TWO REFLECTIONS ON PRAYER

Station of the Cross

 

"Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power."   (Ephesians  6:10)

 

The following are two daily reflections on the power of prayer based on this passage from the Letter to the Ephesians 6:10-20 :

 

Small seedlings draw on an amazing power to live and become trees, and can even emerge through concrete.  We too face things that will choke our growth, so we need the daily power of prayer to grow in and toward the light that is God.   Prayer is a reliance on God that we will be raised to grow through obstacles.   The smallest of living things have much to teach us about ourselves.  A good prayer for today would be to ask God to help us see and learn from the power of the small and the wisdom that is patience.   Growth takes time,  persistence, patience.   And, yes,  it moves vast things.

 

(This reflection is by Fr. James Stephen Behrens, OCSO and appears in the daily missalette  LIVING WITH CHRIST for October 30, 2014.)

 

When w pray, we arm ourselves against evil.   We ask God to protect us and help us resist our daily temptations.   We recognize our own weakness and draw strength and power from the Lord.   But no matter how much we know we need prayer,  we still have to be deliberate about it.

 

A dieter makes healthier choices when the refrigerator is full of fruits and vegetables.  We are more likely to pray when we build it into our lives.   I know I will pray if I set aside a few minutes at the same time every day instead of waiting for the mood to strike.   I will go to church if I plan the rest of my weekend around it.   I will read the Bible if it's on my bedside table.   These small acts make it easier to choose prayer when everyday demands threaten to crowd it out.

 

(This reflection is by Karla Manternach and appears in the daily devotional,  LIVING FAITH for October 30, 2014.)

 

 

 

 

a New Guest Facility

A new guest room at House of Prayer

With Br. Joe being transferred this summer,  the use of the 'Soap House' became a question for us to consider.

We have decided to make it available as another place where our guests can stay,
esp. if they are families.   The picture above shows the main room in the
house that is available and can sleep three.   There is a separate smaller
bedroom.   The building has a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and even a small
chapel.

 

 

 

 

PRAY TO KNOW THE LOVE OF JESUS

 

St. Paul,  in his Letter to the Ephesians in 3:17-19, says:

 

"that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;  that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

 

Pray that you may know the love of Jesus in your life;   Fr. S. Joseph Krempa,  writing  in DAILY HOMILIES in a commentary on this Ephesian passage today, has an important consideration for us to bring to prayer daily:

 

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 in action,  we have the beginning of apostolate.   When we put it into structures,  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 administrative unit.

 

 

Several Prayer Quotes

In Luke's Gospel today, the disciples ask:  "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."   Jesus responded by teaching them the Lord's Prayer.   This prompted several reflections in various devotionals:

 

Prayer is an outburst from the heart;  it is a simple glance darted upward to heaven;  it is a cry of gratitude and of love in the midst of trial as in the midst of joy!   In a word,  it is something exalted, supernatural, which dilates the soul and unites it to God.  

 

That quote is from  St. Therese of Lisieux;  another woman from our own time, Amy Welborn, offers this comment in the LIVING FAITH's meditation for today...

 

 

We bring our whole lives to prayer, every time we place ourselves in the Lord's presence.   No matter what our specific needs,  Jesus teaches us how to begin and orient ourselves:   Honor God first, acknowledge his priority in our lives, then just ask for what we need to live in gratitude. 

 

LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY!

 

 

    

HAPPY FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS

(picture taken at Transitus)

 

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI = patron of ecology

 

2014 marks the 35th anniversary of when St. Francis was named the PATRON OF ECOLOGY by Pope John Paul II in 1979.  

 

As we wish you a BLESSED FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS this year,  we share with you a few remarks from the TRANSITUS service we had here at our House of Prayer:

 

With Franciscans all over the world,  and with friends of St. Francis of Assisi,  we gather on the eve of his feast day to honor his name,   to hear stories about his life from people close to him,  to remember his death, and in a special way this year to honor the 35^th anniversary of when St. Francis of Assisi was named by Pope John Paul II in 1979 as the PATRON OF ECOLOGY.  

In the words of the Papal Declaration,  Pope John Paul II proclaimed:   "Among the holy and admirable men who have revered nature as a wonderful gift of God to the human race,   St. Francis of Assisi deserves special consideration.   For he,  in a special way, deeply sensed the universal works of the Creator and, filled with a certain divine spirit, sang that very beautiful "Canticle of the Creatures'.   Through them,   Brother Sun most powerful and Sister Moon and the stars of heaven,  he offered fitting praise, glory, honor, and all blessing to the most high,  all powerful, good Lord.

Pope John Paul II declared St. Francis to be the PATRON OF ECOLOGY,  telling us that this poor man of Assisi offers Christians an example of genuine and deep respect for the integrity of creation.   He indicated that it was his hope that the inspiration of St. Francis will help us to keep ever alive a sense of fraternity with all those good and beautiful things which Almighty God has created.  

In a commentary on this proclamation, an author tells us:  "St. Francis pushes the boundaries for us today to reconsider and broaden our understanding of the gospel question:   "Who is my neighbor?"   Because for Francis the concept of 'neighbor' included, not only the human race, but the whole of creation.