Is Anybody Listening?

The National Catholic Reporter has an article today about some research which tries to correlate different types of liturgy with different sorts of brain activity.
(Our Brains Are Wired For Liturgy) It might be an interesting development in the study of the brain in general; much recent research into how and why we are wired is proving to undo years of previously held notions.

But the question which immediately springs to my mind is this: When we pray, how do we know anybody is listening? And can we track this function in the brain as well? Does conviction or belief or trust enter into the mix? Christians will always want to acknowledge the debt they owe to the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the gift of prayer. Prayer cannot originate from the brain of the one who is praying; it is always purely gift. Each of us may well experience prayer in different ways, a loving conversation with an attentive God, a call out into the night to a God who seems to be hidden in the depths of darkness, or something in between. But the impulse to pray never comes from within. It is a moment of grace.

Perhaps our brain patterns shift when we are infused with the gift of prayer, perhaps they shift when we engage in different forms of prayer. But in the end, whatever we may discover, it would be well to acknowledge the debt we owe to our Lord, and to his Church for the ability to pray. It would be a shame to reduce to brain patterns, or their lack thereof our engagement with liturgy.

We pray, if we are Christian, because God himself has initiated a conversation with us, and with that gift we are given the assurance that He is listening! Even if our brains contain from birth the latent pathways which will be used when we begin to pray, those pathways will be awakened at Baptism when prayer is offered as the door prize for each of us as we enter the church. Yes, our Lord, in his mercy can surely offer that gift before baptism to a soul seeking Him, but it is certainly offered with the sacrament of baptism, our cleansing and rebirth into his body. But whether before, during or after baptism, with the awakening of prayer comes the faith that God hears, and answers. Prayer is conversation both during the liturgy of the Mass and in private.

Pope John Paul II during a retreat posed this question : "Why do we pray?", and then he said "The answer is very simple: I pray because God exists. I know that God exists and this is why I pray." (The Way To Christ.)

Let the research go on, but please let us also remember that prayer can never be reduced to brain patterns. It is always inexplicably and wondrously a conversation with the divine, with our Lord himself.