Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts
Spe Salvi Encyclical Letter - Part 34 - Pope Benedict XVI
34. For prayer to develop this power of purification, it must on the one hand be something very personal, an encounter between my intimate self and God, the living God. On the other hand it must be constantly guided and enlightened by the great prayers of the Church and of the saints, by liturgical prayer, in which the Lord teaches us again and again how to pray properly. Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, in his book of spiritual exercises, tells us that during his life there were long periods when he was unable to pray and that he would hold fast to the texts of the Church's prayer: the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the prayers of the liturgy[27].
Praying must always involve this intermingling of public and personal prayer. This is how we can speak to God and how God speaks to us. In this way we undergo those purifications by which we become open to God and are prepared for the service of our fellow human beings. We become capable of the great hope, and thus we become ministers of hope for others. Hope in a Christian sense is always hope for others as well. It is an active hope, in which we struggle to prevent things moving towards the “perverse end”. It is an active hope also in the sense that we keep the world open to God. Only in this way does it continue to be a truly human hope.
Praying must always involve this intermingling of public and personal prayer. This is how we can speak to God and how God speaks to us. In this way we undergo those purifications by which we become open to God and are prepared for the service of our fellow human beings. We become capable of the great hope, and thus we become ministers of hope for others. Hope in a Christian sense is always hope for others as well. It is an active hope, in which we struggle to prevent things moving towards the “perverse end”. It is an active hope also in the sense that we keep the world open to God. Only in this way does it continue to be a truly human hope.
Spe Salvi Encyclical Letter Part 32 & 33 - Pope Benedict XVI
“Settings” for learning and practising hope
I. Prayer as a school of hope
32. A first essential setting for learning hope is prayer. When no one listens to me any more, God still listens to me. When I can no longer talk to anyone or call upon anyone, I can always talk to God. When there is no longer anyone to help me deal with a need or expectation that goes beyond the human capacity for hope, he can help me[25]. When I have been plunged into complete solitude ...; if I pray I am never totally alone. The late Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, a prisoner for thirteen years, nine of them spent in solitary confinement, has left us a precious little book: Prayers of Hope. During thirteen years in jail, in a situation of seemingly utter hopelessness, the fact that he could listen and speak to God became for him an increasing power of hope, which enabled him, after his release, to become for people all over the world a witness to hope—to that great hope which does not wane even in the nights of solitude.
33. Saint Augustine, in a homily on the First Letter of John, describes very beautifully the intimate relationship between prayer and hope. He defines prayer as an exercise of desire. Man was created for greatness—for God himself; he was created to be filled by God. But his heart is too small for the greatness to which it is destined. It must be stretched. “By delaying [his gift], God strengthens our desire; through desire he enlarges our soul and by expanding it he increases its capacity [for receiving him]”. Augustine refers to Saint Paul, who speaks of himself as straining forward to the things that are to come (cf. Phil 3:13). He then uses a very beautiful image to describe this process of enlargement and preparation of the human heart. “Suppose that God wishes to fill you with honey [a symbol of God's tenderness and goodness]; but if you are full of vinegar, where will you put the honey?” The vessel, that is your heart, must first be enlarged and then cleansed, freed from the vinegar and its taste. This requires hard work and is painful, but in this way alone do we become suited to that for which we are destined[26].
Even if Augustine speaks directly only of our capacity for God, it is nevertheless clear that through this effort by which we are freed from vinegar and the taste of vinegar, not only are we made free for God, but we also become open to others. It is only by becoming children of God, that we can be with our common Father. To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness. When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well. In prayer we must learn what we can truly ask of God—what is worthy of God. We must learn that we cannot pray against others.
We must learn that we cannot ask for the superficial and comfortable things that we desire at this moment—that meagre, misplaced hope that leads us away from God. We must learn to purify our desires and our hopes. We must free ourselves from the hidden lies with which we deceive ourselves. God sees through them, and when we come before God, we too are forced to recognize them. “But who can discern his errors? Clear me from hidden faults” prays the Psalmist (Ps 19:12 [18:13]). Failure to recognize my guilt, the illusion of my innocence, does not justify me and does not save me, because I am culpable for the numbness of my conscience and my incapacity to recognize the evil in me for what it is. If God does not exist, perhaps I have to seek refuge in these lies, because there is no one who can forgive me; no one who is the true criterion. Yet my encounter with God awakens my conscience in such a way that it no longer aims at self-justification, and is no longer a mere reflection of me and those of my contemporaries who shape my thinking, but it becomes a capacity for listening to the Good itself.
I. Prayer as a school of hope
33. Saint Augustine, in a homily on the First Letter of John, describes very beautifully the intimate relationship between prayer and hope. He defines prayer as an exercise of desire. Man was created for greatness—for God himself; he was created to be filled by God. But his heart is too small for the greatness to which it is destined. It must be stretched. “By delaying [his gift], God strengthens our desire; through desire he enlarges our soul and by expanding it he increases its capacity [for receiving him]”. Augustine refers to Saint Paul, who speaks of himself as straining forward to the things that are to come (cf. Phil 3:13). He then uses a very beautiful image to describe this process of enlargement and preparation of the human heart. “Suppose that God wishes to fill you with honey [a symbol of God's tenderness and goodness]; but if you are full of vinegar, where will you put the honey?” The vessel, that is your heart, must first be enlarged and then cleansed, freed from the vinegar and its taste. This requires hard work and is painful, but in this way alone do we become suited to that for which we are destined[26].
Even if Augustine speaks directly only of our capacity for God, it is nevertheless clear that through this effort by which we are freed from vinegar and the taste of vinegar, not only are we made free for God, but we also become open to others. It is only by becoming children of God, that we can be with our common Father. To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness. When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well. In prayer we must learn what we can truly ask of God—what is worthy of God. We must learn that we cannot pray against others.
We must learn that we cannot ask for the superficial and comfortable things that we desire at this moment—that meagre, misplaced hope that leads us away from God. We must learn to purify our desires and our hopes. We must free ourselves from the hidden lies with which we deceive ourselves. God sees through them, and when we come before God, we too are forced to recognize them. “But who can discern his errors? Clear me from hidden faults” prays the Psalmist (Ps 19:12 [18:13]). Failure to recognize my guilt, the illusion of my innocence, does not justify me and does not save me, because I am culpable for the numbness of my conscience and my incapacity to recognize the evil in me for what it is. If God does not exist, perhaps I have to seek refuge in these lies, because there is no one who can forgive me; no one who is the true criterion. Yet my encounter with God awakens my conscience in such a way that it no longer aims at self-justification, and is no longer a mere reflection of me and those of my contemporaries who shape my thinking, but it becomes a capacity for listening to the Good itself.
Light Your Lamps
Commentary
from Saint Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941),
Franciscan, martyr
Conference of 13/2/1941
"Light your lamps"
What are we to do if we are to overcome our weakness of soul? There are two means: prayer and detachment from self. Our Lord Jesus counsels us to watch. We must be on the watch if we want our heart to be pure, but our watching must be peaceful if our heart is to be touched. Because it can be moved by good things or bad, within or without. Thus we need to watch carefully. As a general rule God's inspiration is an unobtrusive grace; we mustn't turn it away...; if our heart's aren't awake, grace turns back. Divine inspiration is very exact; just as a writer guides his pen so the grace of God guides the soul.
from Saint Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941),
Franciscan, martyr
Conference of 13/2/1941
"Light your lamps"
What are we to do if we are to overcome our weakness of soul? There are two means: prayer and detachment from self. Our Lord Jesus counsels us to watch. We must be on the watch if we want our heart to be pure, but our watching must be peaceful if our heart is to be touched. Because it can be moved by good things or bad, within or without. Thus we need to watch carefully. As a general rule God's inspiration is an unobtrusive grace; we mustn't turn it away...; if our heart's aren't awake, grace turns back. Divine inspiration is very exact; just as a writer guides his pen so the grace of God guides the soul.
So let us try hard to attain greater interior recollection. Our Lord wants us to desire to love him. The watchful soul notices when it falls and realises that, of itself, it cannot reach its destination. That is why it experiences the need for prayer. Our petition is founded on the conviction that we can do nothing of ourselves but God can do all. Prayer is needed to obtain light and strength.
The Lords Prayer in Aramaic - the language of Jesus
Also this link takes you to an interesting short documentary on a small town in Syria where the ancient language of Aramaic is still spoken..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy38UQ9EQ6o
Praying for Priests
We can all perform spiritual works of mercy which mostly involves prayer. A friend of mine suffers a debilitating illness which prevents her doing physical work but she loves to pray for others. So the two of us started a small prayer meeting on the Feast of the Transfiguration in 2008 especially for Priests, the Holy Souls and the dying. This prayer meeting is centred around the Divine Mercy devotion.
We start by praying always the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. We then pray some of the prayers from the Divine Mercy prayer book 'Will You Help Me' and pray first the Consecration Prayer to the Divine Mercy, then the Prayer for Priests from St. Faustina, also St. Gertrude's Prayer for the Holy Souls, and the prayer to St. Joseph.
We then have a reading from the Divine Mercy diary which we reflect upon and talk a little on. Then we see where we can do some additional spiritual or corporal work of mercy for the week. We also have intercessory prayers for Priests that we know, our families and those who are dying. Then we finish with the Chaplet of Mercy which we offer for our Priests especially. We also invoke at the end our patrons, who are Our Lady of Mercy, St. Faustina, Bl. Fr. Michael Sopocko, Servant of God John Paul II and St. Michael the Archangel and for this year we also included St. Jean Vianney as the patron of our Priests.
It just takes one hour and we try to have our meeting every week. So if you and another friend or member of the family would like to do something like this, it doesnt take much of your time and it is important that we always pray and support our Priests as they are so special to God and we need them.
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