Where Heaven Meets Earth: The Prayer of the Heart

Voice over by Carol San San Lwin

1Kgs 8:22-23.27-30, Psalm: 83, Mk 7:1-13

Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

On this Memorial of Saint Scholastica, the twin sister of Saint Benedict and a model of contemplative life, the Scriptures present us with a profound question: Where do we truly encounter God? Is it in the majesty of sacred spaces and rituals, or somewhere more intimate? Through Solomon’s prayer and Christ’s correction, we are guided to the answer: God seeks not just our perfect observance, but the devotion of our hearts.

In the First Book of Kings, Solomon stands before the altar of the magnificent new Temple. His prayer is one of breathtaking humility and theological depth. He acknowledges, “If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built!” Solomon understands that God cannot be contained by human hands. Yet, in His merciful condescension, God promises to let His name dwell there, to hear the prayers offered in that place. “Listen from your heavenly dwelling,” Solomon pleads. This is the beautiful paradox: the transcendent God makes Himself accessible to His people.

This tension between divine transcendence and intimate accessibility reaches its crisis point in the Gospel. The Pharisees and scribes confront Jesus because His disciples eat without performing the ritual handwashings. They are concerned with the meticulous observance of human tradition. Jesus responds with searing clarity, quoting Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” He exposes how they invalidate God’s commandment—like honoring father and mother—by clinging to human tradition. They have perfected the external ritual but have lost the heart of the law: love.

Saint Scholastica, whose life was dedicated to prayer within the monastic tradition, embodies the resolution to this tension. The most famous story of her life illustrates this perfectly. She and her brother Benedict met once a year for spiritual conversation. On one occasion, sensing her death was near, she begged him to stay and talk through the night about the joys of heaven. Benedict, bound by his own rule, refused. Scholastica did not argue the tradition; she bowed her head and prayed with such fervent love that God sent a fierce storm, preventing Benedict from leaving. Benedict exclaimed, “God forgive you, sister! What have you done?” She replied, “I asked you, and you would not listen; so I asked my God, and He did listen.” Her prayer, flowing from a heart full of love for God and her brother, took precedence. As St. Gregory the Great who records this story concludes, “She could do more because she loved more.”

For us, the lesson is clear. God dwells in the temples of our hearts more than in buildings of stone. Our rituals, our prayers, and our traditions are lifeless if our hearts are far from Him. They are powerful when they express the authentic love and devotion within.

On this feast of Saint Scholastica, let us ask for her intercession. May she teach us to pray not just with our lips, but with our whole hearts. May our worship, in spirit and in truth, be the storm that heaven cannot ignore, drawing us ever closer to the God who is both infinitely beyond us and intimately near. Amen.

May God bless you all!