Paused in Prayer

By Greg Zambrano

Finding the time or honestly, even the desire to pray is at times hard to come by. We are sometimes caught up with life demands, and we may find it difficult to get prayer started and going.
Once prayer is finally initiated on our part, it is important not to get discouraged if you are interrupted. Not too long ago, I was in the adoration chapel with my children. One of them goes to the back, sits and opens up a book. The other one sits next to me while I kneel before the Blessed Sacrament.

After a few minutes in my prayer and contemplation, I was feeling really good, enjoying my time with the Lord. My child sitting next to me ask me if it is ok for her to read a book. Right away, my reaction was to get upset because I felt I was in an important phone call and the connection was cut off.

I looked at her and nodded yes. Afterwards, I tried to go back to that prayer, but it was not the same. It was similar to being woken up in the middle of a dream.
Not right away, but shortly after, I felt awful. I was acting the same way when people would stare or say awful things to me when my kids would act up in the middle of Mass.

I knew that I had done wrong by not giving my child the attention that she needed. Yes, it is a treasure to be able to find God and have the privilege to contemplate him in the Blessed Sacrament, but for some reason I thought to myself Mathew 9:13 where Jesus says, “I desire MERCY not sacrifice.”
Possibly, Jesus wanted to let me know that I already have a means to love him. By loving your family, loving your neighbor brings a greater joy to Jesus than many prayers, even though they are also necessary.