|
Pray? At my computer?
Try it
It might seem strange to pray at your computer, in front of a screen, especially if there are other people around you, or distracting noises. But God is everywhere, all around us, constantly reaching out to us, even in the most unlikely situations. When we know this, and with a bit of practice, we can pray anywhere!
The following pages will guide you through a session of prayer, in six stages, including preparing your body and mind, and culminating in reflection on a scripture passage chosen specially for the day. The stages are:
|
The Presence of God
•
Freedom
•
Consciousness
•
The Word
•
Conversation
•
Conclusion
|
|
|
|
|
Although they are written in the first person -- "I" -- the prayers are for doing, rather than for reading out. Each stage is a kind of exercise or meditation aimed at helping you get in touch with God, and God's presence in your life.
The following is an excerpt of the ten-minute guide to prayer, from modern Jesuit writers.
http://www.sacredspace.ie
Something to think and pray about this week:
Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. What are my treasures? What persons, places, occupations, memories, ambitions does my heart gravitate towards when it is free? I take up each of these, picture them, taste their sweetness; and to each I say with tenderness: You are precious to me, but you are not my life. I have a life to live, and a destiny to meet, that is separate from you.
This may be an agonising prayer. If we are caught between two loves, it can be torture to choose. Suppose my treasures are things that seem to constitute my very being; can I endure the loss of the people I love most, or my health, my ideals, my good name, even my life? Can I stand before God and say:
You, Lord, are my life. I gave my heart to you. Prayer can be painful.
The Presence of God
As I sit here, the beating of my heart,
the ebb and flow of my breathing, the movements of my mind
are all signs of God's ongoing creation of me.
I pause for a moment, and become aware
of this presence of God within me.
Freedom
I ask for the grace
to let go of my own concerns
and be open to what God is asking of me,
to let myself be guided and formed by my loving Creator.
Consciousness
How am I really feeling? Lighthearted? Heavy-hearted?
I may be very much at peace, happy to be here.
Equally, I may be frustrated, worried or angry.
I acknowledge how I really am. It is the real me that the Lord loves.
The Word
I read the Word of God slowly, a few times over,
and I listen to what God is saying to me.
Matthew 18:18-20
Jesus said to the disciples, "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
What are you saying to me, Lord?
Conversation
What is stirring in me as I pray?
Am I consoled, troubled, left cold?
I imagine Jesus himself standing or sitting at my side,
and share my feelings with him.
Conclusion
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Daily Offering
O Loving Jesus,
in the Eucharist you join us with yourself
in your offering to the Father.
Help me to live out that offering
in all that I do and say today.
Send down your Holy Sprit
to guide me and enable me to live
in imitation of you
I pray with Mary and the whole Church
For the Pope's intentions this month.
|
Reflection for the month - Advanced Civilisation
We invite you to join the Pope and Christians throughout the world in reflecting on his prayer intentions for August: |
|
We all have reasons to be grateful for the advances in medical, scientific and technological research in the last century. Many of us owe our lives to medical advances. Certainly we all benefit from modern means of transport and labour saving devices in the home, and what would we do in the evening without the TV?
Yet within living memory technology has given us the means to totally destroy our planet. Our present consumption of the world's resources cannot be sustained indefinitely. Arguably the next couple of generations will need to change the emphasis from developments which make life easier and more luxurious for the few, to those which benefit the many, and can be sustained for generations.
We in the Church need to encourage the spirit of public service with its working for the common good.
|
The Presence of God
I pause for a moment
and think of the love and the grace that God showers on me,
creating me in his image and likeness, making me his temple.
Freedom
"In these days, God taught me
as a schoolteacher teaches a pupil"(St Ignatius).
I remind myself that there are things God has to teach me yet,
and ask for the grace to hear them and let them change me.
Consciousness
Knowing that God loves me unconditionally,
I look honestly over the last day, its events and my feelings.
Do I have something to be grateful for? Then I give thanks.
Is there something I am sorry for? Then I ask forgiveness.
The Word
I take my time to read the Word of God, slowly, a few times,
allowing myself to dwell on anything that strikes me.
Luke 21:1-4
Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on."
What are you saying to me, Lord?
Conversation
What feelings are rising in me
as I pray and reflect on God's Word?
I imagine Jesus himself sitting or standing near me
and open my heart to him.
Conclusion
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
|
