A Stone’s Throw

Tom Thomas –

The phrase “A Stone’s Throw” is not used much these days.  I ask my college going daughter when we are driving together the other day, if she knows the meaning of this phrase.  She has an idea about what it means. This very phrase makes me pause when I come across it in the Gospels.  I am reflecting on the passion of our Lord Jesus as read out on Palm Sunday from the Gospel of Luke.  In Luke 22: 41,” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw and knelt down and prayed. “

I wonder about this phrase, and why the Lord had to be away from His beloved disciples and pray to the Father alone, in one of the greatest moments of anguish and despair He was facing, the inexorable steps needed to be taken for His Mission. And we read further in Luke 22:43, that “there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.”  The rest of the story we know, how He discerned that the cup could not be taken from Him, and how he surrendered to His Father’s Will.

Is this the secret then to discerning one’s Mission in Life?  Spending time with Him, alone and away from others, for clarity, especially in difficult moments?

Coming across this article by A W Tozer, The Saints Must Walk Alone, Tozer writes, “I believe that there are things that God wants to say to us which He cannot say in the presence of other people, just as there are things you say to your family or to your wife which you cannot say with others around. I believe that God wants to speak to us, and that He speaks more deeply and intimately and wonderfully when he can get our ear all by ourselves.”  It is a wonderful analogy and sets me thinking.

There are so many instances from the Bible too, where God spoke alone to those such as Moses (Ex 3: 1-12), Samuel (1 Samuel 3) and even to Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9). We are familiar with these episodes from the Bible.

What are the lessons we can draw from these great men of God, who could speak to Him and discern His unique mission in their lives.  Even looking at the lives of great Saints, we find Saints like St Francis of Assisi and St Ignatius of Loyola spent entire nights in prayer alone, conversing with Him regularly.  Maybe because of the strong foundations they laid, their Missions continue to thrive hundreds of years after their moving on from here.

In my secular life, I surely cannot find it possible to spend the entire night in prayer.  But can I spend an hour, or fractions of that, at least, in front of the Blessed Sacrament every day listening to Him?  If it was possible for the very busy St Mother Teresa and the Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen, could it not be possible for me to emulate their example.  Here is what they have to say on these practises:

“The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time that you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven….” Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa mentions that daily hour spent on Eucharistic Adoration for her congregation has not reduced the time spent on the Congregation’s mission towards the Poor but only enhanced it.

Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen mentions the extraordinary Graces he received in resolving to spend a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration every day, from the day of his ordination. He says, “The purpose of the Holy Hour is to encourage deep personal encounter with Christ. The holy and glorious God is constantly inviting us to come to Him, to hold converse with Him, to ask for such things as we need and to experience what a blessing there is in fellowship with Him.”

There is this busy Architect in my city.  He once shared with me that he makes it a practise to spend an hour of Eucharistic Adoration every day, no matter where he is.  I visit a Church that I normally do not visit for daily Mass last week due to a change in routine, when I stop by the Adoration Chapel for few minutes post Mass, I cannot help but notice, amongst the silent figures bowed in silent prayer and reverence in front of Him, this very architect.  He is walking his talk, and his always peaceful countenance in spite of work pressures reflect the strength he draws from this spiritual practise.

A recent challenging business situation, where a contract is terminated by the other party ahead of its normal time, brings in feelings of frustration and helplessness in me.  Should I fight this or accept this?  Ultimately the lesson of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane comes to me and I accept the situation after prayer before Him in silence and alone from everyone else.

The words from Fr Ron Ronheiser’s A Stone’s Throw Away from Everybody on this topic, ring in me, “And it is within that utter aloneness that Jesus has to continue to give himself over in trust, love, forgiveness, and faith. It’s easy to believe in love when we feel loved; to forgive others when they are gracious towards us; and to believe in God when we feel strongly God’s presence. The difficulty, the “test”, comes when human love and divine consolation collapse, when we find ourselves surrounded by misunderstanding, abandonment, distrust, hatred, and doubt, especially at our loneliest hour, just at that moment when life itself is eclipsing. How do we respond then?”

As we head into Passion Week, and the Tridium, I must learn from the great example of our Lord Jesus Christ, in going a stone’s throw away from everyone else, to be exclusively with Him, to gain clarity on my Life’s Mission amidst all the turmoil of life?

The great Saints spent one hour with Him every day, can I spend one hour with Him exclusively, at least once a week and not just on Maundy Thursday evening? Can I spend this time in love and conversation with Him and not as a forced religious practise?

Help me Lord to find you in silence and a stone’s throw away from everything dear to me in life.

“Your strength shall lie in silence” (Is 30:15)