IDEAS FOR PRAYER -- by Bishop Joseph Siegel
We all can claim that we are too busy to pray. The reality is that we are all too busy not to pray. If your parish is blessed to have an Adoration Chapel, it would be wonderful to visit it each day or even commit to making a Holy Hour each week.
You can make a "shrine" at home, a quiet corner where you can have a crucifix, an image of Our Lady and other saints to whom you have devotion, your Bible, rosary, and other prayer books. Make that your place of prayer.
If you are a morning person, try to get up a half hour early for your time with the Lord. If you are a night person, take some time when everyone else has gone to bed.
If you have trouble sitting quietly, then start with just five minutes and let the time grow. If we believe that prayer is as essential to our lives as eating and drinking, then we will find time for it.
Once we make the decision to consciously take more time with the Lord, we will be amazed how He will touch our lives, and we will feel his presence and influence throughout the day. He will help us to keep our priorities straight and remain focused on why we do all that we do.
Let's not forget to take time for the Lord and spend quality time in prayer -- individually, as a family, and of course, with your parish family at Sunday Mass. Then we will find ourselves truly refreshed and renewed, in body, mind, and spirit.
(These words by Bishop Siegel, Auxiliary Bishop from Joliet, IL, appeared in the Summer 2014 Catholic Forester magazine, p. 15.)
No comments:
Post a Comment