POWER OF PRAYER

A true story about the power of prayer!

 

Recently, the Gospel at our daily Eucharist here at the Prayer Fraternity was about Jesus blessing little children and saying that to enter the Kingdom of God, one must become like little children.

 

A retreatant here shared the following story from her ministry experience as a chaplain in a hospital where she worked with pre-mature babies:

 

"I walked into a hospital room to visit a mother.     Sitting on a loveseat in the room was a 4 year old girl.   The little girl took one look at me, and exclaimed:  'I know you!   I know you!'   

 

I was about to say:  'No honey, you can't possibly know me!'  when the mother spoke up and said to her little daughter:  'Sweetheart, Sister came into our room and prayed for you every day when you were a sick little (premature) baby here!' "

 

 

This story begs us to reflect upon how God works through us in prayer often when we are unaware.  It begs us to trust in the power of our prayer for people that we encounter in life.    What does the story say to you about the power of prayer?

 

 

 

 

 

A SUPERVISOR'S PRAYER

 

A SUPERVISOR'S PRAYER
                               ---  by John Luther

 

Dear Lord, please help me --

 

To accept human beings as they are --  not yearn for perfect creatures;

 

To recognize ability  --  and encourage it;

 

To understand shortcomings --   and make allowance for them;

 

To work patiently for improvement -- and not expect too much too quickly;

 

To appreciate what people do right -- not just criticize what they do wrong;

 

To be slow to anger and hard to discourage;

 

To have the hide of a elephant and the patience of Job;

 

In short, Lord, please help me be a better boss!

Prayer Quote from your Prayer Fraternity

From the book:  WITH OPEN HANDS  by Fr. Henri Nouwen

 

(We reach back 40 years -- this book was first printed in 1972 -- for this timeless quote from popular author, Fr. Henri Nouwen.)

 

"To pray means to open your hands before God.  It means slowly relaxing the tension which squeezes your hands together and accepting your existence with an increasing readiness, not as a possession to defend, but as a gift to receive.  Above all, therefore, prayer is a way of life which allows you to find a stillness in the midst of the world where you open your hands to God's promises, and find hope for yourself, your fellowman and the whole community in which you live.  In prayer, you encounter God in the soft breeze, in the distress and joy of your neighbor and in the loneliness of your own heart.

"Prayer leads you to see new paths and to hear new melodies in the air.  Prayer is the breath of your life which gives you freedom to go and stay where you wish and to find the many signs which point out the way to a new land.  Praying is not simply some necessary compartment in the daily schedule of a Christian or a source of support in time of need, nor is it restricted to Sunday morning or as a frame to surround mealtimes.  Praying is living.   A Benedictine monk living in India writes: 

 

"There are no part-time contemplatives, just as there are no part-time Christians, nor part-time men.  From the day that we begin to believe in Christ and acknowledge him as Lord, there is no moment -- awake, asleep, walking, sitting, working, learning, eating, playing that is not marked by God's hold on us, which is not lived in the name of Jesus in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

 

"Therefore, a life in prayer is a life with open hands where you are not ashamed of your weakness but realize that it is more perfect for a man to be led by the other than to seek to hold everything in his own hands.

 

"Only within this kind of life does a spoken prayer make sense.  A prayer in church, at table or in school is only a witness to what we want to make of our entire lives.  Such a prayer only recalls to mind that praying is living and it invites you to make this an ever-greater reality.  Thus there are as many ways to pray as there are moments in life.  Sometimes you seek out a quiet spot and you want to be alone, sometimes you look for a friend and you want to be together.  Sometimes you'd like a book or some music.  Sometimes you want to sing out with hundreds, sometimes only to whisper with a few.   Sometimes you want to say it with words, sometimes with a deep silence.

 

"In all these moments, you gradually make your life more a prayer and you open your hands to be led by God even to where you would rather not go."  (pages 154,157, 158)

ICE STORM COMES TO OZARKS

A STUDY IN CONTRASTS

 

This past week, the hills and hollers of the Ozarks where we live received a measure of the storm that has swept the nation, especially the Midwest, bringing ice and sleet and snow everywhere.   We were spared the real onslaught, receiving mostly about a 1/2 inch of ice covering everything followed by an inch of snow.   Nothing compared to others.

 

Our electricity held, our road opened rather quickly, and we were spared much of the wrath that many other people experienced.

 

In the two pictures above, we see the statue of Our Lady who graces our front steps.  In mid-August, she finds herself nestled between rose bushes, a love crepe myrtle bush, and a backdrop of pompous grass.   In early February, she finds herself ensnared in ice-laden pompous grass bending down to take a closer look at our Patroness, perhaps even showing a bit of veneration to her as they bend low.   

 

ASSUMPTION ABBEY FRUIT CAKE baking begins for 2011

PRAYER FRATERNITY HELPS IN FRUIT CAKE BUSINESS

 

 

This week of February 1st signals the start of the fruit cake enterprise at Assumption Abbey starting in earnest for the 2011 year.   For probably close to 20 years now, the Trappist monks at Assumption Abbey here in Ava, MO have been supporting themselves with a very successful fruitcake business.

 

Each year the monks set a target of roughly 25,000 cakes to be made and sold for the year.  To achieve that goal, from now till mid-December, roughly 45 weeks, the monks bake, decorate, box and store 125 cakes a day, 5 days a week.   Each cake is 2 lbs, made of traditional fruitcake ingredients, each injected with about an ounce of rum, glazed and decorated with pecans and cherries, wrapped and sealed in clingwrap, and then stored in tins for 2 months before they are ready to be sold.

 

In the picture above, you see Fr. Alberic,  who is one of the two bakers.   He is taking finished cakes out of the oven, which bakes all 125 at the same time.  

 

For most of the past year, one of the Franciscans here at the Prayer Fraternity has assisted each morning in the decorating phase of the business.   It gives help to the monks and also helps us in the support of our House of Prayer.

 

Cakes can be purchased on-line from the Abbey by going to their website at www.AssumptionAbbey.com and accessing the section where they talk about their fruitcake business.   It's also possible to order a cake over the phone by calling 417 - 683 - 5110.    They are really good; honest!