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It’s Day 340!!
CHAPTER TWO: THE TRADITION OF PRAYER
ARTICLE 1: AT THE WELLSPRING OF PRAYER
THE WORD OF GOD
THE LITURGY OF THE CHURCH
We are going to look at what prayer is and what prayer is not
Paragraph 2650 says, “Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of interior impulse: in order to pray, one must have the will to pray. Nor is it enough to know what the Scriptures reveal about prayer: one must also learn how to pray. Through a living transmission (Sacred Tradition) within ‘the believing and praying Church,’ the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God how to pray.”
Sometimes we want the nuts and bolts and then we can do it on our own
Prayer is not like that
Yes, we have tools for prayer
Yes, we have techniques for prayer
But prayer can never be reduced to a technique
Prayer is deeper than that
Prayer is richer than that
Let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much for bringing us to this day. We thank you and praise your name. We bless you because you blessed us. We glorify you because you are worthy of all glory. In this moment, we pray for those who are close to us. We pray for the needs of our family members and our friends. We pray, Lord God, for our enemies, for those who hate us, for those who have hurt us. We pray that you give them what they need. Give them all that they need. And please, Lord, give us what we need because without you, we are nothing and without you, we can do nothing. So meet us in our need. Meet us in our poverty, and receive our hearts. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”
So there we have it!!
ARTICLE 1: AT THE WELLSPRING OF PRAYER
Paragraph 2652 says, “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. Indeed in the Christian life there are several wellsprings where Christ awaits us to enable us to drink of the Holy Spirit.”
Paragraph 2650 says, “Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of interior impulse: in order to pray, one must have the will to pray. Nor is it enough to know what the Scriptures reveal about prayer: one must also learn how to pray. Through a living transmission (Sacred Tradition) within ‘the believing and praying Church,’ the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God how to pray.”
We don’t just do whatever we want
We have to have the will to pray
We have to have discipline in prayer
We can’t just see what other people have done or how other people have prayed
It’s good to know the Scriptures and see what they reveal about prayer, but we also have to learn how to pray
Let’s listen to Fr. Mike make an analogy using a piano…
So what are the sources of living water?
THE source is Christ and the Holy Spirit
Where can we go to always come into contact with God?
We want to come into contact with God so that we can become like Him
So where do we go for these wellsprings?
THE WORD OF GOD
If you have ever prayed with Scripture, you know how essential it is
Paragraph 2653 says, “The Church ‘forcefully and specially exhorts all the Christian faithful…to learn “the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ” (Phil 3:8) by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures…Let them remember, however, that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For “we speak to him when we pray; we listen to him when we read the divine oracles.”’”
LECTIO DIVINA
It means SACRED READING
It involves 4 steps
LECTIO = reading
MEDITATIO = meditation on what you just read
ORATIO = pray about what you just read
CONTEMPLATIO = contemplate what you just read
Let’s listen to Fr. Mike extrapolate these using Jesus walking on water in the Gospels…
Prayer is between you and God
At some point you have to look up and talk to God about what you have read
THE LITURGY OF THE CHURCH
Paragraph 2655 says, “In the sacramental liturgy of the Church, the mission of Christ and of the Holy Spirit proclaims, makes present, and communicates the mystery of salvation, which is continued in the heart that prays. The spiritual writers sometimes compare the heart to an altar. Prayer internalizes and assimilates the liturgy during and after its celebration. Even when it is lived out ‘in secret,’ prayer is always prayer of the Church; it is a communion with the Holy Trinity.”
Let’s listen to Fr. Mike talk about the afterburn and exercise…
You go to Mass and the reality of the mission of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is made present and is continued in the heart that prays
If you have a heart that prays, there is the spiritual afterburn that lasts long after you are done with Mass and the mission of Jesus and the Holy Spirit is still proclaimed
Everywhere you go, you are carrying the mission of Jesus and the Holy Spirit out into the world, proclaimed, made present, and communicated
That is IF we pray
We need to have the heart that prays so the heart can become an altar
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT…
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