Retroactive Prayer

 What do you think?  I'm defining retroactive prayer as praying for things that have happened in the past.  I am not thinking about changing history, that's done.  I'm thinking of changing what happened to people.

For example, you have cancer, or were fired, or a beloved died, etc. traumatic tragedy that befell you. The event is de facto.  However, praying does have the ability to change attitudes and not only the person praying, but others, as well. Doctors say that patients have healed faster than expected.  You aren't as devasted and are handling things better than expected.  

Time changes the way people look at events.  People mature.  Perhaps prayer did work.

We Catholics pray for our deceased to be in eternal peace.  Doesn't God's power reach where it wills.  

"Nothing can hinder the Lord," and "All things are possible with God." (1 Samuel 14:6, Mark 10:27)

Plans Gone Arway

 God's sense of humor is sometimes at my expense.  My plans today included a walk to the library.  Since it's cloudy, I checked the weather forecast.  Rain was not predicted for a couple of hours.  I had plenty of time.

On my walk, I passed by a bird bath.  There was no water in it, yet a little swallow was sitting on its edge.  I thought, not prayed-really, just thought that we could use a little rain.  The second that thought left my brain, rain poured down. Immediately, I thought, Lord, when I request serious needs, You ignore me.  But a thought to You, not even a prayer of petition, and You fulfill it!  Very funny.

I weighed my options: I could continue my walk and get to the library, drenched; I could duck into the church, which was nearby.  I thought the rain may be God's way of getting me into the church, so I went in.

I was on my way to sit in front of the Tabernacle, when I heard my name called.  Two ladies I casually know, were calling me.  They volunteer for St. Vincent de Paul and were working.  By the time, we finished our talk, it had stopped raining. 

It was a short shower.  I never made it to the Tabernacle.

At the library, a good friend, whom I haven't seen in quite a while, called me over.  

My plans never included getting wet.  On the other hand, my plans didn't include the blessings of friends.  

Thanks be to God.

How to Pray

 When someone changes religion, I wish them well.  After all, they're searching for a relationship with God.  Good luck to them.  But.

But when they're leaving the God you know to become a witch, what then?  How can I wish them luck?  I'm at a loss, as what to do. 

I can't be thankful for their finding a faith they're comfortable in.  Can I?

Please join me in praying this way:

Let's pray that God helps them to find a true path to Him.

Pray that God shows them what to do.

Pray that God gives them understanding.

Pray for me, for the grace of patience, and to say the right thing.

Conversational Prayer

 What else do you call it?  Heartfelt prayer--but isn't the Our Father prayer, heartfelt?  It can be.  

But what do you call it when you are riding in the car and carry on a conversation with God as if He were sitting in the passenger seat?

    What a beautiful day!  Thank you, Lord.

    Ooops!  There goes an ambulance.  Let's

    pray for the person in need, and also the

    loved ones of that person.  Oh look.  A 

    speed trap.  I'm inclined to pray for the

    cop not to catch anyone. But again, maybe

    catching someone speeding will save their 

    life or another's life.  You know best, Lord.

     I leave it up to you.

See.  That's what I mean as conversational prayer.  I do this all day.  My favorite prayer though is Lectio Divina.  Then there are rote prayers, like the Rosary, Litanies, Novena's and Chaplets.  Lest I forget the Mass.  During the Mass all the above prayers are used.  Plus music.  Since I'm not a music person, I never think of praying with music.  If it weren't for music during the Mass, I would never sing to God.  

I was telling this to God, the other day.  He said that He gave me a good voice.  I told Him that I didn't think so and if He did, why didn't He give me the talent to carry a tune?  

We argued about it for a while until I tried to sing Here I Am.  That abruptly ended the conversation.

St. Bernard and the Spider

 

 This morning I was reading in my Breviary.  Today is a memorial to St. Bernard.  As I prayed and contemplated, I spotted a spider crawling on the table.  I watched it progress towards me.  It actually had the chutzpah to creep onto my prayer book.  Blasphemy!  Abomination!

Of course, God created all things, spiders too.  I know that, but spiders bite and I did not kill him for pleasure.  

One could think that I helped the spider to his heavenly home sooner rather than later.

Okay.  I slammed the book closed on it.

That was the end of my Office of Reading.  I didn't do Morning Prayer, either.  Nor Noon Day Prayer.

I just sat down now, to pray Vespers.  I opened the book gingerly.  There the culprit lie.  Right underneath the antiphon:

Come to me in your distress and I will save you.

I'm sorry I'm not sorry.

Praying Perfect Prayers

 There's an expression: Fake it till you make it.  Some things can't be reached.  I'm thinking of praying perfect prayers. It's part of the human condition to have distractions.  Mother Theresa once said, "God doesn't ask for perfection.  He asks for faithfulness."  

Thank God for that.

Don't Stop Praying

I often feel prayer is useless, especially long devotions, litanies, novena and specifically the rosary.  I know.  I pray a rosary every day, but as a Lay Dominican, that's a rule.  I pray the rosary because I follow the rule.  Besides, my prayer partner calls me to it.  

However, this story from Warriors to Lourdes Pilgrimage hit me in my mind and heart.  I have hope and better belief, that prayer is not useless.  I believe it.

 "In 2001, Richard Johnson suffered a major knee injury during an operation in Kosovo. He was given strong painkillers, which led him into an addiction that gradually dragged him into the abyss.

He spent the next 14 years in growing isolation and despair. When his family — practicing Catholics with a proud tradition of military service — lost all influence over him, they resolved to support him by prayer, from a distance.

“My family grieved me as I was basically gone,” Richard, 47, told CNA during the May 10-16 Warriors to Lourdes

 pilgrimage. “I spent years in darkness, with no thought, no emotion. I felt I completely lost my soul, while my mom was praying the rosary continuously.”

He is aware, with hindsight, that it is thanks to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary that he emerged into the light.

In 2014, he experienced a psychotic break in which he lost all contact with reality. It took four years for him to come through it.

“One night, in 2018, in a totally sudden way, I heard the first thought in my mind in four years,” he recalled. “And I know now that all was connected. At that point, I felt what I would describe as a flood of grace. I felt at peace, started to feel emotions again, my soul was coming back.”

That night, Richard felt compelled to pray, even though he had cut himself off from his childhood faith as a teenager after his parents’ divorce, some 20 years earlier. A week later, a strong will to pray the rosary arose in him.

“I asked a Catholic friend I had in the Army to help me pray as I had forgotten everything,” he said. “Then I started reconnecting with people, with my faith and Scripture, and I became a completely new person.

Pretzels

 Making pretzels was a disaster. This is a picture of a couple of the best!  And they tasted worse than they look.

It's Lent.  Pretzels look like monks praying with their arms crossed.  At least, that's what they're supposed to represent.

Orans

The fifth way of praying for St. Dominic is opening and closing the hands and arms.  Picture someone pleading to God.  We are more than halfway through this novena to St. Dominic.

The Aluminum Mysteries

Every 6:00 PM, I "facetime" my prayer partner and we pray the Rosary.  He cracks me up.  He mispronounces some words and can't stop yawning, while we pray.  Tonight he only yawned six times. We count.

Since today is Thursday, we meditated on the Luminous Mysteries of the rosary, which he mispronounces as the "aluminum mysteries." 

He always wants to put in the announcing of a mystery, "the repentance of Jesus."

What?  Huh?

There's no repentance mystery? 

No.

You sure?

Yes.

How to Pray the Rosary from the Heart

An article in Belief Net on Five Ways to Pray the Rosary More Deeply has a misleading title. It really is just clickbait.  You have to jump from slide to slide to read the next paragraph.  They really weren't steps or methods, they were just nominal explaining praying.

Now I have a love/hate relationship with the rosary.  When I first became a Lay Dominican, I started praying the rosary because it is part of our rule.  I couldn't do it.  I have a monkey brain that won't let me focus.  My spiritual director tried to help me.  The best thing he could have said was St. Therese of Lisieux hated praying the rosary too.  She said she wouldn't pray the rosary if it weren't part of her rule.  That's exactly how I felt.

But I dutifully tried praying the rosary, every day.

Now, after some twenty-something years, I haven't come to love the rosary, but it is part of my life. I NEED to pray the rosary.  Along the way, I have picked up some ways to make me stay focused, interested, and pray more heartfully. 

(1)  Try praying with one of the Rosary TV programs.
(2)   "       "           "      "     "  "       "       Radio   ".
(3)  Buy a Rosary CD and pray along.  Dana and Fr. Scanlon are nice.  Another favorite is David Hass praying the Rosary of St. James.
(4)  Break up the rosary by only praying decades at a time, e.i., first when you awake, second before lunch, third in the afternoon, fourth before supper, fifth before bed.
(5)  Add names to the last sentence in the Hail Mary, e.i., "...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my mother, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."

Presently, I use a combination of # 4 and # 5.  Once in a while, I will go back to # 3 or even pray the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, which I learned about when I read Immaculee Ilibagiza's Left to Tell.

Presently, upon rising in the morning, on the first decade, I pray for my family: ...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my husband and name him, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my godchildren and name them all, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my daughter______ , now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my daughter _____, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my son_____, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my son-in-law_____, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my son-in-law, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my daughter-in-law____, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my granddaughter_____, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
.Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my granddaughter____, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."

Before lunch the second decade is for the church:
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Pope Francis, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for the College of Cardinals, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, OP, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for USCCB, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Bishop Reed, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for all pastors, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Brian, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Al, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Jack, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."

In the afternoon the third decade is for the Order of Preachers:
..Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Master Gerard, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for the Master's socius, now and at the hour of their death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for fr. Salamanca, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Provincial, Fr. Ken, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Provincial Promoter, Fr. Carlos, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my fraternity's spiritual advisor, Fr. Nic, now and at the hour of his death.
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Provincial President, Kathy, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Lay Provincial Council, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Council President, Christina, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Lay Regional Council, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."

Before supper the fourth decade is for my own fraternity, my "cloistered brothers":
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my President, James, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my VP, Peter, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
..Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Treasurer, Milton, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my Formation Director, Moses, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for my delegate, Ruth, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Denis, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Wayne, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Tony, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Frank, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for all my "cloistered brothers," now and at the hour of their death.  Amen."

My last decade is at bedtime for my friends:
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Donna, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Merril and Judy, now and at the hour of their deaths.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Christine, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Joan, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Joe, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Rocco, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Fr. Aniello, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Jordi, now and at the hour of his death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Pat, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."
...Holy Mary Mother of God pray for Marina, now and at the hour of her death.  Amen."

Hail, Holy Queen

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and, after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Pray for us O holy mother of God, * that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Rosary Prayer

Let us pray. * O God, whose only-begotten Son by his life, death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life; grant, we beseech thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

MEN !!!!

No, I don't want to do Lectio Divina. I want God to listen, not talk. 

 I'm pissed. (Excuse the language but Thesaurus doesn't have a synonym for "pissed.")  In Morning Prayer, the reading is from Acts 6: 2b-5a:

"It is not right for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.  Look around your own number, brothers, for seven men acknowledged to be deeply spiritual and prudent, and we shall appoint them to this task.  This will permit us to concentrate on prayer and the ministry of the world."  The proposal was unanimously accepted by the community.

This reading is what set me off.  You can tell men wrote this.  Why does it have to be either, or? Why can't it be both, and?  I'll tell you why.  Because these apostles were men and the writers were men, that's why.  Men have one track minds.  Women wait on their families all the time while doing other tasks!  If the apostles were incapable of waiting on tables and evangelizing why didn't they take turns preaching and serving others?

Note that the requirement for serving was seven spiritual and prudent men. Weren't the apostles spiritual?  Were they foolish?  So whom did they assign the task of serving?  If the servers were spiritual why weren't they evangelizing?  If one can wait on tables then one can preach to others; that's a people skill.

Grrrrrr.

What about witnessing?

The apostles should have given us a good example of serving others by waiting on tables AND preaching the Word.  Jesus gave them the example of washing feet; did they pick seven others to do that task so they could concentrate on prayer?  How did they define ministry?

And don't get me started on Martha and Mary!  That was written by men, too--obviously.

Not Your Usual Prayers

This article in Aleteia caught my eye.  It is talking about dangerous prayers.  The article's author, Elizabeth Scalia says that Flannery O'Connor once said, " my prayers take a line through Flannery O’ Connor: “Lord, I’ll never be a saint but I might be a martyr if they can kill me quickly!”

I'm even worse.  I will try to be a normal, ordinary saint, but please Lord, never a martyr. I'm such a coward.

The article's eye-grabbing headline is "Dangerous Prayers."  I won't be a spoiler.  Read the article to see what they are.

IOW

IOW is internet slang for "in other words."  It occurred to me, as I was pray ing, that God and I have our own intimate, personal slang.  I carry on a conversation with God, just as if he were my constant companion, all day.  Well, He is.  And this is my preferred prayer.  I often pray formal prayers, e..i. Rosary.  But I "yak" to Him all day.  Even when doing Lectio Divina, I point out things and ask questions.

I'm comfortable with God and share my thoughts and heart with Him.  Yes, He talks back.  Not audibly, but I sense in my heart, i.e., feelings of consolation, a sense of trust, comfort.   My thoughts shoot out to Him, like internet slang

 I don't even need words.

Think of Jeremiah's conversation with God, "You will be in the right, O Lord, when I lay charges against you; but let me put my case to you." Jeremiah 12: 1.  Even though He's God and knows what I'm going to say before I say, I reiterate it.  It helps me, not Him. In this way, I find myself walking with God, all day.  It makes me continuously conscious of Him. 

Blessing Yourself Before Swimming

Back in the day, we all did it.  At least, all Catholics did this.  Before entering the water, not bath, but pools, lakes, ponds, and the ocean, we bent down to dip our fingers in the water and blessed ourselves--in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  A prayer to the Trinity to unite ourselves to God and protection from harm (drowning).  So I was not surprised that Katie Ledecky prays.  She's not being overly devotional, just smart.

World record-holder swimmer still says 'a prayer -- or two -- before any race': WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Four years ago, at age 15, swimmer Katie Ledecky won Olympic gold in the women's 800-meter freestyle. Since then Ledecky, who attended Catholic schools in Bethesda, Maryland, has

Jesus Walk With Me

Yesterday's experiment failed.  Bert said that when he asked God, "Jesus walk with me," his head involuntarily popped up.  He couldn't put it back down.  And he challenged me to ask Jesus to walk with me.

I did.

Nothing happened.  My head stayed down and I continued walking with my head down.  I was trying to think if I had said the wrong thing, done it wrong, etc.  Then I thought how silly it all was.  Jesus doesn't come when magic words are spoken.  He's here, all the time.  He doesn't obey us; we obey Him.  We don't command Him--WALK.  So I walked and prayed, meditating upon these thoughts.  So Bert's head popped up involuntarily.  Maybe God was showing him the way.  Maybe Bert should look ahead.  Whatever!  Whatever God is doing with Bert is his business.  And I trust God to show me my way.

Jesus walk with me.

I Said a Prayer for You

This morning I went to Mass at a neighboring parish.  I go a bit early just in case the parishioners pray a rosary and if not then I can do it privately.  I prayed it myself.  But while I prayed I observed the people coming in to Mass.  What kind of people go to Mass daily?  Do they look needy?  Do they look sad?  Do they look happy?

What are they thinking about?  Who or what are they praying?

There was one lady in particular that looked like she needed prayers.  Duh.  She came to Mass to pray!  Anyway, I prayed for her intentions.  Then it occurred to me to look at each person and do that.  All too soon that became impossible.  There were more than 30 people there and Mass began.

Then all our guardian angels brought all our intentions up to the altar.  Thank God I'm Catholic.

Time Not Wasted

I noticed today when traffic was stopped, due to an accident, that I wasn't exasperated.  My reaction was "Good.  Now I can finish praying my rosary."

I guess I pray all day.  I talk to God like He was with me.  Well, He is.  Always.

What would I do if I weren't a prayerful person?  Drumming my fingers on the steering wheel?  Trying to find a good radio station?  Calling friends on my cell phone?

I welcome all the inconvenient stops.  "Good.  I can pray."

My Prayer Style

I was reading how Al Kresta prays.  He's the honcho of Ave Maria Radio.  I liked best how he didn't fret over not having a set schedule of devotional prayers.  His life makes a set schedule impossible.  I thing most of us can relate.

He is responding to a series, "How I Pray" on the blog Patheos: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godandthemachine/2015/03/how-i-pray-al-kresta/

He does what he can, when he can.  I'll add that I think his perseverence is the best prayer.  He called it his prayer style.  You have to find your prayer style.  What others do probably won't fit no more than Saul's armor fit David.

My prayer style is a constant attempt to live and pray as a Lay Dominican.  I pray the Liturgy of the Hours and Rosary.  I do Lectio Divina and the Rosary.  I also am supposed to go to Daily Mass.  Conversely, when I worked, I did.  But now that I'm retired, I usually don't.  I feel guilty about it.  You see, when I worked I went to daily Mass before work--always.  However, now that I'm retired, I don't wake up early enough to go to Mass.  I would, definitely, if I could find a local noon Mass.  But I do try.

I also pray novenas, now and then, depending on circumstances.  All day, I pray the Jesus prayer.  I turn the common ejaculation, O My God, into a prayer, which is an easy thing to do since the ejaculation either calls for a prayer of praise or of despair.

Well!  I'm surprised my style is so devotional.  I didn't think that was me.  I was wrong.  I guess I'm pious and devotional and that's my style.

Calling All Prayer Warriors

Help! I've lost my niece's passport and she is going to need it next week.  Pray.  Please.

Tony, Tony,
Please come down.                            
A passport's lost
And must be found.

Our Lady,
Undoer of knots,
Please untie the
mystery of where
I put that
passport.

It goes without repeating, that I ask all through Christ,
Our Lord.  Amen