Thank you so much for reading, thank you so much for praying with me as we read together. I would like to welcome you with this very first note by saying that this will be a place for Christian prayer, and suggestions, reflections and testimonials of applications of the teachings of Jesus Christ in our lives. I am not a theologian, formally, I am an economist from Vanderbilt University, and a in a few months, will become a professional in corporate America. Above all things, I am Roman Catholic, and love Our Lady of Guadalupe with all my heart and all my will. I hope my prayers will not offend anybody, for we as Christians ought to be united. Those who do not love or venerate the Blessed Mother, I ask for their understanding and forgiveness, and encourage them to focus their attention to the prayers and reflections that will exist in this blog.
The title of this post is "Everything we do is a form of prayer". Yes, now that I type I'm praying (and listening to St. Teresa of Avila's "Consumed by Grace"). When I take the bus to go to school, or walk around campus, even when I offend those who listen or read my words, I am praying. That is, we pray not only by reciting the Our Father, Hail Mary, the Psalms or the Scripture. We pray even when we do not think of God. Prayer is a dialogue with our Creator, with He who is. All our actions, interactions and relationships are directed to Him. This is, for Catholics, when the devotion to Our Lady becomes so crucial. She loved Jesus more perfectly than anyone. She, the Handmaid of the Lord, humbled herself and her heart was broken into pieces. It is in this lowliness that She found grand delight. It is there where we ourselves find, must find great delight. We need to ask for Her assistance in our endeavors to love Jesus, to make our love perfect. (Please do remember that Christian perfection resides in human imperfection.)
I must share though, that I find it hard, heart breaking to humble myself to my fellow men and women. Why would I ever bow down to injustice and tragedy? I say to you my brethren, Do not bow to injustice, but rejoice in it by pursuing the Christ and finding peace in war. Live in austerity and you will find peace, for your dialogue with God will be afar from distractions.
I hope these words are useful and hopeful. For we are body and soul always, death is temporary if we believe in Christ Jesus. Believe and hope, Christ is here and now, He is body and soul, He is the Eucharist and the Wine. We can hope for and expect Him, and He will answer our prayers tangibly. So, go and be confident and come back with a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Psalm 51). We will meet here again on the web.
In Him,
Through Mary
I am not sure that "we pray even when we do not think of God." I think that there is a distinction between meditation and prayer, between Buddhism and Christianity, and that is the focus and aim. Prayer, as the Soul of the Apostolate says, "puts us in touch with the FIRST CAUSE," which is God. If that is not the aim, then I am not sure what we are doing. The Blessed Mother, I am sure, always kept that focus, always prayed to God...else who would she have been praying to. Everything has the potential to be a prayer, as St. Escriva tells us, BUT it requires the proper intention-- its direction toward God, for God.
ReplyDeleteI love you, my brother.
Please let me offer some finer distinctions. I think that we would do well to keep the word "prayer" for the intentional lifting of the mind and will to God. Some spiritual writers have indeed urged us to consider all of our activities as prayer, although I do not remember ever seeing the idea that something bad could be prayer. In a similar way, I believe that St. Therese once said that everything is grace. But I would not begin building syllogisms on such statements. These are more devotional and practical expressions, not theoretical ones. I know that this blog is dedicated to practical theology. Indeed, it is commendable to intend to make one's life into prayer. Whether one actually pulls it off or not is another question! I really should not say that something done in forgetfulness of God is prayer. I could go back and offer it to Him, but the offering would be the prayer. For theological speculation, I would suggest calling the intentional lifting of the mind and will to God "prayer" and the state of living in awareness of God's Will "recollection." It is just a little more precise.
ReplyDeleteThank y'all for your precisions. I believe they're important to make. Nevertheless, I'd like to highlight the underlying assumptions from this first original post. I assumed that when by our own free will, i.e. intention, we devote our lives to God, then everything we do, even when we do not purposefully think of God it's a form of prayer. In fact, it was St. Therese of Lisieux who said that even if she regretted her faults, she was glad of having the opportunity of returning to the Father through the sacrament of reconciliation. Also, Lorenzo Scupoli's Spiritual Combat is clear in acknowledging that once we've begun the intentional path to holiness, God will let us fall so that we can recourse to His mercy and become closer to Him. Now, this DOES NOT mean that we purposefully should engage in activities against the sanctity of our bodies and souls. This means however, that once we have purposefully devoted our lives to Christ, even in our honest mistakes we pray for forgiveness as a result of it. Mr. Frog's hair is right, we should call it "recollection", to avoid confusion, and yet I believe it is interesting to think of even our mistakes as a form of prayer.
ReplyDeleteMateo, going off of your paraphrase, I think if St. Therese had said she was glad of her faults BECAUSE of the opportunity to experience reconciliation it would agree more fully with what you are suggesting. That's not what she said though: it's more of that she was thankful for forgiveness in spite of her sin. I can't imagine she was saying she wouldn't prefer the sinless heart of Mary to her own sinful, but reconciled one.
ReplyDelete