Expressions of Prayer PDF

Expressions of Prayer “The more generous you are toward God, the more generous you will find that He is toward you.” - St. Ignatius of Loyola When should a person pray? - From the earliest times Christians have prayed at least in the morning, at meals, and in the evening. Someone who does...

Expressions of Prayer “The more generous you are toward God, the more generous you will find that He is toward you.” - St. Ignatius of Loyola When should a person pray? - From the earliest times Christians have prayed at least in the morning, at meals, and in the evening. Someone who does not pray regularly will soon not pray at all. Anyone who truly seeks Him will keep sending Him signals of His longing for His company and friendship. “At the end of the day, place everything into His hands, ask Him for forgiveness, and pray for peace for yourself and others. A great day–full of signs of life that reach God.” The Life of Prayer - Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment. But we tend to forget Him who is our life and our all. - But we cannot pray "at all times" if we do not pray at specific times, consciously willing it. These are the special times of Christian prayer, both in intensity and duration. “One should remember God more frequently than one breathes.” - St. Gregory Nazianzen Various Ways to Pray - All 3 ways of prayer presuppose recollecting one’s mind and heart. 1. Vocal Prayer - Through his Word, God speaks to man. By words, mental or vocal, our prayer takes flesh. Yet it is most important that the heart should be present to Him to whom we are speaking in prayer: “Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but on the fervor of our souls.” - St. John Chrysostom - prayer is lifting the heart to God - Jesus taught his disciples to pray with words - with the Our Father he left us the perfect vocal prayer as his testament to show how we should pray - we shouldn’t think pious thoughts, we should express what’s in the heart and offer it to God as complaint, petition, praise, and thanks - often it’s the great vocal prayers (Psalms, hymns of Sacred Scripture, Our Father, Hail Mary that direct us to the true substance of prayer and lead to a kind of free, interior prayer “Because it is external and so thoroughly human, vocal prayer is the form of prayer most readily accessible to groups. Even interior prayer, however, cannot neglect vocal prayer. Prayer is internalized to the extent that we become aware of him "to whom we speak;" Thus vocal prayer becomes an initial form of contemplative prayer. -St. Therese of the Child Jesus  2. Meditation - Latin - meditor = to practice, think over - Spiritual exercise practiced in various religions and cultures in which man is supposed to find his way to himself (and to God) - Rejects those practices that promise union with God or with the divine as the result of a particular technique of meditation - A quest - The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking - The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain - To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves - The book of life is opened - We pass from thoughts to reality - The movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them - Question of acting truthfully to come into the light: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” - Engages thought, imagination, emotion, desire - Necessary to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversation of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ - Tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ (Lectio Divina/the rosary) - But Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with Him - Experience intimacy with God and to find peace in his presence (undeserved gift of grace) The Essence of Meditation - Starts with a sacred text/image and explores the will, the signs, and the presence of God. - Open to what God wants to tell us through what we’ve read/seen What can Christian accomplish through meditation? - MEDITATION can be an important aid to faith that strengthens and matures the human person. Nevertheless, techniques of meditation that promise to bring about an experience of God, or even the soul’s union with God, are deceptive. On account of such false promises, many people believe that God has abandoned them just because they do not perceive Him. But God cannot be compelled to show up by particular methods. He communicates Himself to us whenever and however He wishes. “Much knowledge is not what satisfies the soul and gives it contentment, but rather interior meditation on things and savoring them.” - St. Ignatius of Loyola 3. Contemplation - Latin - contemplare = becoming absorbed in God’s presence in prayer - Contemplation (the interior, spiritual life) and action (the active life) are two sides of devotion to God. In Christianity the two belong inseparably together.  - Hearing the Word of God - Participates in the “Yes” of the Son become servant and the fiat of God’s lowly handmaid - Silence (symbol of the word to come/silent love, the voice of God) - Kindling that feeds the fire of love - The Father speaks to us His incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose - In this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus - Communion of love-bearing life for many Interior contemplative prayer - love, silence, listening, being in the presence of God - One needs time, resolve, and above all a pure heart - The humble, poor devotion of a creature that drops all masks, believe in love, and seeks God from the heart - The prayer of the heart and contemplation - The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart - One doesn’t undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter - One can’t always meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of health, work, or emotional state - The heart is the place of this quest and encounter in poverty and in faith - Oration mental “Contemplative prayer (oration mental) in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.” - St. Teresa of Avila Contemplative Prayer: Prayer of a Child of God - Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more. But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the Spirit in his heart, for everything is grace from God. Contemplative prayer is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son. Gaze of Faith - Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at Him and He looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars used to say to his holy cure (St. Jean Marie Vianney) about his prayer before the tabernacle. - This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart; the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of His truth and his compassion for all men. Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the "interior knowledge of our Lord," the more to love him and follow him. Union with Christ’s Prayer  - Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in His mystery. the mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts. The Sources of Prayer The Holy Spirit is the living water “welling up to eternal life” in the heart that prays. It is he who teaches us to accept it at its source: Christ. 1. The word of God - to use the words and events of the Bible for one’s own prayer “To be ignorant of Scripture is to be ignorant of Christ.” - St. Jerome - Psalms and the New Testament - Unity with other Christians and Christ 2. The Church’s Public Worship - The Holy Eucharist & The Liturgy of the Hours (Christian Prayer) Common prayer - In the Church’s public worship, in her Liturgy of the Hours and in Holy Mass, common prayers are recited that come from Sacred Scripture or from the Tradition of the Church. They unite the individual with the praying community of the Church. Christian prayer is not a private matter, but it is very personal. Personal prayer becomes purified, expands, and is strengthened when it regularly flows into the prayer of the whole Church. It is a great and beautiful sign when believers throughout the earth are united at the same time in the same prayers and thereby sing one hymn of praise to God. “You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised.... And man, so small a part of your creation, wants to praise you.... You yourself encourage him to delight in your praise, for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” - St. Augustine of Hippo The Liturgy: The Church’s Public Worship · The Holy Eucharist – mass; the highest form of prayer · The Liturgy of the Hours (Christian Prayer) – common prayer; to sanctify the day; started centuries before Jesus was born; hymns; communal dynamic of prayers; proper gestures; antiphonally (prayers and songs aren’t recited simultaneously, it goes alternately from one group to another); prayer during the day and night prayer; begins with an act of contrition and examination of conscience; to accompany us each day; being nourished by God; complete prayer that guides us throughout the day; recited that come from Sacred Scripture or from the Tradition of the Church; unite the individual with the praying community of the Church Christian prayer is not a private matter, but it is very personal. Personal prayer is strengthened when it regularly flows into the prayer of the whole Church. It is a great and beautiful sign when believers throughout the earth are united atsm. 3. The Theological Virtues Faith - the virtue by which we believe in God and in all that He has revealed to us - enters into liturgy by the narrow gate of faith - it is the face of the Lord that we seek and desire - his Word that we want to hear and keep - believing and seeking God Hope - the virtue by which we trust God will fulfill His promises and look forward to eternal life - to place our trust in God - teaches us to pray in hope - holding onto hope; hope that comes from God (despite our problems) Charity - the virtue by which we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves - love - isn’t transactional but done because of recognition of the worth - knowing God’s value in our lives - most important in the three theological values *All three are God’s gifts* § enters into an attitude of trusting faith § places all his hope in God Prayer in our present time - every encounter can become the occasion for a prayer - time is in the father’s hands; it is in the present that we encounter him, not yesterday nor tomorrow, but today: “O that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts.” - Someone who already seeks union with Jesus in the morning can be a blessing to the people he meets, even his opponents and enemies