Blog
Feeling “groovy” Through Daily Prayer
I was listening to Monsignor’s homily on Easter Sunday. Monsignor indicated that he was told on numerous occasions Happy Easter! He indicated that with the Tridium, the Passion, with it all coming together in a noticeably short time it was difficult to truly contemplate and take in what occurred on top of our busy lives. The Last Supper! And with that, the arrest, persecution, death, and Resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
An old song comes to mind by Simon and Garfunkel, let me jog some of your memories as well, with the following lyrics, “Slow down you move too fast, you gotta make the morning last, just kickin’ down the cobble stones, looking for fun and feeling groovy!”
Yes, slow down and “Do Not Forget to PRAY!” As Monsignor indicated, life goes by quickly just as the Passion of Jesus and we need to “slow down” and gives thanks to God for all the Blessings that He has provided to us. His GREATEST Blessing is the birth, life and death of His Son, Jesus Christ, for our sins and for the sins of the world. We should then not just pray in times of trouble but also for all of God’s blessings he provides and gives to us every day.
Prayer glorifies our good God. Prayer is praise, thanksgiving, confession, petitions, and intercession to God. An unknown theologian of Christian antiquity wrote, “When I prayed, I was new, but when I stopped praying, I became old.”
Prayer is the way to renewal, spiritual life, and aliveness to God. Prayer gives us strength, refreshment, and joy. Prayer lifts us up from our isolation to a conscious, loving communion with God. Prayer becomes our personal dialogue with God.
As we pray deeply within our hearts we grow in prayer. Through the grace of God, we can begin to catch an indication and presence of the Holy Spirit working within us. At first it is only a small faint spark. But as our prayer life continues that spark becomes a flame energizing us.
If we do not use and/or exercise our muscles, they become weak. Such is the case with daily prayers. Without daily prayers we spiritually become weak. Due to our busy daily lives, prayer becomes our “Bread of Life” since many are unable to participate at daily Mass. Daily prayer supports our spiritual communion with God.
If we pray only when we participate at Mass could indicate only thinking of God one day or perhaps occasionally during the week? The old Baltimore Catechism asks the question: “Why did God make you?” The correct answer is: “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” We were made for union and salvation with God. The more we pray the more we lighten our problems. Saint Padre Pio stated, “If you have a problem, pray, hope and don’t get agitated. Agitation is worthless. God is compassion and will listen with favor to your prayers.”
How do we pray? Just as a child learns to walk by walking, one can best learn to pray by praying daily. We need to think of the words we are praying and make it our own personal prayer. Then we need to strengthen our prayer through “talk the talk” and then “walk the walk” of our prayer in a spirit of helping our neighbor with forgiveness toward others.
Finally, through daily prayer we can honestly believe that God’s love is almighty, with the Father creating us, Jesus redeeming us, and the Holy Spirit sanctifying us?
Just as the Passion was a short four days that goes by quickly, so is our life. It is such that we need to “slow down” and make our life a lasting praise and acknowledgment to God our Father through daily prayer!! Blessings – Dcn Jim
P.S. Perhaps you will feel “groovy” through Daily Prayer!