How are all of you doing? It has been forty days since the tragedy of New York which now has the name of 9/11. Are you also asking, "How long will all of this last? ".

The Psalm today says, "Our help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth." It is only God who will give us what we need to get us through all of this.

How do we get this help from God? We need to pray constantly. How do we pray?

The Mass that we are celebrating is the most perfect prayer that we can offer to God. It is also the model of all of our prayer.

At Mass we come into the presence of God. Baptism puts us permanently into the presence of God. When we pray and when we don’t pray, we are before God. Our awareness of this makes our prayer of speaking to God and our prayer of working more deep.

At Mass we listen to God speaking to us. Baptism gives us the ability to hear God speak to us in our lives and in what happens to us. Prayer is not just speaking. Prayer is also listening to God.

At Mass we open our hands and hearts to receive God in the Eucharist. Baptism gives us the privilege to come to this table and receive God in Holy Communion. Prayer is just inviting God into our lives to do what only he can do.