MERRY CHRISTMAS

(Fr. Francis celebrating our Christmas Eve Eucharist)

From the friars and our friends here at the PRAYER FRATERNITY in Ava, MO, we send you and your loved ones a very MERRY CHRISTMAS -- may the Child Jesus, who is "the refulgence of God's glory,  the very imprint of God's being, who sustaIns all things by his mighty word, and has accomplished purification from sins,"   (Hebrews, chapter 1)  come into your life, your home, your community, and our world in ever new ways!   

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a MOST BLESSED NEW YEAR IN 2013! 

 

MARY - A MODEL OF PRAYER

(statue of Mary in front of friary)

AN ADVENT MODEL OF PRAYER -- MARY!

Mary is therefore a model of prayer for all Christians.  Prayer is getting in touch with reality, letting it speak to us, and incarnating the word which comes to us.   We let it happen in our lives.  Saying yes to God in  prayer .... means changing our lives in accordance with what we have heard.  It means engaging that word with our whole being, and letting it alter our existence.  For prayer is a dialogue between life and life,  between divine life and human life,  between the life of the Spirit and the life of the flesh.  Unless we enflesh the word of God and let it become incarnate in us, it cannot become real in the world.

(This reflection is from Mary in Luke's Gospel by Joseph Martos and Richard Rohr, OFM,  p.  4)

A BLESSED ADVENT

 

(friary chapter for this Advent time)

 

A BLESSED ADVENT SEASON

Before we get too much further into Advent, the friars here at the Interprovincial Prayer Fraternity wish you and yours a most BLESSED ADVENT;  keep us in prayer as we keep you.  

REFLECTION BY ST. AMBROSE

 

(statue of St. Francis in the friary)

 

Prayer is the wing by which the soul flies to heaven, and

meditation is the eye by which we see God.

(Yesterday was the feast of St. Ambrose; this is a prayer quote by him to ponder.)

 

SIMPLICITY IN YOUR PRAYER

(Charley's Hollow -- a stream flowing thru monastery property)

 

BRINGING SIMPLICITY INTO YOUR PRAYER

 

We have a principle in science called "Occam's Razor" that says if multiple theories explain a phenomenon such as the motion of the planets across the sky, the simplest theory is preferred.

 

In my spiritual life, I try to seek simplicity.  It's so easy to pile up prayer books and, now, podcasts, that my prayer time gets so busy I forget to just pray.   When I recognize that I've lost simplicity in prayer, I turn to a meditation that many spiritual teachers recommend.   In rhythm with my breathing, I start with, "Be still and know that I am God,"  then drop words off the end to "Be still and know that I am,"   "Be still and know," and "Be still."    Then add the last words back on.  In this way I am able to allow space in my mind and heart for God to reveal what my busy prayers hide from me.

 

(The above quote is by Aileen O'Donoghue and appears as a daily mediation for Dec. 4, 2012, in Living Faith,  www.livingfaith.com)  

PRAYER QUOTE

 

Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.

(This quote is by St. John Chrysostom)