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