is spiritually blind and lame and is to be healed, this disciple, listening to the Master. He must be really ready and willing to be this particular individual; he must not take refuge behind the barricades of ecclesiastical anonymity for fear of this encounter. The whole glory of this prayer is that, here, the very same personal encounter is meant to take place as in the Lord’s earthly life. In holy scripture or some other grace-filled medium---it may be one of the Church’s prayers, the word and example of a saint or of any loving fellow human being, or nature itself, created with a view to Christ---we have a genuine mediation, just as, in the days of his flesh, the very air was the medium of communication between the mouth of the Son of Man and the ear of the person addressed.

We need to see that any communication with God requires mediation. Even those persons who heard the Sermon on the Mount, for example, needed the air as a mediator between themselves and the Lord. When we are truly praying, it is the Lord who is speaking to us just as he spoke to individuals and groups during His earthly life. Von Balthasar listed some of the various specific mediators in our prayer, but he also tells us what is common to all of them. Having said this, we must note that this medium is also ecclesial and constitutive of community. Grace, which enables man to be a hearer of the word, always operates in and through the community; grace is the love of the God-made-Man, who wishes to do nothing apart from his brothers and sisters. So, the community aspect is found at both poles, in the word of God and in the hearer, without interfering with the fullness of personality of either. It is present in the word of God, which can only be authentically uttered in the context of the ministering, officiating and governing function of the Bride of Christ, the Church; it can only be heard aright by the spiritual ear of the hearer, who can perceive it surely, clearly and with no possibility of error, provided he maintains contact and communion with the original hearer of the word---the infallible Church.

Our prayer, our listening to Christ, depends on the mediation of the Church. For example, although many use Scripture against the Church, what was Scripture and what was not Scripture among the many writings of New Testament times was decided by the Church. Jesus Christ warned us of false prophets (Mt 7:15, among other places in Scripture). The letters of St. Paul, St. Peter, St. John, and St. Jude also often warn us of false doctrines and false teachers. How does one know what “interpretations” of the Gospels are correct? This is one place (among many others) where we need the Church.

Von Balthasar teaches us: .........through the nuptial grace of the Incarnation, the Bride, the Church, is assured of a faithfulness which will hold for eternity, enabling it to mediate a correct hearing of the word to each individual (who is not privileged with this guarantee). In Matthew 16:18 we learn from Christ that the Church is His Church (and not our Church) and that the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. As Von Balthasar notes, this guarantee is given only to the Church and not to each individual. We need to beware of people who read Scripture as if they were the first one to ever read it. The Word of God is ever new, but we need the Church to distinguish between the Holy Spirit and other spirits.

In the Old Testament, the Word of God was given to individuals such as Moses and the prophets. However, it was not for them alone. They had to deliver it to the people, and that was quite a burden. Ultimately, the community decides which prophets were authentic and which were false. In New Testament times, things which were given to individuals were also meant for the entire Church. The Feast of Corpus Chrisit, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Miraculous Medal were given to the Church through St. Juliana, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and St. Catherine Laboure. Yet all of these came to us through the mediation of the Church.

What about the other “pole” of the Church’s mediation of the word, the hearer of the word? In the Old Covenant, the hearer of the Word of God as delivered by the prophets could either obey or disobey, say yes or no. In the New Covenant as delivered by Christ, more is required than just obeying commandments and laws. Christ wants “everything” from us but what “everything” means for each individual varies greatly, and it cannot be laid out in a set of instructions. Prayer is necessary for everyone to know what is personally required. However, their prayer must be mediated by the Church, and their obedience to God has to be within the Church. This means that their obedience is not just for themselves but for the Church. Hans Urs Von Balthasar tells us specifically the role of the individual’s prayer in the Church. The mystical (and ultimately Marian) element which distinguishes the Church of the New Covenant form the holy nation of the Old Covenant takes up the social aspect of “hearing the word” which is to be found in the latter and goes beyond it, to suggest that the genuine hearer actually shares, at the level of being, in the Church’s very nature as Bride and Womb of the Word. Whatever the contemplative perceives and understands in his solitary encounter with the word will be incorporated in the Church’s understanding. And whatever is greater, whatever exceeds his understanding and causes him to adore the received word and to respect its mystery, enters as a living reality into the Church’s attitude of worship, bringing forth fruit in others. This effect, however, unlike outward activity, cannot be observed and assessed, because its distribution is so extensive. Contemplatives are like vast underground rivers, at times causing springs to gush forth where least expected, or revealing their presence simply by the vegetation which is secretly nourished by them.

We must understand that our prayer is not only for us but also for the Church. Even if we have no call to preach or teach, our faithfulness or unfaithfulness affects the entire Church. Especially in our secularized society, which chooses to operate as if God does not exist, where we as Christians are pulled by a gravitational force away from God, we need prayer within the Church to resist this pull. God speaks to us through His Word, but we need to be constantly listening. This applies to the Pope, the hierarchy, the clergy, religious, and the laity. If any part of the Body of Christ fails to listen to the voice of God, the whole Body gets sick. May we always contribute to the health of the Body of Christ.

• Jim Nugent, CFP