Tag: Prayer

Praying with Saint Faustina

One of the recurrent themes in the Diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska is certainly prayer. But what is prayer? How can we define it? To begin with, prayer is a personal conversation with God. It implies two persons, the one who talks and the one who...

Your Servant is Listening

So, they went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day. (John 1:39) That must have been the best time of their whole life, the time spent “hanging out” with Jesus. This is the ideal picture of discipleship which the Gospel...

The Right Way to Pray?

Sitting in my brother’s kitchen a while back, he asked me “is there a right way to pray?” Before I could answer, he said, “no there isn’t.”  “It’s all good,” as a friend of my wife’s would say. CCD theology at its best. I am glad my brother gave me...

Loving God in Down-to-Earth Ways

In his apostolic letter concerning the call to holiness in today’s world, Gaudete et Exultate, written by Pope Francis on March 19, 2018, one is fascinated by the fact that the phrase our lives is found some nineteen times. This fact...

Remembering Our Many Mediators

If a family member or friend were to come to a believing Christian requesting his prayers, would he say, “Go pray directly to God. You don’t need me.”? Of course not! In charity, he would readily agree, and take to his knees!   While we certainly...

Contemplative Prayer & the Liturgy of the Hours

Although few make the time for contemplative prayer, it is essential if we are to grow closer to God. It is strongly recommended by St. Teresa of Avila and other spiritual writers. For me, contemplative prayer is allowing God to intervene in our...

Mental Prayer

In its discussion of prayer, the Catechism of the Catholic Church distinguishes between meditation and contemplation. Meditation is described as a quest, in which “The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to...

Praying Day and Night

Jesus teaches us of “The necessity (for them) to pray always without becoming weary.” Luke 18:1 Psychology 101 tells us that, in case of repeated failure, the desired outcome cannot be attained unless the stimulus is reinforced by some success. This...