Reflections on Prayer (cont’d)
 
In a family circle, with spouse and children there are possibilities for prayer as well. As the Rosary priest Father Patrick Peyton, O.S.C. said, "the family who prays together, stays together!" I know of a family where they come together at a specified time and read from Holy Scripture or some other spiritual text and then the family will meditate silently on the subject of the reading for 20 minutes. Meditation is a different type of prayer than short prayers or the Rosary. People who wish to meditate usually read a passage of Scripture or some other spiritual text. Then they think about it for 10-15 minutes. If the reading is on the Passion of Christ, they could meditate on this by imagining themselves at Calvary in the crowd.
Whether in a family circle or single people at prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours is yet a different form of prayer and one that is highly recommended by the Church because it is the Prayer of the Church. Priests, deacons and many religious have a daily obligation to pray these beautiful prayers. Secular Franciscans may also pray these prayers of the Church. Actually, any Catholic can. And perhaps we should, because then, united with the Holy Father, with Bishops and Cardinals and many thousands of priests we share a unity in prayer.
I located an interesting book, "More Ideas for Prayer" by Dom Hubert Van Zeller, O.S.B. (1967, Templegate Publishers). This book, written by Dom Hubert, a widely known English monk, scholar, author and sculptor, contains 200 suggestions which may prove useful for those who find prayer tedious or seemingly impossible.
St. Thomas Aquinas says that "no gift that is given us is for our own exclusive use." That is certainly true with prayer also. Prayer is a gift of God. Thus we do not pray only for ourselves but for other people and for every need. We also pray to thank God for all He has given us. Sometimes our prayer is very dry and unexciting but nevertheless our prayer is valuable.

Dom Van Zeller says, "Prayer needs preparation. It is necessary to acquire the habit of recollection, the good use of leisure and solitude, the avoidance of deliberate imperfection. Obviously the man who lets entertainment, conversation, physical fitness dominate his day will find himself at a loss when he comes to the set times of prayer."  Although you'll probably think that Dom Van Zeller is addressing himself to monks and nuns, he writes for all people. Given the frenetic pace of the working man or woman these days, or that of a mother with three or four kids at home, it is necessary to relax, to unwind from the workplace before one can pray without mental interruptions or distractions. One needs to settle in for prayer, to slow down the mind. At the same time, people should also pray when they are moved to pray and then ask the Holy Spirit to guide them.

What I haven't yet touched upon is how most people pray. They pray the "prayer of petition." They ask Jesus and Mary to protect Aunt Sophie, and Uncle Ralph, and their children, their parish priest and maybe another dozen different people. Some people think poorly of their own prayer but they shouldn't. It should never be a concern what they get out of the prayer, the main thing is to pray. God will do the rest.

Dom Van Zeller also quotes an old axiom "Without God, we cannot; without us, God will not." There is a danger in pretending to leave God free to work His will in us by not praying or praying very little. Love is expressed in prayer, in conversation with Him. Prayer is the lifting of our minds to God. Other prayers, apart from the Holy Mass, are the Rosary, Novenas, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Stations of the Cross and various invocations to Saints. When you pray without words, the soul may express devotion to Jesus, to the Blessed Virgin Mary or to Saints also. That would be mental prayer. Meditation is a form of prayer too.

The most important consideration is that Jesus wishes to be with us, and help us pray. Please accord Him that opportunity.

Fred Schaeffer, OFS
12/20/2023

 Home