“Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.”
“Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.” This prayer of the psalmist is made famous in the Christian tradition because it was uttered on the lips of Christ on the cross. But it is not just a prayer to be made in one’s passion but reveals a core aspect of our prayer in general: prayer is an act of humility and an act of trust. A theologian once wrote that the fact that humans have to pray reveals the depth of the spiritual poverty of our human nature. Every act of prayer is an act of humility for it is a recognition that we are not God and that we are in need of our good God for everything. Yesterday, our Gospel reminded us of how our external acts can easily fall prey to exalting us instead of God. Today, our readings reminds us that at the heart of our prayer is an act of humility and trust. Yet, in prayer too, we can be tempted to exalt ourselves instead of humbling ourselves and praying from a spirit of trust and total dependence and need upon God. Today, let us say the words of the Psalmist in our prayer and pray for the grace to embody ever deeper this spirit of humility, trust and dependence upon God in our prayer.