Lest You Remain

3 You should devote a great deal of time to give thanks, you who left and part- ed from the world and came closer to the Lord. You do not have any obstacles, because you do not have to take care of many different things, which would inter- fere in a very diligent act of devout thanksgiving. ( Inspectio Cordis ) 4 “Then he went out to the mountain to pray” (Lk 6:12). Contemplate that the words of the King-Prophet may refer to Christ praying on the top of the mountain: “His foundation upon the holy mountains” (cf. Ps 87:1). In different ways, Christ sanctified different mountains: Golgotha with His passion and death; Tabor with the Transfiguration, and the one today, with prayer. He laid the foundations of the Church on this one when, after prayer, He named and chose twelve Apostles to sup- port Him. It is regrettable that you, overburdened with passions I suppose, cannot follow Jesus to the mountain. You cannot, I assume, devote yourself to sublime contempla- tion and raise your spirit. So at least with sorrow and longing, wait in the lowlands, when moved with mercy, He will come down to you, and will carry you along to the higher peaks of contemplation. ( Inspectio Cordis ) 5 Having thought about the place for your prayer, consider also the most suit- able time for it, night. Night is most suitable and it is conducive to prayer. At night, nobody can see you and you fulfill the instruction: “When you are praying, do not behave like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in synagogues or street cor- ners in order to be noticed” (Mt 6:5). Nobody disturbs you and you can achieve this: “If you are ready to believe that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer, it shall be done for you” (Mk 11:24). Realize that prayer is the first way to achieve great things. Has there been any- thing more important than the founding of the Church? Christ set to it, starting with prayer. Thus, Ambrose rightly admonishes: “You, Christian, have been given the idea, L EST Y OU R EMAIN W ITHOUT W ORK IN THE V INEYARD OF THE L ORD 166