St. Joseph Novena
Laura DeMaria
It has been a while since I've shared a Pray More Novenas novena, and wanted to make sure I mentioned the "St Joseph, Husband of Mary" prayer that will begin this Saturday. If you're already a member of the Pray More Novenas community, you are good to go, and if you're new, go here. I highly recommend it! Nothing like praying in, and with a community. In this case, one which is global.
Prayer is so much on my mind since I completed the first Ignatian retreat last month, and am now a week and a half into my Lenten one. Prayer for an hour every day is weird, I will tell you. It's weird because you don't know what will happen. And then it's extra weird because even in the random, distracting, unexpected thoughts that come up, all of that is a part of God's plan for you in that particular prayer period. Isn't that strange! And you can't come at it with a to-do list, or skim the Scripture beforehand and think, "Mmhmm, I know what I'm supposed to learn today." No, you don't. And that's pretty amazing because then God drops new things into your mind and THAT'S what you learn, and you go off with your mind and soul buzzing with all the things you don't know, and the little piece that now you know. And by "you" I mean "me."
My next article for Catholic Stand will be on how gratitude is a form of prayer. Meaning, one way to pray well is to thank God, for everything - for your world, for your self, for your feelings. That's a prayer, and an important one. That's one of the things He dropped into my mind.