Praying Scripture for a Change

I will be reviewing the book 'Praying for Scripture for a Change- An Introduction to Lectio Divina' by Dr. Tim Gray in the near future. For now I am so stinking inspired by this book that I thought I would write a few posts to highlight some of the best information I have read.

First let me say that this book rocks. But I suppose that is more of a review remark so let me try again:

The book begins by asking why we have difficulties with prayer. Personally I read books about saints who have these mystical experiences with prayer that completely amaze me. They engage with our Creator in a personal and unique way that I have never even come close to obtaining. The author writes 'The problem is not that we are exceptionally bad at praying compared to other people. The problem is that we are normal- which is to say, we are afflicted with the results of original sin.' p. 2

Oh..... that's why! Although not an excuse, it sure made me feel better! The effects of original sin have allowed our minds to turn to other things than God. We fight an ongoing battle that consists of our hearts desiring perfect union with God and our minds leading us astray. From this statement comes the thought 'How would I ever have something in common with perfection? If deep conversation is based on commonalities then I am in a lot of prayer trouble!'

Alas, the bridge of hope has come. Jesus Christ is the bridge that connects our imperfect souls to the Almighty. Jesus knows that we are terribly weak in nature and spent countless times teaching the disciples how to pray through example and words. He is the channel that draws us close to the Father. He is the bridge that knows no time or space and continually brings us to God. How beautiful!

The next key component is the power of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Gray writes, ' The reason anyone anywhere at any time has ever been moved to pray is because God, by His Spirit, was drawing them toward Him'. p. 7

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him". John 6:44

CCC 2560 "Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of Gods thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for Him".

Favorite line:

" We must never forget that prayers is God's invitation to enter into an intimate relationship of love and life with Him. If we forget that this is what is happening when we pray, we start treating prayer as simply an obligation , as a hoop that must be jumped through on order to avoid offending God and evoking his displeasure."

And this is just the introduction! This book is challenging me to look at my prayer life from all angles.

Render Unto Caesar

I am currently in the middle of the book Render Unto Caesar by Bishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M., Cap. and while I promise a full review when I am done this book has really caused me to re-evaluate the way I live my life as a catholic. Allow me to share with you what I read today: "If we look for opportunities to share our faith with others, God always provides them. This is why self-describing Catholics who live so anonymously that no one knows about their faith, Catholics who fail to prove by their actions what they claim to believe with their tongue, aren't really living as "Catholic"at all. It's also why asking Catholics to keep their faith out of public affairs amounts to telling them to be barren; to behave as if they were neutered. Nothing could be more alien to the meaning of baptism. The Christian idea of witness ...isn't limited to a bloody death in the arena for the faith. All Christians have the command to be a martyr in the public arena-to live a life of conscious witness wherever God places them, no matter how insignificant it seems and whether or not they ever see results."

As I read that passage I was struck, am I truly living as a Catholic or am I more like the anonymous who hides my faith away. I like to think that I am truly living out my vocation as a Catholic but now I wonder would a person know I was Catholic or even Christian after spending a day with me? I hope so, I like to think my faith pervades all that I do, but I know this was not always so. When I was younger I kept my faith to myself when I was among dissenting crowds and what a disservice I did to myself, the faith and those people. By baptism I am called to be a martyr no matter how small my sacrifice.

This passage has inspired me to become more aware of my faith and how I show it to the world, am I a good witness? I sure hope so but I must sadly admit it was a big step for me to put a pro-life sticker on my car. This whole passage has made me ponder my role in the pro-life movement am I a strong and clear voice of the truth? Am I doing all I can? As we draw nearer to the beginning of the 40 Days for Life campaign I plan on doing some real quality time in front of the Eucharist evaluating my role in the pro-life movement no matter how small I am, living it to the fullest as a martyr for my faith.

Fighting the good fight

Today as I sit here in my warm and cozy home I am full of so many mixed emotions, what a horrific day and yet what a day of hope. As you know today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade one of the most monumental and life changing decisions this country has made. Today is the day we said as a country that life no longer has intrinsic value, that someone else has the right to decide how much your life is worth. Ever since we have been sliding down a slippery slope towards a day that I hope never comes. Today I am unable to be in Washington along with all the faces of hope and I am so sad. I wish I could be there marching along side the brave men and women who are standing up for life. I wish I had a big banner to wave in the wind and proclaim my support of life and my abhorrence of this countries abortion policies, but instead I am at home praying and hoping that this is the year that our country will wake up. I pray that this is the year our president will have a major conversion and spearhead the movement towards valuing life. But most of all I pray that I will have the courage to do my part in the fight for life. I pray that I will not be complacent and that I will stand up for those that have no voice.

I am so hopeful when I hear of the large numbers of people in Washington marching for life ( est. at least 200,000!), how amazing and wonderful. As I sit here contemplating what I have done I know I can do more, I have a bumper sticker on my car but it is subtle maybe I need a more blatant one like my friend has ("Being Prochoice is easy when you are not the one being killed") and I know I need to pray in front of the clinics more and I know I need to offer up my intentions for pregnant women more often. There are so many things I should be doing, I truly hope in 2010 I will look back and know I fought the good fight. Until then I will keep praying and hoping and hopefully more and more will join the cause. I look forward to the day when I can say to my children today is the anniversary of the day we stopped killing babies!

Be sure to check out the powerful yet ironic video posted at Momopoly!

What now?

Well it's official Barack Obama is now our president and while this scares me to death I feel we must find a way as Christians to see the good. Mind you I am not saying support his stance on abortion or any other of his heinous ideas but I do feel there are a few bright-ish things we can focus on.

First I am proud of our country for electing a man of mixed race. We have come very far as a nation and should be very proud of ourselves for that.

Second I think it is wonderful that people are being so passionate about politics and the future of our country. I only wish they were educating themselves on the facts and being passionate about the real issues and not the smoke screen Obama has fed them.

Unfortunately that is all I have on positive notes, but we must not lose hope and we must keep praying for a conversion of heart. Think how powerful it would be if this man who so many are blindly following would become pro-life. Who knows with God all things are possible.

Rosary Playdates

In the interest of getting to know us better I thought I would share one of the things that Tara and I do together. Yes Tara and I do know each other in real life outside of the blog world. We are involved in two great women's bible studies, one of which is AMAZING ( look for a future post all about it). Another thing we do is rosary play date. A group of catholic moms with children around the same age get together every Friday morning to pray the rosary for our marriages. We have a schedule and rotate houses. Each play date consists of toddlers and babies playing while we are praying then lunch. It is a great time of fellowship, support and faith. I get so much out of this group and dearly miss it when we don't have it ( like holidays or sickness). If you have young children I highly suggest organizing a group like this the benefits far outweigh any difficulties in organization.

40 Days for Life Spring Campaign

The amazing 40 Days for Life campaign is coming back. The spring campaign is set to run February 25-April 5 . If you have never heard of this or participated before this spring is a great opportunity to get involved. This is a wonderful campaign that organizes prayer for 40 straight days in front of abortion clinics all across the country. If your church is not participating take it upon yourself to organize a group in your city. For more information go here

I have participated in this several times in the past and it is always a rewarding and positive experience. If you are hesitant or uneasy about praying in front of an abortion clinic I urge you to pray about the matter, these children need us.

Fasting for your marriage

As catholics we tend to fast for all kinds of important issues or occasions. Recently a friend told me that her husband fasts for their marriage every week and I was speechless at the generous and loving gift her husband is giving her. So it got me thinking if we fast for everything else why not fast for our marriages, the foundation of our family life. In pre-marriage counseling my pastor told us the one thing we MUST do everyday is pray aloud together. Here is my question for you what do you do to strengthen your marriage? Do you pray together, do you fast, or maybe you have another beautiful tradition you can share. In a world where marriage is constantly attacked it never hurts to add a little more spiritual support to your marriage.

FOCA Novena

I know I am a bit behind on this since the novena actually started on Sunday, but prayer has no time so do the novena a few extra times today to make up for the late start. Novena's are so powerful and if you are new to them this is a great one to start with. The Freedom of Choice Act is set to be signed Jan.21-22 for more information visit here

FOCA Novena:
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Pray the rosary every day with the intention of stopping FOCA as well as 2 days of fasting starting Jan.11 and ending Jan. 19.

If you are unaware of FOCA and all of the terrible things it will do here is a list of just a few of the things FOCA will change:

• Your taxes will help fund abortions
• All hospitals including catholic will be required to preform abortions
• Partial birth abortion will be legal and have no limitations
• Parental notification or minors having abortions will no longer be required
• essentially the government will take over the issue on abortion at a much deeper level

This terrifies me and should terrify you as well. Please pray. There is also a movement asking everyone to have a mass said on Jan.22 with the intention of changing Obama's heart toward the issue of abortion. You can read more about it here.