GROWING PRAYER FOR A LIFETIME

(fall colors over monastery property)

PRAYER REFLECTION  by St.  Claude de la Colombiere

As I feel a great attraction toward prayer, I asked God, by Our Lady's intercession, to give me the grace to go on increasing in love of this holy exercise,  PRAYER, until my death.  It is the only means of purifying us,  of uniting us to God, and of allowing God to unite himself to us and be glorified in us.

We must pray to obtain the apostolic virtues, pray that we may use them to help others, and pray also that we may not lose them while serving others.  The counsel,  PRAY WITHOUT CEASING, seems sweet to me and in no way impossible.  It includes the practice of the presence of God, and with his help, I resolve to follow it.  We always have need of God, therefore, we must always pray.  The more we pray, the more we please him and the more we obtain.  I do not ask for consolation in prayer;  that God gives where he chooses;  I am not worthy of consolation and am too weak to bear it.

I ask God to give me a solid, simple gift of prayer which will glorify him and not make me vain.   When we are distracted during prayer and find the time long because of our impatience to pass on to something else,  it is good to say to youself:  My soul, are you tired of your God?  Are you not satisfied with him?  You possess him and do you seek for something else?  Where can you be better than in his company?  Where can you profit more?   I have experienced that this calms the mind and unites it with God.

(St. Claude de la Colombiere (died in 1682) was a French Jesuit priest and also the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.)

 

A PRAYER FOR AUTUMN DAYS

( friary grounds in Fall colors)

Before nature takes away our Fall beauty;  we'd love to share this Prayer for Autumn Days which is written by Sr. Joyce Rupp, OSM

 

A PRAYER FOR AUTUMN DAYS

 

God of the seasons, there is a time for everything; there is a time for dying and a time for rising.  We need your grace and courage to enter into the conversion process.

God of Autumn, the trees are saying their goodbyes to green, letting go of what has been.   We, too, have our moments of surrender, with all their insecurity and risk-taking.  Help us to let go.

God of fallen leaves that lay in colored patterns upon the ground, our lives have their own particular pattern of growth.   We need to see the connections.

God of misty days and harvest-moon nights, there is always the dimension of mystery and wonder in our lives, always the need to recognize your power-filled mystery.

 

God of harvest wagons and fields of ripened grain, there are many gifts of growth within the  season of surrender.  Harvest must be waited for in faith and hope.  Grant us patience when we do not see the blessings.

 

God of geese going South for another season, it is wisdom which enables us to know what needs to be left behind and what needs to be carried into the future.   We yearn for insight and vision.

 

God of graciousness, you believe in us, you enrich us, you entrust us with the freedom to choose life.   For all this we are grateful.

 

As we experience the season of Autumn, may we allow it to speak to us of necessary change and growth and of preparation for seasons that lie beyond the Winter.   Grant us an openness to the continuous process of letting go and moving on, which is part of our human condition.  We know that you are our faithful companion on this journey.  Your presence is blessing enough.  AMEN.

 

 

ST. PAUL'S PRAYER FOR THE READERS

 

A PRAYER FOR MY READERS

 

In preparation for this reflection,    read   Ephesians  3:  14-21

 

A footnote in the NAB reads:   "The Apostle Paul prays that those he is addressing may, like the rest of the church, deepen their understanding of God's plan of salvation in Christ.  It is a plan that affects the whole universe with the breadth and length and height and depth of God's love in Christ or the universe in all its dimensions.   The Apostle prays that they may perceive the redemptive love of Christ for them and be completely immersed in the fullness of God.   The prayer concludes with a doxology to God."

 

Fr. S. Joseph Krempa, in his Daily Homilies,  Ordinary Time,  Year 2,  on p. 211,  offers a wonderful further reflection for us to pray with:

 

"This is a magnificent passage from the Letter to the Ephesians.   Paul is referring to our personal experience of Jesus Christ.  This is as critical for us as it was for Paul.  When we put it into words, we have the beginning of doctrine.  When we put it into symbol, we have the beginning of liturgy.  When we put it into action, we have the beginning of apostolate.  When we put it into structure, we have the beginnings of a Christian community.  When we put it into buildings, we have the beginnings of cathedrals.  

 

Jesus Christ and our experience of His love are the molten core -- the magma -- of the Church.

 

Remove our personal experience of the Lord and each of these things can become an idol.   Doctrine become ideology;   liturgy becomes ceremony;  apostolate becomes empire-building;  and a parish becomes an adminstrative unit.

 

 

FROM WHAT BOOK WOULD JESUS HAVE PRAYED?

 

THE PRAYER BOOK OF JESUS

(The following reflection by Sr. Irene Nowell, OSB,  on what Jesus would have prayed from comes from the October issue of GIVE US THIS DAY,  a daily missalette published by Liturgical Press.  You can find out more about this publication by going to:  www.giveusthisday.org )

Did you realize we have in our possession the prayer book of Jesus?   Doesn't it make you eager to probe this valuable text?   The prayer book Jesus used throughout his life is the book of Psalms.  Even as he was dying, Jesus' final prayers were from the psalms.  What is this book, what are these prayers that have lasted three millennia?  What can these psalms teach us about how to pray?

The psalms teach us, first of all, that our own story is significant.   Some of the longest psalms -- 78, 105,  106 -- tell Israel's history.  But they don't only tell the story;  they pray the story, asking for forgiveness and praising God for lasting gifts.   We too can learn to pray our story.  We realize we are like Israel.  Our story has its times of pain.  How can we learn to cry out our anguish?  Almost a third of the psalms are laments, asking God to heal us, to save us from evil, and simply to listen to our suffering.

Our story is not only a story of pain, however.   When we reflect on our blessings, all the good things God has given us, we long to give thanks to God.  Where can we find the words to adequately express our gratitude?   The psalms again give us the words: Ps 138:1;  Ps 8:2,10;  Ps. 148;  Ps 150:6.

The psalms are a wonderful gift to us.  We can let them soak into our bones by memorizing a verse each day and carrying it around with us.  We can pray our story, cry out our pain, and give unending thanks to God.  What a treasure they are!  No wonder Jesus prayed them!

 

 

PRAYER THOUGHTS FROM DESERT FATHER

(triptych in a small chapel)

 

 

ABBA NILUS TALKS ABOUT PRAYER

Everything you do in revenge against a brother (or sister) who has harmed you will come back to your mind at the time of prayer.

Prayer is the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger.

Prayer is a remedy against grief and depression.

Go, sell all that belongs to you and give it to the poor and taking up the cross, deny yourself;  in this way, you will be able to pray without distraction.

Whatever you have endured out of love of wisdom will bear fruit for you at the time of prayer.

If you want to pray properly, do not let yourself be upset or you will run in vain.

Do not be always wanting everything to turn out as you think it should, but rather as God pleases, then you will be undisturbed and thankful in your prayer.

 

 

(These sayings on prayer by Abba Nilus, appear in THE SAYINGS OF THE DESERT FATHERS, Cistercian Publications, revised edition 1984.)