Audio of this morning's interview on personal prayer

It was great to start the day speaking with John Morales about personal prayer, based on my latest article, For Whom Should We Pray? Part 2. You can catch the recording of that conversation here, with my part starting at 7:50.

One thing we discussed a few times was “orientation” to entering prayer. The advice is the same probably no matter who you ask: creating a space conducive to prayer - with quiet, candles, devotionals, sacred images, a comfortable chair, and so on - is an important first step to having productive prayer time.

Afterwards, I was thinking about something else, which is that we focus on the in-the-moment prayer prep, but in reality, the way you spend your time outside of prayer will also make a difference.

For example, we are surrounded by noise on a constant basis. I don’t mean literal noise, either, though that is a main culprit. The mental noise of doomscrolling; the noise of the short attention span caused by constantly checking notifications; the noise of busy-ness. We have become afraid of silence, probably because it means we must look at ourselves and that is uncomfortable. But giving up the crutch of noise will be a game changer in your life.

So, reducing your screen time - phone, social media, computer, TV, mindless TV, grating music - and centering more silence in your life will benefit you from a daily peace-of-mind perspective, but also when it comes time to sit down and listen. No need to make it harder than it already is, by filling your mind and soul with noise that blocks out the voice of God.

Cardinal Sarah has a whole book about this: The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. I do recommend it.

So yes, make your immediate prayer space quiet. But also cultivate quietness in other parts of your life so that there is nothing in the way of your ability to be present with God.

I’ll be back on Morning Air in a couple weeks to talk about For Whom Should I Pray? Part 1, about the necessity of praying for the world! The world needs your prayers. You are the body of Christ, doing his work in this world.

Two new articles and a radio conversation tomorrow

Greetings, folks! I have two new articles up at Catholic Stand:

For Whom Should I Pray? Part 1: about how to pray for the world.

For Whom Should I Pray? Part 2?: about how to pray interiorly, for oneself - not for your needs, but to grow closer in relationship to God.

And, tomorrow morning at 7:10 am, I will be joining John and Glen on Morning Air to discuss part 2, how to pray for oneself. You can find it on your local radio station, or listen on their live player here.

I was inspired to write these by the knowledge that a lot of Catholics just don’t pray. I can’t remember what my prayer life was like before the experience of the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius - probably mostly the rosary. And perhaps you, too, default to the “devotions” rather than going into personal, deeply explorative and truthful prayer. But the time is now! Prayer is the time to meet God, and ourselves. It is the time to learn of our own attachments and false beliefs about God and self, and throw them off. This is the work of a lifetime, and it is utterly necessary to do. Prayer is not an option. So get your hiney in the chair!

See you on the radio!

Praying like the Mass

I recently had the very happy experience of visiting a beautiful local church that offered the “Novus Ordo Latin Mass,” something I have not attended in a long time. I was very moved by the Latin – which, I realized, I finally understand after many years – and felt transported to another time and place. It was very peaceful and my immediate feeling was one of being home.

I have no problems with the regular Novus Ordo Mass whatsoever, by the way. But I get why many flock to the Latin, and it was nice to be reminded with more clarity why the Catholic Church is different, and why what is on offer there, so to speak, will always be different. It takes work to find and make meaning in the highly secular world; at that Mass it seemed to be presented to one on a platter (and a golden one, at that).

The priest had an interesting and, for me, relevant homily about how to pray. Lately I have been contemplating, what is the best way to pray? I don’t believe there is only one way to pray – that would eliminate the truth that everyone has unique gifts and ways of being – but that there has to be a simple way, at least, to get started. I imagine many people would like to pray, but don’t know where to start, and I want to reach those people.

So, yes, there is the Ignatian way (to which I am partial), the Dominican way, the Benedictine way, and so on. But is there something even simpler than that?

Look out for my next articles on this topic later this month. I’m working on a part 1 and a part 2, with the first being directed at answering the question, “How do I pray for the world?” and the second, “How do I pray in a personal way that connects me to God?” So, the outer prayer, followed by the inner prayer.

This priest’s answer to the question of, “How do I pray?” in his homily was an interesting one: his advice was to remember the order of the Mass and mimic it. So: start with the sign of the cross, move to an acknowledgement of being in the presence of God, confessing your sins, giving glory to God, and listening to and praying over the Gospel. This seems just as about as good advice as can be given, don’t you think? The Mass is the highest form of prayer, and lo and behold, is also a handy guide for praying on one’s own.

Side note: this is one of the things I love and appreciate about the Church so much, that there are so many ways to pray. The Stations of the Cross! The Examen! The Rosary! Prayer alone, prayer with others! Just pray!