 Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, You are good, for You are a faithful God. By offering us the sacrifice of Your Body and Blood, You lovingly give us Your grace and invite us into deep relationship. Forgive us for the times that we’ve failed to recognize that You desire to be truly present with us and in us through the Eucharist. In Your Scripture you tell us of the first Eucharist, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15) Thank You for giving Yourself to us in the Eucharist so freely and so completely. Help us to know that You eagerly await us at every Mass. Lord, inspire us to grow in intimate union with You be receiving You in the Eucharist often. Jesus we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection: Reflecting on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist (Excerpt from The Catholic Faith Handbook (St. Mary’s Press)) Why does the Eucharist hold such an esteemed place in Catholic life? It is because the Eucharist brings together in a single ritual all of the important elements of the Catholic faith. In it we recall what God has revealed to us through history in the Liturgy of the Word. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we remember and make present the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We actually receive Jesus Christ – physically and spiritually – when we receive the consecrated bread and wine, which become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. One way to participate more fully in the Eucharist is to spend time reflecting on what the celebration means. Give some prayerful thought to the insights quoted below:
How do you experience Jesus Christ’s presence in the Eucharist? How has your life been changed by receiving the Eucharist over the years? Closing Prayer Soul of Christ, sanctify me Body of Christ, save me Blood of Christ, inebriate me Water from Christ’s side, wash me Passion of Christ, strengthen me O good Jesus, hear me Within Thy wounds hide me Suffer me not to be separated from Thee From the malicious enemy defend me In the hour of my death call me And bid me come unto Thee That I may praise Thee with Thy saints and with Thy angels Forever and ever Amen. Anima Christi
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Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, You are good, for You are a faithful God. By offering us the sacrifice of Your Body and Blood, You lovingly give us Your grace and invite us into deep relationship. Forgive us for the times that we’ve failed to recognize that You desire to be truly present with us and in us through the Eucharist. In Your Scripture you tell us of the first Eucharist, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15) Thank You for giving Yourself to us in the Eucharist so freely and so completely. Help us to know that You eagerly await us at every Mass. Lord, inspire us to grow in intimate union with You be receiving You in the Eucharist often. Jesus we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection: The Creed (Excerpts from A Biblical Walkthrough the Mass by Edward Sri) In this “anything goes” cultural milieu, the Creed grounds us in reality and reminds us that our beliefs and choices do matter. Progressing from creation to the redemptive work of Christ to the sanctifying mission of the Church today, the Creed presumes a narrative framework to human history. In other words, the Creed assumes that there is a plot to life, and that we are here for a reason. It proclaims that the universe is not here by random chance, but was brought into existence by the one true God, “the Maker of heaven and earth,” and is moving in a certain direction according to God’s plan. The Creed also presumes that this divine plan was fully revealed in God’s Son, the “One Lord Jesus Christ” who “became man” to show us the pathway to happiness and eternal life. The Creed also notes how Jesus came “For us men and for our salvation” and to bring “forgiveness of sins”. This admission that we needed to be saved and forgiven tells us that something went terribly wrong with our situation before the coming of Christ. It points to the original rebellion against God by Satan and his minions and to how they led Adam and Eve in the garden and the rest of the human family to participate in this rebellion by falling into sin. Thus, the story of the Creed implicitly tells of an intense conflict that has been raging since the beginning of time. Thus, the Creed reminds us that our little lives are caught up into this much larger story. And we each have a significant role to play in this drama. The question is: “How will I play my part?” The Creed will not let us persist in the modern relativistic myth that says there is no right or wrong choices or that it doesn’t matter what we believe or what we do with our lives. The Creed reminds us that at the end of our lives we will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ Who “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” So, the Creed will not let us be lukewarm bystanders in this cosmic struggle. It challenges us to pick what side of the conflict we will fight for. Will we follow the prince of this world who wants us to think there is no right or wrong? Or will we follow the King of heaven and earth Who leads us to happiness in His everlasting kingdom? When we profess our faith at Mass in the Creed, we publicly stand before the whole congregation and Almighty God and plant the flag with Jesus. We solemnly declare that we will strive not to live like the rest of the world, but to give our wholehearted allegiance to the Lord: “I believe in one God…” The Nicene Creed I believe in one God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, Who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. Reflection In what ways is the Christian view of the world as summed up in the Creed different from the way our world lives today? In what way do your beliefs and choices shape our world today? In what way does the Creed challenge you? Affirm you? Console you? Closing Prayer Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. Matthew 8:8 This month we will explore Discipleship Habit #3: Attend Mass Often. While focused on the Mass, we will maintain a common Opening Prayer with a reflection tailored to the Mass area of focus for the week. Each week our focus is a different aspect of the Mass with the goal to invite you into a better understanding of the Mass to inspire a greater Love of the Mass.
Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, You are good, for You are a faithful God. By offering us the sacrifice of Your Body and Blood, You lovingly give us Your grace and invite us into deep relationship. Forgive us for the times that we’ve failed to recognize that You desire to be truly present with us and in us through the Eucharist. In Your Scripture you tell us of the first Eucharist, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15) Thank You for giving Yourself to us in the Eucharist so freely and so completely. Help us to know that You eagerly await us at every Mass. Lord, inspire us to grow in intimate union with You be receiving You in the Eucharist often. Jesus we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection: The third habit of discipleship that we want to explore is the call to “Attend Mass Often”. This is the habit that finds the disciple regularly encountering the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. By practicing this habit, we open ourselves to be filled with the Divine Life of Jesus so that we can be transformed more fully into His likeness. For Catholics, the seven Sacraments are the pinnacle of how Jesus makes Himself alive and present to us through His Living Body of the Church. The Sacraments are the perfect “three-way intersection” of the fullness of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), Jesus’ Body of the Church, and each of our individual lives. The Sacraments are the holy intersection between heaven and earth! This is where disciples want to be as often as possible! Since the Mass is offered somewhere every day, except on Good Friday, disciples make it a habit to encounter Christ in the Eucharist on a frequent, if not daily, basis. Deeply aware of the God-sized hunger in their souls, disciples intentionally seek Jesus at Mass so they can surrender their repentant hearts to Him and be nourished by His life-giving Word, Body, and Blood. Beautiful in its simplicity, the Mass is a two-step journey into the very heart and life of Christ. First, we encounter Christ as He speaks His Word of love to us in the Scriptures and invites us into deep relationship. Then, as if that wasn’t amazing enough, we encounter Christ taking, blessing, breaking, and giving us His Body and Blood. He gives himself totally to us – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity! Jesus calls us together as His Church so that He can give Himself to us in the Mass. He so badly wants to give Himself to us, to be so close to us, that we actually take His Body and Blood into ourselves through Communion. He wants to draw us deeply into His Divine Life and transform us through His death and resurrection so that He can send us in His image to bring His sacrificial love to the world. Let’s seek to encounter Him at Mass often so we can be strengthened for a life of intentional discipleship. Reflecting with Scripture John 6:48 - 59 Jesus said: “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [His] flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will have life because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” These things He said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. One method of exploring a deeper understanding of this scripture and its relationship to the Mass is to markup/highlight the reading for further investigation and contemplation. The following are ideas of what to highlight:
What is happening in this passage? What details stand out for you? To whom is Jesus addressing in this passage? What does Jesus mean when He talks about true food and drink? Why is Jesus true food and drink? What makes it true? What does Jesus mean when He says we will live forever? How do the people Jesus is speaking to in this passage react to this teaching? What about this teaching is difficult for you or someone you know? What have you learned or experienced that has helped you to believe these teachings? How do you think Jesus is calling you right now through this passage? How are you going to respond? Closing Prayer All Who Hunger Sylvia G. Dunstan All who hunger, gather gladly; Holy manna is our bread. Come from wilderness and wandering. Here, in truth, we will be fed. You who yearn for days of fullness, All around us is our food. Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good. All who hunger, never strangers, Seeker, be a welcome guest. Come from restlessness and roaming. Here, in joy, we keep the feast. We who once were lost and scattered, In Communion’s love have stood. Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good. All who hunger, sing together; Jesus Christ is living bread. Come from loneliness and longing. Here, in peace, we have been led. Blest are those who from this table Live their days in gratitude. Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good. Gather Hymnal, #925 Discipleship Habit #2: Read Scripture Every Day - Week 16 The Word of God is Living in Me12/16/2020  Discipleship Habit #2: Read Scripture Every Day
Week 16 The Word of God is Living in Me Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, You are good, and we praise You. Through Your Scripture, You lovingly tell us the story of our salvation and continue to speak to us today. Forgive us for the times that we haven’t listened to You in the Scripture. In Your Scripture you tell us, “the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) Thank You for coming to us so powerfully through Your Word. Help us to know that You long to speak to us through Your Word. Lord, teach us how to listen to Your voice speaking to us through Your Scriptures. Inspire us to meet You in Your Word daily. Jesus, we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection: Praying with the Liturgy of the Hours The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office, is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer. The Hours consist primarily of Psalms supplemented by hymns, readings, and other prayers and antiphons. Together with the Mass, they constitute the official public prayer life of the Church. Each day is canonically divided into five Offices, or Hours (often referred to as the Breviary): Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Daytime Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer. The Divine Office is available online at www.liturgies.net. For a mobile phone app with the Liturgy of the Hours, as well as Daily Mass readings, go to www.catholicapps.com/laudate . For this week’s prayer experience, the Morning Prayer from Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time is given below. Morning Prayer: God, come to my assistance,
HYMN I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise, that spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies. I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day; the moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey. I sing the goodness of the Lord, Who filled the earth with food, Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good. Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’re I turn my eye, if I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky. There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known. And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne; while all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care; and everywhere that we can be, Thou, God, art present there. PSALMODY Antiphon 1: When will I come to the end of my pilgrimage and enter the presence of God? Psalm 42 Longing for the Lord’s presence in his Temple Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for You, my God. My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life; when can I enter and see the face of God? My tears have become my bread, by night, by day, as I hear it said all the day long: Where is your God? These things will I remember as I pour out my soul: How I would lead the rejoicing crowd into the house of God, amid cries of gladness and thanksgiving, the throng wild with joy. Why are you cast down, my soul, why groan within me? Hope in God; I will praise Him still, my Savior and my God. My soul is cast down within me as I think of You, from the country of Jordan and Mount Hermon, from the Hill of Mizar. Deep is calling on deep, in the roar of waters; Your torrents and all Your waves swept over me. By day the Lord will send His loving kindness; by night I will sing to Him, praise the God of my life. I will say to God, my rock: Why have You forgotten me? With cries that pierce me to the heart, my enemies revile me, saying to me all day long: Where is your God? Why are you cast down, my soul, why groan within me? Hope in God; I will praise Him still, my Savior and my God. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Psalm Prayer: Father in heaven, when Your strength takes possession of us, we no longer say: Why are you cast down, my soul? So now that the surging waves of Your indignation have passed over us, let us feel the healing calm of Your forgiveness. Inspire us to yearn for You always, like the deer for running streams, until You satisfy every longing in heaven. Antiphon 1: When will I come to the end of my pilgrimage and enter the presence of God? Antiphon 2: Lord, show us the radiance of Your mercy. Canticle – Sirach 36:1 – 5, 10, 13 Prayer of entreaty for the Holy City, Jerusalem Come to our aid, O God of the universe and put all the nations in dread of You! Raise Your hand against the heathen, that they may realize Your power. As You have used us to show them Your holiness, so now use them to show us Your glory. Thus, they will know, as we know, that there is no God but You. Give new signs and work new wonders; show forth the splendor of Your right hand and arm. Gather all the tribes of Jacob, that they may inherit the land as of old, show mercy to the people called by Your name; Israel, whom You named your first-born. Take pity on Your Holy City, Jerusalem, Your dwelling place. Fill Zion with Your majesty, Your temple with Your glory. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Antiphon 2: Lord, show us the radiance of Your mercy. Antiphon 3: The vaults of heaven ring with Your praise, O Lord. Psalm 19A Praise of the Lord, Creator of All The heavens proclaim the glory of God, and the firmament shows forth the work of His hands. Day unto day takes up the story and night unto night makes known the message. No speech, no word, no voice is heard yet their span extends through all the earth, their words to the utmost bounds of the world. There He has placed a tent for the sun; it comes forth like a bridegroom coming from His tent, rejoices like a champion to run its course. At the end of the sky is the rising of the sun; to the furthest end of the sky is its course. There is nothing concealed from its burning heat. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Psalm Prayer: To enlighten the world, Father, You sent to us Your Word as the sun of truth and justice shining upon mankind. Illumine our eyes that we may discern Your glory in the many works of Your hand. Antiphon 3: The vaults of heaven ring with Your praise, O Lord. Reading Jeremiah 15:16 When I found Your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart, Because I bore Your name, O Lord, God of hosts. Responsory Sing for joy, God’s chosen ones, give Him the praise that is due.
Benedictus (Canticle of Zechariah) Antiphon: Blessed be the Lord, for He has come to His people and set them free. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; He has come to His people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of His servant, David. Through His holy prophets He promised of old that He would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His Holy Covenant. This was the oath He swore to our father, Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship Him without fear, holy and righteous in His sight all the days of our life. You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, to give His people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Antiphon: Blessed be the Lord, for He has come to His people and set them free. Intercessions Our Savior has made us a nation of priests to offer acceptable sacrifice to the Father. Let us call upon Him in gratitude: Preserve us in Your ministry, Lord. Christ, eternal priest, You conferred the holy priesthood on Your people,
In Your goodness pour out on us the fruits of Your Spirit,
May we seek those things which are beneficial to our brothers and sisters, without counting the cost,
Our Father… Prayer Almighty Father, You have brought us to the light of a new day: keep us safe the whole day through from every sinful inclination. May all of our thoughts, words, and actions aim at doing what is pleasing in Your sight. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever, AMEN May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life. AMEN Closing Prayer I am not trying, O Lord, to penetrate Your loftiness, for I cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I desire in some measure to understand Your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this, too, I believe, that “unless I believe, I shall not understand”. Teach me to seek You, and reveal Yourself to me as I seek: for unless You instruct me I cannot seek You, and unless You reveal Yourself I cannot find You. Let me seek You in desiring You: let me desire You in seeking You. Let me find You in loving You: let me love You in finding You. St. Anselm of Canterbury, 1033 – 1109 AD Discipleship Habit #2: Read Scripture Every Day
Week 15 Jesus, Speak Directly to Me Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, You are good, and we praise You. Through Your Scripture, You lovingly tell us the story of our salvation and continue to speak to us today. Forgive us for the times that we haven’t listened to You in the Scripture. In Your Scripture you tell us, “the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) Thank You for coming to us so powerfully through Your Word. Help us to know that You long to speak to us through Your Word. Lord, teach us how to listen to Your voice speaking to us through Your Scriptures. Inspire us to meet You in Your Word daily. Jesus, we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection: Each week, we grow more deeply into the habits of discipleship, into that “ONE THING”, which is the loving encounter with Jesus Christ in his Church. Last month, we focused on the habit of prayer. This month, we turn to the habit of growing in deeper relationship with Jesus by coming to know, more deeply, God’s Word in Sacred Scripture. Pause, for a few moments, and consider how Jesus prayed during His earthly life. He was raised in a Jewish family and steeped in Jewish traditions. He was taught to pray, by His family, His teachers, and the rabbis. He was taught the Sacred Scriptures from childhood, memorizing them, and coming to grow into God’s Word. As disciples, we do as Jesus did. How does one begin the habit of reading and praying with Scripture? An easy way to begin this habit is to pray with the whole Church, each day, by praying the readings of the day. These can be easily found in your parish bulletin, on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (usccb.org/bible/readings), and you can download an app for your smartphone (look for “Daily Readings” at the Apple App Store, Google Play, or Amazon App Store). When you read the daily readings, you not only have the opportunity to pray the daily Scriptures (habit of prayer), but you do so with the entire Church throughout the world (habit of community). There are terrific publications you can also subscribe to in printed or electronic form, like Give Us This Day, The Word Among Us, Magnificat, and Living Faith. You can also find great websites that offer reflections on the readings of the day. Throughout the month, practice incorporating reading and praying with Sacred Scripture into your day. By listening to God’s living Word in Sacred Scripture, we can hear the voice of Christ speaking directly to us in our lives. What is your favorite Bible verse? In what way does it impact how you think about Jesus? … about yourself? Praying with Ignatian Contemplation The Scriptures are God’s Word revealed to His people. He continues to speak to us through them today. Leaning to listen to God speak through Scripture is like learning any new language. It takes practice. One way the Church has taught us to listen to God speaking through the Scripture is through Ignatian Contemplation. In this prayer, one uses his or her senses in an imaginative way to reflect on a Gospel event in Jesus’ life. One uses the senses – seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling – to make the Gospel scene feel real and alive. Begin by selecting a passage from Sacred Scripture with which you may wish to pray. Some suggestions might be: John 11:1 - 44: The Raising of Lazarus. Mark 10:46 – 52: The Blind Bartimaeus. 1 Samuel 3:9: Speak, Lord. The Ignatian Contemplation method:
Closing Prayer Lord, inspire me to read Your Scriptures and to meditate upon them day and night. I beg You to give me real understanding of what I need, that I in turn may put its precepts into practice. Yet, I know that understanding and good intentions are worthless, unless rooted in Your graceful love. So I ask that the words of Scripture may also be not just signs on a page, but channels of grace into my heart. AMEN Origen of Alexandria, 184 – 253 AD Discipleship Habit #2: Read Scripture Every Day
Week 14 Lord, Teach Me To Listen Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, You are good, and we praise You. Through Your Scripture, You lovingly tell us the story of our salvation and continue to speak to us today. Forgive us for the times that we haven’t listened to You in the Scripture. In Your Scripture you tell us, “the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) Thank You for coming to us so powerfully through Your Word. Help us to know that You long to speak to us through Your Word. Lord, teach us how to listen to Your voice speaking to us through Your Scriptures. Inspire us to meet You in Your Word daily. Jesus, we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection: Let’s remember that the attributes of the heart and the six habits of discipleship, though dealt with separately for clarity’s sake, are really just one thing. They are “THE ONE THING”, that is, “the loving encounter with Jesus Christ in His Church”. This is the one thing, and the only thing, that really matters. With that in mind, let’s continue our exploration of discipleship habits. The second habit of discipleship that we want to explore is the call to “Read Scripture Every Day”. This is the habit that finds the disciple regularly encountering Christ in His Holy Word, and most especially in the four Gospels. Do you want to learn how to listen to God? Praying with Scripture regularly is how we hear the living and eternal voice of Christ speaking directly to us in our lives. Scripture is God’s Word spoken both to a people in the past and to us today. Through it, “the deathless presence of Jesus speaks to us in the moment we read [a passage]” (Dr. James Finley). Just a few of the ways He speaks through Scripture include making a word or phrase jump out at us, showing us more of who He is as we reflect on stories from His life, or giving us insight into our own life when we reflect on how He acted in the lives of others. Encountering Christ in His Word is always an encounter with Love. Jesus meets us without judgment and lovingly helps us to see ourselves and our lives more clearly. Then He invites us to turn away from what is less than our Divine purpose and calls us to follow Him in His way of truth, goodness, and beauty. Christ in the Word brings us to the point of decision: Will we turn to follow Him more completely, or will we turn away? So, reading Scripture is always an encounter with Christ. And since the Scriptures are God’s revealed Word to His covenant people, reading Scripture is simultaneously an encounter with the Church. Reading Scripture timelessly connects us with Christ in and through all of His people – past, present, and future. In the Scriptures, Christ encounters us together to know us, call us, convert us, and set us free. Describe an experience that caused you to think about something or someone differently. What happened? How did it change you? Reflect on Scripture Luke 24:13 – 34 Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all of the things that had occurred. And it happened that, while they were conversing and debating, Jesus Himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And He replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to Him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all of the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed Him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that He would be the One to redeem Israel; and besides all of this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group; however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find His body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that He was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them what referred to Him in all of the scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, He gave the impression that He was going on farther. But they urged Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So, He went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while He was with them at table, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, but He vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while He spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” So, they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. At the start of the passage, what are the disciples thinking and feeling? What are they thinking about Jesus? Why do you think Jesus asks them what they are discussing? (As if He doesn’t know…) What does this tell us about Jesus’ attitude toward us? In response, what does Jesus explain to them? Why do you think Jesus used Scripture to explain this? How do the disciples come to recognize Jesus? What part do the Scriptures play in this? What do you think it means that their hearts “were burning within them” when Jesus opened the Scriptures to them? Have you ever had an experience like this? What do the disciples finally come to understand? What is their response? How do you think Jesus is calling you right now through this passage? How are you going to respond? Closing Prayer Easter Arsonists of the Heart On the road that escapes Jerusalem and winds along the ridge to Emmaus two disillusioned youths drag home their crucified dream. They had smelled Messiah in the air and rose to the scarred and ancient hope only to mourn what might have been. And now a sudden stranger falls upon their loss with excited words about mustard seeds and surprises hidden at the heart of death and that evil must be kissed upon the lips and that every scream is redeemed for it echoes in the ear of God and do you not understand what died upon the cross was fear. They protested their right to despair, but He said, “My Father’s laughter fills the silence of the tomb.” Because they did not understand, they offered Him food. And in the breaking of the bread they knew the imposter for who He was – the arsonist of the heart. John Shea Discipleship Habit #1: Pray Every Day
Week 13 Offering ourselves, just as we are Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, we praise You for You are patient! You lovingly wait for us to come to You and long to listen to us. Forgive us for the times in our lives when we have not drawn close to You in prayer. In Your Scripture You tell us, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6 - 7) We claim this promise. Thank You for being so available to us. Help us to know that You long to meet with us in prayer. Lord, teach us how to pray. Give us the desire to get to know You in prayer every day and the discipline to guard our prayer time when busyness tempts us away from You. Jesus, we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection: From Fr. Thomas Keating, Open Heart, Open Mind All true prayer is based on the conviction of the presence of the Spirit in us and of His unfailing and continual inspiration. Every prayer in this sense is prayer in the Spirit. Still, it seems more accurate to reserve the term prayer in the Spirit, for that prayer in which the inspiration of the Spirit is given directly to our spirit without the intermediary of our own reflections or acts of the will. In other words, the Spirit prays in us and we consent. According to the Baltimore catechism, “Prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God.” In using this ancient formula it is important to keep in mind that it is not we who do the lifting. In every kind of prayer the raising of the mind and heart to God can only be the work of the Spirit. In prayer inspired by the Spirit we let ourselves flow with the lifting movement and drop all reflections. Reflection is an important preliminary to prayer, but it is not prayer. Prayer is not only the offering of our interior acts to God: it is the offering of ourselves, of who we are just as we are. Spend a few minutes now simply raising your mind and heart to God, offering God yourself, just as you are. Praying with Centering Prayer To be a disciple of Jesus means to live the way Jesus lived and surrender our lives to our Father. Jesus invites us to sharpen our spiritual attentiveness, to see with the eyes of Christ, so that we can love as Jesus loves. So often; however, our own thoughts and perceptions get in the way and trip us up. We need help re-aligning our minds to Christ’s to help us live the Gospel message. We need a way to put our mind, our attention and intention, in our heart. Centering Prayer is the tool we need to help us live out of our hearts – it gives us a way of letting go of our own stuff so that we are able to rest in the presence of God. Through Centering Prayer, we practice becoming aware of, then surrendering, thoughts to God so that this surrender becomes a habit and, eventually, a way of life. Unlike any other form of meditation, Centering Prayer doesn’t focus on a particular word or thought. Rather, Centering Prayer is done with intention, not attention. By turning our intention to our awareness of God, our attention does not go to an object or focus on any one thing. This is an “objectless awareness” and surrender to the gaze of God. Many who practice Centering Prayer struggle with their thoughts and complain that they cannot stop their “monkey-mind”. They find themselves getting “hooked” into a stream of thought, becoming frustrated with their inability to clear their mind. This line of reasoning; however, implies that we are asked to renounce our thoughts, push them away as if that’s even possible. Instead, Centering Prayer is a gentle surrender of thoughts, a letting go, a release and turning over of thoughts and returning our awareness to God. Practitioners of this form of prayer often use what is called a “sacred word” which acts as a windshield wiper to our attention. When one realizes that a thought has brought his or her attention to something, the sacred word brings awareness to the need to release the thought and surrender attention to God. We do not do this on our own. In Centering Prayer we receive an enormous help from our subconscious. All we have to have is the willingness to be reminded that we are thinking; our hearts do the rest. In fact, the real gift of Centering Prayer is done in the noticing and surrender of the thought so that we can then return our awareness to God. The Guidelines of Centering Prayer:
Closing Prayer St. Teresa of Calcutta on Prayer I don’t think there is anyone who needs God’s help and grace as much as I do. Sometimes I feel so helpless and so weak. I think this is why God uses me. Because I cannot depend on my own strength, I rely on Him twenty-four hours a day. All of us must cling to God through prayer. My secret is simple: I pray. Through prayer, I become one in love with Christ. I realize that praying to Him is loving Him. We cannot find God in noise or agitation. Nature: trees, flowers, and grass grow in silence. The stars, the moon, and the sun move in silence. What is essential is not what we say, but what God tells others through us. In silence He listens to us; in silence He speaks to our souls. In silence we are granted the privilege of listening to His voice. Silence of our eyes, Silence of our ears. Silence of our minds, …In the silence of the heart God will speak. View St. Teresa of Calcutta’s message to those struggling with prayer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WupB22jXUcY&t=4s  Discipleship Habit #1: Pray Every Day
Week 12 Grow into Jesus AND Each Other Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, we praise You for You are patient! You lovingly wait for us to come to You and long to listen to us. Forgive us for the times in our lives when we have not drawn close to You in prayer. In Your Scripture You tell us, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6 - 7) We claim this promise. Thank You for being so available to us. Help us to know that You long to meet with us in prayer. Lord, teach us how to pray. Give us the desire to get to know You in prayer every day and the discipline to guard our prayer time when busyness tempts us away from You. Jesus, we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection As turning to Jesus in prayer becomes a habit in your life, you will not only grow in friendship with Him, you will also grow into deeper friendship with His people, both near and far. We grow into Jesus and each other at the same time. But the only way for any of this to start happening is for us to start praying. We need to start making prayer a habit if it isn’t already. Like the mustard seed, we need to start small so Jesus can help our prayer grow into something big. So, practice taking at least 10 minutes a day to have a conversation with the Lord. Speak to Him from your heart and listen to Him dwelling in your soul. Foster the habit of personal prayer to encounter Christ! This month, we explore how Jesus prayed to His Father. He had to find time amidst all the needs of others. He had to find a quiet place, to go away. He had to carve out time for God in both his schedule and in his heart. Jesus faced some of the same challenges in prayer as we do today. Jesus invites you, here and now, to a life of deeper prayer and a life of deeper discipleship. If you ask, you will receive. If you seek, you will find. If you knock, the door will be opened for you. What small 10 minute activity can you put aside to make room for your conversation with Jesus each day? Praying with Scripture Mark 1:32 - 39 When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to Jesus all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and He drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew Him. Rising very early before dawn, Jesus left and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed. Simon and those who were with Him pursued Him and on finding Him said, “Everyone is looking for You.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose, have I come.” So, He went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee. Reflection At the beginning of this passage, what time is it? Based on the text, what kind of a day has it been for Jesus? How do you think he was feeling at the end of it? What obstacles did Jesus have to overcome to be able to spend time in prayer? What obstacles in your life make it difficult for you to spend time in prayer? In this passage, what time did Jesus choose to pray? What time of day works best for you to pray? In this passage, where did Jesus choose to pray? What physical space or place in your home or community can you go to pray daily? What might you need to do to make that place an easier place for you to pray? How do you think Jesus is calling you right now through this passage? How are you going to respond? Praying with Lectio Divina The Scriptures are God’s Word revealed to his people. He continues to speak to us through them today. Learning to listen to God speak through Scripture is like learning any new language. It takes practice. One way the Church has taught us to listen to God speaking through the Scripture is Lectio Divina. Begin by selecting a passage from Sacred Scripture with which you may wish to pray. Some suggestions might be: John 10:1 – 21: Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and He knows me by name. Luke 5:27 – 32: Jesus comes to people just like me. Luke 15:1-7: Jesus comes after us, even when we’re lost. Mark 9:14 – 29: Sometimes I don’t have enough faith; help me have more, O Lord. Matthew 14:13 – 21: Jesus heals and feeds all hungry people. Isaiah 43:1 – 7: You are precious in my eyes, and I love You. Lectio Divina can also be used to reflect on a spiritual writing: The task of taking God to others is not that of handing somebody a Bible or some religious literature, but of transubstantiating God the way we do with the food we eat. We have to digest something and turn it, physically, into the flesh of our own bodies so it becomes part of what we look like. If we would do this with the word of God, others would not have to read the Bible to see what God is like, they would need only to look at our faces and our lives to see God. (The Holy Longing, p. 102) Lectio Divina method:
Closing Prayer Show me, O Lord, Your mercy, and delight my heart with it. Let me find You whom I so longingly seek. See, here is the man/woman whom the robbers seized, mishandled, and left half dead on the road to Jericho. O kindhearted Samaritan come to my aid! I am the sheep who wandered into the wilderness – seek after me and bring me home again to Your fold. Do with me what You will, that I may stay by You all the days of my life and praise You with all those who are with You in heaven for all eternity. St. Jerome Discipleship Habit #1: Pray Every Day
Week 11 Lord, Teach Me to Pray We have spent the first three months of our Discipleship Journey exploring our relationship with God and discerning Jesus’ invitation for us. For the upcoming months we delve deeper into the six habits of discipleship: Prayer, Scripture, Mass, Sacrament of Reconciliation, Service, and Community Life. During this month we will focus on the habit of Prayer. Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, we praise You for You are patient! You lovingly wait for us to come to You and long to listen to us. Forgive us for the times in our lives when we have not drawn close to You in prayer. In Your Scripture You tell us, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6 - 7) We claim this promise. Thank You for being so available to us. Help us to know that You long to meet with us in prayer. Lord, teach us how to pray. Give us the desire to get to know You in prayer every day and the discipline to guard our prayer time when busyness tempts us away from You. Jesus, we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection: On Prayer As turning to Jesus in prayer becomes a habit in your life, you will not only grow in friendship with Him, you will also grow into deeper friendship with His people, both near and far. We grow into Jesus and each other at the same time. But the only way for any of this to start happening is for us to start praying. We need to start making prayer a habit if it isn’t already. Like the mustard seed, we need to start small so Jesus can help our prayer grow into something big. So, practice taking at least 10 minutes a day to have a conversation with the Lord. Speak to Him from your heart and listen to Him dwelling in your soul. Foster the habit of personal prayer to encounter Christ! This month, we explore how Jesus prayed to His Father. He had to find time amidst all the needs of others. He had to find a quiet place to go away. He had to carve out time for God in both His schedule and in His heart. Jesus faced some of the same challenges in prayer as we do today. Jesus invites you, here and now, to a life of deeper prayer and a life of deeper discipleship. If you ask, you will receive. If you seek, you will find. If you knock, the door will be opened for you. How might you be open to a deeper call from Jesus through a habit of daily prayer? What might you discover about yourself, or about Jesus, in your conversation with Him? Discipleship Habit #1: Pray Every Day The first habit of discipleship that we want to explore is the call to “Pray Every Day”. This is the habit that finds the disciple in regular personal conversation with Jesus as a close friend. Recognizing that faith is first and foremost about a relationship with the person of Jesus, the habit of personal prayer is how we open up the lines of communication to build and grow that relationship. Simply put, daily prayer is the habit of spending time with our friend, Jesus. It’s that simple and that amazing! Just as we would with any good friend, in prayer, we take time to set distractions aside and be truly present with Him. We spend quality time, both telling Him about what’s happening in our lives and listening to Him. We tell Him the things that we love about Him and apologize when we hurt Him. Sometimes we’re just together in silence, appreciating each other. Because we are talking to a good friend, we need not worry about what to say or how to say it. In prayer, you can just speak from your heart. Go ahead and tell Him everything – your hopes, your fears, your dreams, your doubts, and your needs. The more you go to Jesus in prayer with everything in your life, the more Jesus will become everything for your life – and that’s the goal! As turning to Jesus in prayer becomes a habit in your life, you will not only grow in friendship with Him, you will also grow into deeper friendship with His people, both near and far. In fact, that’s the ultimate litmus test of true prayer: Are we also growing in love and forgiveness with our family members, friends, co-workers, mild acquaintances, and even our enemies? As Jesus teaches us in the Our Father, prayer is always the simultaneous movement of hallowing God’s name and longing that all people receive their daily bread. We grow into Jesus and each other at the same time. The danger in not having the proper interiority (intimacy with God) and the personal moral fidelity to back up our faith preaching is that we end up turning Christianity into a philosophy, an ideology, and a moral code, but ultimately missing what Christianity is all about, a relationship with a real person. (Holy Longing, pg. 63) Describe a time when you talked with a friend who really listened to you and understood you. How did you feel? What happened? Lord, Teach Me to Pray In the 11th Chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, we find Jesus teaching His disciples to pray. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus did so much more than teach His disciples a simple prayer for them to recite. The Lord’s Prayer is, truly, the prayer of disciples. It provides us, not only with the ultimate prayer, but also a roadmap of how we are to live. How so? Read the passage below from Luke 11:1 – 4, 9 – 10. Here, we find the disciples come to Jesus and ask, “Lord, teach me to pray.” In other words, much like many of us, they weren’t sure how to pray either. Like many of us, they wondered if they had the right words. They knew that Jesus had a powerful connection to God, the Father – and they wanted that for themselves. They wanted to pray, they wanted to grow in relationship with God – but they weren’t sure where to start. And so, Jesus taught them how. The foundation of discipleship is prayer. Luke 11:1 – 4, 9 – 10 [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after He had finished, one of his disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial. So, I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” If God knows our needs, why do we need to ask? If we didn’t ask, would we still receive the same answers to our needs? The word Jesus uses for Father is closer to the meaning of Daddy. Does this change the feeling of the prayer for you? Why do you think Jesus told us to say Our Father instead of My Father? Do you think He did that intentionally? What does this mean for us? Hallowed be Your name: Why would we praise God’s name? Is there something special about God’s name? What other names is God called? Your kingdom come: What kind of a world do you long for? What would it be like if we prayed for and followed God’s will instead of our own? Give us each day our daily bread: What do you need to get through the day? Does God know what you need? Do you trust Him to give you what you need? And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us: Have you ever thought about these words as you prayed them? Would you want God to forgive you the same way/to the same degree that you forgive others? Why or why not? Who do you need to forgive? And do not bring us to the time of trial: What are the greatest sources of temptations for you? God doesn’t tempt us, but He allows us to be tempted. Why do you think He does that? What are some of the trials you are facing? What would it look like to be delivered from these trials? Closing Prayer Our Father – A Reflection Our Father Who Art In Heaven – O Creator, You made all things in love. All of creation is a blessing emanating from You. Hallowed Be Thy Name – Help us to let go, to clear the space inside of busy forgetfulness so that You can come and reside within us. Thy Kingdom Come – Let Your counsel rule our lives; unite our “I can” to Yours so that, together, we can bring forth a new world of peace. Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven – As we find Your love in ours, let Your heart’s fervent desire move us beyond ourselves to help bring about a new way of being. Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread – Grant what we need each day in bread and insight; sustenance for the call of growing life. And Forgive Us Our Trespasses As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us – Loose the cords of mistakes that bind us, as we release the strands we hold of other’s guilt. And Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil – Don’t let surface things distract us; free us from the things that hold us back from our true purpose. AMEN Jesus Calls Us to Follow Him
Week 10 Jesus is Calling You – Yes, YOU!! Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, we praise You. You are wise. In Your perfect plan, You invite us into Your life. You lovingly seek us in our daily lives and offer us the free gift of a relationship with You. Forgive us for the times we’ve failed to recognize and respond to Your call in our lives. In Your Scripture You tell us, “It was not you who chose Me, but I who chose you.” (John 15:16) Thank you for choosing us and inviting us into the adventure of following You. Help us to know, not just with our head but with our whole being, that You seek each one of us and call us to follow You as Your faithful disciples. Lord, give us the desire and dedication to follow You with all our hearts. Jesus, we trust in You. We make this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN Reflection John 15:12 - 16 This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend. You are My friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from My Father. It was not you who chose Me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. What kind of friend is Jesus? What does Jesus think about or feel about His friends? What seem to be the qualities of Jesus’ friends, His disciples? What challenges do you face that keep you from Jesus? As you pray about Jesus’ friendship with you, how do you think He’s calling you right now? Hopefully, each day you find it easier to find time to pray, and prayer becomes more familiar and more natural. There are still times, however, when prayer may seem dry. Virtually every pray-er throughout human history has experienced moments of dryness, days where it seemed difficult to pray or even find time to pray. Even some of the most revered saints in history experienced this! Remember that growing in relationship with Jesus, and deepening one’s prayer life takes TIME. Just as an athlete doesn’t run a 10K overnight, so too growing in prayer takes time and daily effort. You may not notice any growth from one day to the next, but by striving consistently, you will grow closer to Jesus – the greatest goal of all!! As you pray with how Jesus is calling you – yes, YOU – personally and deeply, continue to ask God for what you need the most right now to experience closeness to Him. Ask God for that which you need. And be sure to pray this week for those in our parish family that are also walking in this journey with you. What would a deeper prayer life look like to you? Gradually step into that this week. Closing Prayer The goods that we offer are gifts from You: Our lives with all their freedom, our distracted minds, our often-weak wills, and failing memories. These are our gifts to You. Hear our simple prayer: When we are weak, be our strength; when we doubt, be our faith; when we’re discouraged, be our hope; and when we’re lost, come and find us. When we’re hungry, be our food, when we’re thirsty, be our drink; when we’re in darkness, be our light, and when we’re sad, be our comfort and joy. Let us feel Your touch in all we say and do. Let us grow and blossom in Your love. Grant us this, Lord, and there’s nothing more we want until we see You face to face. Take all we have and all we are; give us Your love and Your grace, with these we are full, yes, we’re full. Mike Moynahan, SJ |
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