The Life of Prayer Chapter Three of Part Four of the Catechism

Prayer: the life of the new heart Our hearts of stone will be taken away and we will be given hearts of flesh Prayer is the life of that new heart that should animate us at every minute We are called to pray always, but that is only possible with special times for payer or a certain duration and intensity

When to Pray Natural rhythms During the day: morning and evening, before meals, liturgy of the hours Sundays are made holy especially by payer Follow the Liturgical calendar Be in God’s presence always, composure or recollection of heart

Three Expressions of Prayer There are three main expressions of prayer Vocal prayer Meditation (helped by books, especially the Bible, icons, beauty of creation) Contemplative Prayer

Vocal Prayer By words, mental or vocal, our thoughts take flesh It is not the number of words, but the fervor of soul, that makes our prayer heard Jesus prayed and taught to pay vocally (a well as silently) We are body and spirit, so we need to get our bodies involved as is natural External homage renders to God what is due Vocal prayer is given to group prayer It is the beginning of mental prayer if we are mindful

Meditation Meditation here means meditative prayer as a whole. Sometimes the word is used for a particular step of meditative prayer where thinking predominates Meditation is a quest to understand the why and the how of the Christian life, and to adhere to what Jesus is asking of us It is difficult to maintain attentiveness

Elements of Meditation Reading, Scripture, the Gospels, Liturgical texts, Spiritual classics Looking at icons or other holy images Creation and history Our own lives We ourselves confront what we read and gain clarity and correction

Methods of Meditation Various methods, important thing is to develop desire to meditate regularly The important thing is to advance along the path of prayer, Jesus, wit the Holy Spirit Thought, imagination, emotion and desire are involved Meditate above all the mysteries of Christ as in the Rosary and Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina Four ingredients to Lectio Divina Reading (lectio) Meditation, thinking (meditatio) affective dialogue with God (oratio) and contemplation (contemplatio) First I read myself full, then I think myself clear, then I pray myself hot, then I let myself go. All forms of mental prayer can have this sort of movement. We want to get to union with God.

Contemplative Prayer According to St. Teresa, it is a close sharing between friends, being with someone who you know loves you It is seeking Jesus, “whom my soul loves” and the Father in him. We seek him in faith, which causes us to live in him and be born of him We can still meditate in contemplative prayer, and contemplation is the proper development of meditation. Our attention is fixed on our Lord himself

When and Where we contemplate We need a determined will to pray. That will reveals the secret of our heart One has to make the time regardless of difficulty and dryness One can always enter into inner prayer even if feeling weak We abide with the Lord in our recollected hearts under the prompting of the Holy Spirit We “let our masks fall off” as we offer God ourselves, purified and transformed

Who we pray as We pray as a child to a loving Father We pray as forgiven sinners who respond to the love with which we are loved with more love The love we are returning is itself a gift of the Holy Spirit Contemplative prayer is humble surrender to the will of the Father in greater union with his beloved Son

Contemplative Prayer as a Facet of Grace Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer It is a grace that can only be accepted in poverty (there is usually a distinction made between acquired and infused contemplation) It is a covenantal and familial relation in our hearts It is a communion with the Trinity that conforms us into the image of God It is an intense time of faith, love, and Christ’s dwelling

Contemplation as Vision “I look at him and he looks at me” Gazing at Jesus is to look away from ourselves His gaze and the light of his face enable us to see all things in his light and in his compassion Contemplation is interior knowledge of the Lord, so to love him and follow him better

Contemplative Prayer as Listening It is hearing the Word of God in silent love It is the attentiveness of the servant or child, not passivity: “like the eyes of the slave on the hands of the master” Ps 123:2 It is a yes of fiat to God The words that we speak in the overall silence are like branches thrown on the fire of love The Father speaks of things to us beyond all words

Contemplation as Union with Christ We can participate in the union with Christ The mysteries celebrated in the Eucharist come alive in contemplative prayer so that we can live out our charity Contemplation is a communion of love for the good of the Church such that it is willing to suffer the night of faith The one “hour” of Jesus passes through the night of agony and the night in the tomb to the night of the resurrection. We follow that pattern

Contemplation and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit Contemplative prayer is an intense time of the our acting by means of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially Wisdom and Understanding Wisdom is a habit whereby we know about God, the Principle of all things, because we are made like him by charity Understanding is an intuition concerning the things of God whereby we understand according to the divine mode

Objections to Prayer In prayer we battle ourselves and the tempter Prayer is not simple psychological activity, mental voids, or ritual words and postures It is nor at odds with what you have to do It is not just our work but the Holy Spirit’s Prayer is the antidote to the ideas that the only truth is that verified by science and reason, that production and profit are the point of life, that pleasure is the highest good, that everything depends on activity Prayer is the love of beauty, rapture in God’s glory

Difficulties in Prayer The Art of Praying by Romano Guardini offers some realistic analysis of the difficulties Distractions are a call to recognize with humility where our hearts are, and renew our preferential option for Christ Vigilance for the Bridegroom’s coming Dryness is an ordinary stage of purification and acclimation in pure faith, or it could be from lack of conversion. Are we concerned for the things of God?

Temptations in Prayer Lack of faith, manifested not in incredulity so much as actual preferences: where are our hearts? Do we live by faith? Is God a last resort and not our rock? Acedia: a kind of sadness based on the difficulty of holiness. It comes from lax ascetical practices carelessness of the heart. It seems especially prevalent today

Is Our Prayer Heard? Why are we more concerned about our petitions being acceptable than our praise? Are we attuning ourselves to what we really need as only the Father knows? Do we have a divided heart? Christian prayer is a cooperation with God’s providence The Spirit prays in us. Transformation of the praying heart is the first answer to prayer Prayer should be focused more on the giver than the gift in imitation of Jesus who prays in us and with us All our petitions were gathered up on the Cross. Jesus prays for us that we may receive what we ask for in his name, and more, the Holy Spirit

Persevering in Love Love enables perseverance It is always possible to pray Prayer is of vital, that is, of life giving necessity. If we do not allow the Spirit to lead us we will fall into the slavery of sin Prayer and the Christian life are not separable. They concern the same love