When I think of prayer,
I think of the ones I pray often.
The Divine Office begins and ends my day.
The Our Father.
The Hail Mary.
The Glory Be.
The Rosary.
And those spontaneous cries to God in my need.
But one prayer I return to again and again is the Jesus Prayer:
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
It is simple.
It is steady.
It is the heartbeat of faith.
Today’s Gospel reminds me of its strength.
A blind man sat by the roadside on the way to Jericho, begging.
He could not see, but he could hear.
And when he learned that Jesus was passing by, he cried out:
“Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”
The crowd tried to silence him.
They rebuked him, told him to be quiet.
But he would not be quiet.
He kept calling out all the more.
And Jesus healed him, saying:
“Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.”
The Church gives us this same cry in the Jesus Prayer.
Short.
Simple.
Rhythmic.
Yet it carries the fullness of the Gospel.
To pray “Jesus” is to welcome him.
To invoke his presence.
To call him within us.
His name is not just a word.
It is power.
It is mercy.
It is love.
Like the blind man, we too are told to be silent.
The world rebukes us.
Our faith is mocked.
Our witness dismissed.
Our prayers ignored.
Christians are persecuted—sometimes openly, sometimes quietly—
but always with the pressure to stop calling on the name of Jesus.
Yet the heart knows better.
The heart knows that mercy is near.
The heart knows that Jesus is passing by.
And so we keep praying.
We keep calling.
We keep living as disciples, even when the world resists.
So let us take up this prayer:
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Or simply: “My Lord Jesus, help me.”
Let it become the rhythm of our day.
The cadence of our steps.
The song of our hearts.
And when the world tries to silence us,
let us pray all the more.
For to invoke the name of Jesus is to welcome mercy,
to welcome love,
to welcome the One who sees us, heals us, and calls us to follow him.
Your faith has saved you.
That is the promise.
That is the hope.
That is the witness we carry into a world that resists the Gospel.
Pray: The Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God
Have mercy on me,
A sinner.
Amen
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