PRAYER

We share this wonderful reflection on Prayer by Fr. Austin Fleming;  you can sign on to his blog by going to A CONCORD PASTOR COMMENTS

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Sometimes, Lord, we think we don't know how to pray, we can't find the words to say, we wonder if we pray "the right way..." How did we become so misinformed about something so important, Lord? When did we begin to think of prayer as a rare gift? a specialized skill? an art we haven't mastered? How did we come to forget  that every thought, sigh, hope and cry,  every grunt and gasp and word of ours sounds in your heart as soon and as surely  as any saint's pure and perfect prayer?   Help us remember, Lord, that simply sitting in your presence, ... in silence... is a prayer whose eloquence delights you...   Our very desire to pray, Lord, is a sign you're already with us, nudging our hearts to trust that you're near: our wanting to pray is already a prayer... You invite us to voice our joys and hopes and to vent our hurts and sorrows though all of them known to you long before we even think to pray... Before infants have a word to say, they pray: their cooing, mumbling and crying all sputter forth their wordless pleas of wonder, hunger, fear and joy, of their desire to be held by those who hear in every sound they make the beauty of a prayer that has no words... Be mother and father to us, Lord, and hear every prayer we make - with or without words... Receive the prayers that sputter from our souls: prayers that have no words and prayers that have too many words; prayers we sob upon your breast and prayers we sing from happy hearts; prayers that rise from our confusion which, in wisdom, you completely understand... We offer you each thought, sigh, hope, cry and word of ours that pleads and pulses from within... Let the prayer of beating hearts be heard and held in your eternal heart and in your mercy, Lord, answer us, we pray: hear and answer every prayer we make - with words or without...     Subscribe to A Concord Pastor Comments

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St. Teresa of Avila: some thoughts on prayer

ON PRAYER 

 

If we can, we should occupy ourselves in looking upon Jesus who is looking at us;  keep him company;  talk with him;  pray to him;  humble ourselves before him;  have our delight in him....Anyone who can do this, though .. but a beginner in prayer, will derive great benefit from it,  for this kind of prayer brings many benefits:  at least, so my soul has found.

 

(from Teresa of Avila's  LIFE,  Chapter XIII,  P. 83) 

 

 

POPE FRANCIS ON 'PRAYER'

 

TALK, TALK, TALK ..... NO!

 

My experience is what I feel in front of the tabernacle, when I go in the evening to pray before the Lord.   Sometimes I nod off for a while;  this is true, for the strain of the day more or less makes you fall asleep, but he understands.   I feel great comfort when I think of the Lord looking at me.   We think we have to pray and talk, talk, talk.....No!   Let the Lord look at you.   When he looks at us,  he gives us strength and helps us to bear witness to him.

 

Reflection:   Take at least five minutes right now to be silent before God.

 

(This quote of Pope Francis came from a May 18, 2013 address of his.   It appears in a book entitled:  THROUGH THE YEAR WITH POPE FRANCIS:  daily reflections.  It is published by Our Sunday Visitor.)

 

 

GENERAL VISITOR HERE

 

(Fr. Francisco  &  Fr. Francis)

 

GENERAL VISITATOR HERE

 

Pictured above is Fr. Francisco O'Conaire, OFM along with Fr. Francis Wendling, OFM.   

 

Fr. Francisco is the General Visitator for the Province of St. John the Baptist, headquartered in Cincinnati, OH,  one of the sponsoring provinces for our Prayer Fraternity here.   He was here March 12-15  conducting his visitation of the friars and ministries of the province in preparation for their May 2014 Provincial Chapter. 

 

In preparation for these provincial chapters, where the 'office of provincial' is up for election, (every 6 years usually), our Franciscan General Curia in Rome appoints a friar from another province to serve as an 'official visitator' charged with conducting a review of the province in preparation for the upcoming chapter.   Fr. Francisco is from Ireland,  but had been serving as a missionary in the Central American province, and more recently working in several different offices in Rome.      We are grateful for his visit and report given to us and ask you to pray with us for him and his service to the Cincinnati province of St. John the Baptist.

 

 

PRAYER REFLECTION by Alice Camille

 

PRAYER ISN'T FOR SISSIES:

 

This reflection by Alice Camille appears in her Lenten book:  WORKING TOWARD SAINTHOOD:  Daily Reflections for Lent.  (2013 by Twenty-third Publications).    It is paired with today's readings for Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent about Esther's prayers to God on behalf of her Jewish people  (Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25) and  Matthew's Gospel passage encouraging us to Ask, Seek, and Find  (Mt 7:7-12).

 

 

Prayer isn't for sissies.   In the Bible,  when the heroes get down on their faces or up on their feet to pray, they gather all the chutzpah they can to tell God precisely what's on their minds.  So Abraham once dickered with God over the fate of Sodom.   So Moses climbed Mt. Sinai to meet his Maker and receive the Law.  So the boy Solomon asked for wisdom to rule.  So the prophets insisted God back up oracles with action.  So widows accosted prophets and demanded they make good on their promises.  In the gospels, the woman who grabs the hem of Jesus' clothes, the centurion who asks Jesus to order a healing without bothering to come under his roof, and the mother who begs Jesus to heal her non-Jewish daughter are all operating out of the same spiritual playbook.  If you want something from God, don't beat around the bush.  Say what you mean and go for it.

 

The three great female protagonists of the Old Testament -- Ruth, Judith, and Esther -- are all drawn as women desperate and determined enough to seize the day in very unladylike ways.  This makes for wonderful drama as Ruth secures a husband and future,   Judith vanquishes an enemy, and Esther saves a nation:  all in a day's work for these holy women!   It's not just about the drama, or these books wouldn't be in the Bible.  It's about whole-souled confidence in God, the kind that speaks and acts fearlessly.

 

By contrast, a lot of the praying we do in church is pretty tepid,  truth be told.  The words are pious and flowery.   They're doctrinally correct but technical and passionless.   They sound like they were written by a committee, and some of them are.  It's as if we're secretly afraid to ask for too much or to expect anything at all from God.  It's easier to hide behind formulas that dilute our intercessions down to nothing much.  Do we think God doesn't care, or that no one's really listening?

 

IDEA FOR THE DAY:   Pray like a biblical hero.  Tell God what's going on, how you feel, what you need.  Be encouraged by the example of Jesus, who asked forgiveness for his enemies, wondered if God had abandoned him, and still surrendered his spirit to God in the end.

 

 

 

One Year Anniversary for Pope Francis

 

On March 13, 2013, one year ago today, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, from Argentina, was announced to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square as the new pontiff, the new Shepherd of the Roman Catholic Church,  choosing the name:   POPE FRANCIS. 

 

We remember him prayerfully today asking God to continue to bless him with courage, wisdom, discernment, personal holiness, and all the other gifts of the Holy Spirit needed to serve well our Church and our world as the Holy Father.  

 

Bless him Lord!

 

 

LENTEN CONSIDERATIONS FOR PRAYER

 

As we approach Lent each year (today is the FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT 2014),  we always look for small ways to help us reflect on this holy season.   Back in 1988,  there was an article in LIGUORIAN magazine that had some considerations for Lent,  drawing upon modern day realities that are very familiar to us.  It's given here for your Lenten prayerful reflection:

 

 

If we were knives,  Lent would be a time to sharpen our cutting edges.

 

If we were cars, Lent would be a time for an oil change and a tune-up.

 

If we were swimming pools,  Lent would be a time to filter the dirt out of our water.

 

If we were gardens,  Lent would be a time to fertilize our soil and pull up our weeds.

 

If we were carpets,  Lent would be a time to get power-cleaned.

 

If we were VCR's,  Lent would be a time to clean our heads and adjust our tracking.

 

If we were computers,  Lent would be a time to overhaul our disk drive.

 

If we were highways,  Lent would be a time to repair our cracks and fill our potholes.

 

If we were a TV,  Lent would be a time to adjust our focus and do the fine tuning.

 

If we were silverware,  Lent would be a time to clean away the tarnish.

 

If we were batteries, Lent would be a time to get re-charged.

 

If we were seeds,  Lent would be a time to germinate and reach for the sun.

 

 

 

 

 

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER 2014

(art for the event by Farid Fadel)

 

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER

 

World Day of Prayer is held each year on the first Friday in March.   The day was the idea of Church Women United, an ecumenical Christian group of women who work for justice and peace.  Each year, a women's group from a different part of the world writes a prayer service for the day.   For World Day of Prayer 2014,  women from Egypt prepared the prayer service, with the theme:  "Streams in the Desert." 

 

Some of the background for the day and its theme this year is here for your reflection:

 

Egypt: A place where history flows across every location like the Nile River flows through its land.   A place where history speaks to us calling us to remember our past.    Egypt has been both a place of exile and a place of refuge.    It is a place where streams flow through desert lands bringing with them the fertile nutrients needed for plants, trees, and all forms of life to flourish.    However these streams are not only the physical rivers that we can dip our feet into.

 

In the 2014 service, we are invited to seek the streams of living water which Jesus offers.   We come to sit by a well in Samaria where a woman will meet Jesus and, in meeting him, will meet God.    It was at this well that she was offered the life giving waters that became "in her a spring of water welling up to eternal life."   It is in her meeting that we too are offered this living water.    Come, let us dive into those waters and see what may come of our encounter.

 

We are invited to think about our own lives and where we recognize streams in our own deserts;  places and moments where God is actively at work.   To reflect on times when we, like the Samaritan woman, have gone to the well looking for one thing and then discovered Christ offering us what we never expected.   We will come not only to learn what this spring of living water is,  but how we can,  like the Samaritan woman,  carry it back to our communities.   To see the transformation that can happen when we share our stories of encountering the living God.

So come, drink your fill of the waters that God has to offer.    "We no longer believe just because of what you said;   now we have heard for ourselves..."

 

 

PRAYERS FOR YOUR LENT

 

 

MAY YOUR LENT BE BLESSED!

     (our wish for this holy season for you)

 

Repent,  and believe in the Gospel.

 

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

 

(an Ash Wednesday reflection by Fr. Karl Rahner, SJ)

 

Dust -- truly a splendid symbol.   Dust,  this is the image of the commonplace.   There is always more than enough of it.   One fleck is as good as the next.  Dust is the image of anonymity:  one fleck is like the next, and all are nameless.   It is the symbol of indifference:   What does it matter whether it is this dust or that dust?   It is all the same.   Dust is the symbol of nothingness:  because it lies around so loosely, it is easily stirred up, it blows around blindly, is stepped upon and crushed -- and nobody notices.   It is a nothing that is just enough to be -- a nothing.  Dust is the symbol of coming to nothing:  it has no content,  no form,  no shape;  it blows away, the empty, indifferent, colorless, aimless, unstable booty of senseless change, to be found everywhere, and nowhere at home.   Truly, then, scripture is right.   We are dust.  We are always in the process of dying.  We are the beings who set our course for death, when we set out on life's journey, and steer for death, clearly and inexorably.   We are the only beings who know about this tendency to death.   We are dust! 

 

 

 

 

 

A MARCH SPIRITUALITY - this year at least

 

 

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR WINTER-Y BLUES?

 

(This reflection is by Fr. James Martin, SJ, and appeared in the February monthly missalette,  LIVING WITH CHRIST, under the title:  "A FEBRUARY SPIRITUALITY".   This year most of us in the middle and upper Midwest and the east coast can take these words to heart even into March;  let them lead us to prayer and to greater hope.   We added the parentheses in the reflection below.)

 

Maybe you live in a sunny clime, where the weather is delightful all year round, but for many of us -- me included -- February (now March, too) is probably the worst month of the year.   At least meteorologically.   In the northeastern United States, it means long, dreary days filled with snow, slush, and freezing rain.

 

This part of the Church's liturgical year can seem similarly bleak.   Christmas is long gone and Lent is not quite here (it'll be here this week).  In the middle of ordinary times things can seem a little too, well, ordinary.   Even dull.

 

MAKING FEBRUARY (MARCH) WORK

 

What's a believer to do?   First, you might take advantage of this time by deepening your spiritual life.  Being stuck inside might be an opportunity to do a bit more praying.   Cold weather and dark days are sometimes conducive to a more contemplative stance.   It's easier to pray indoors when you're not tempted by beautiful weather outside.   Can you see in this dreary time an invitation to spend more time with God in prayer?

 

Second,  if you are feeling low, or struggle with sadness, desolation, or even depression, you might remember that even in these dark times there is hope....In a few weeks (we hope) in the northern climes,  the snow will melt,  the temperatures will rise, flowers will spring out of what looked like dead earth, and all will be green again.   You trust in that, don't you?   Then trust that God can bring something new out of your life, no matter how dark, or dreary, or slushy it may seem.