Outside The Box
- Tips on Prayer
- From Burden to Blessing
- Catholics On Call Participant Profile—Megan Mio
- Catholics On Call Participant Profile—Megan Sherrier
- Catholics On Call Participant Profile-Josh Stagni
- The Pope’s Visit to the United States
- A Reflection on the Shootings at Northern Illinois University
- “Climbing the Stairway to Heaven”
- Living in Hope: What Catholics Believe About Death and Eternal Life (I)
- The Beauty of the Catholic Faith, Part VI
- The Beauty of the Catholic Faith, Part V
- The Beauty of the Catholic Faith, Part IV
- The Beauty of the Catholic Faith, Part III
- The Beauty of the Catholic Faith, Part II
- The Beauty of the Catholic Faith, Part I
- Ekklesia, Part VIII: Communion Amidst the Threat of Polarization
- Ekklesia, Part VII: The Church and Young Adults
- Ekklesia Part VI: Karl Rahner's View of the Church
- Ekklesia, Part V
- Ekklesia, Part IV
- Ekklesia, Part III
- Ekklesia, Part II
- Ekklesia, Part I
- Challenge Series: I Don’t Like the Way Women Are Treated in the Church
- Challenge Series: Why is the Church So Hung Up About Sex?
- Challenge Series: Why do Catholics Argue So Much About Their Faith?
- Challenge Series: Do I Really Need God, Anyway?
- Honoring the Sacred: A Reflection on "The Da Vinci Code"
- A Public Faith
- Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat: Woman of Courage and Confidence
- Fr. Louis Querbes: Making a Difference
- Deus Caritas Est: Dispelling Hollywood's Caricature of Catholic Love
- St. Paul of the Cross: A Young Adult's Role Model for Discernment
- Howard Stern and Us
- Making My Own Decisions
- Eight Myths About Religious Life
- True Confessions: One Man's Search for Meaning
- Outside the Box
Tips on Prayer
During the following weeks we are going to post one 'tip on prayer' every week. The tips are written by partners, participants and friends of Catholics on Call and can help us to get an always deeper understanding of what it means to be prayerful people. Just try it!
Today I would like to introduce you to a German author. Bishop Klaus Hemmerle from Aachen is a well-known theologian and philiospher. The following story has been published in his book about prayer - one of my favorites! Hope you like it.
Birgit Oberhofer
“Master”, the disciples ask, “you have told us: Praying is a way. Which step on this way is the most important?” “The step over the threshold,” the master replies. They ask back: “What kind of step is it and how does it work?” The master says: “Sometimes we stumble into our prayer. We find ourselves in the middle of prayer when we didn’t even start it. Or we realize afterwards: I wanted to pray but the words went through me like water through a pipe. When you start your prayer, you have to make a step over your tiredness, distraction, tension and say to Him: Here I am!
But that’s still not it. The step over the doorstep is not only your step, it is God’s step. When we pray, God comes over the threshold. Look for him, seek him; expect him. Then He will tell you: “Here I am!”” The disciples reflect on what he said and the master looks at them: “If in our prayer nothing else but this step happens, then it is fine. To start praying already means praying well. But never stop praying before you have started.”
Bishop Klaus Hemmerle
(Hemmerle, Klaus: Dein Herz an Gottes Ohr: Einuebungen ins Gebet. Muenchen, Zuerich, Wien: Verlag Neue Stadt, 1999)
Monday, November 10: Prayer as conversation with God - Beth Knobbe
My favorite book on prayer is Paths to Prayer by Bishop Robert Morneau. Bishop Morneau describes prayer as that basic communication between God and God’s people that sustains and deepens a loving relationship. Prayer is a life long conversation with the one who created us and loves us. Prayer is that intimate exchange between lover and beloved, the one we talk with like a best friend. God is the one to whom we direct our hopes and dreams and concerns for the world. And prayer is the path through which God conveys God’s mercy and love for us. Prayer is a conversation that requires us to listen carefully, speak truthfully, and wait patiently for the other to respond.
Monday, November 3: Prayer in the mess - Sr. Marybeth Martin, PHJC
A good starting place for my prayer comes from one of my favorite quotes:
“The way of the spiritual life begins where we are now in the mess of our lives… Spirituality is not about being fixed; it is about God’s being present in the mess of our unfixedness.” (Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli)
My best prayer is prayer from my heart in the midst of the mess of my life.
Monday, October 27: Show up! - Susan Kienzler, OSU
- Our job is to show up. We do this by setting a specific time and place for our prayer and bringing an open heart. God is the One who prays within us.
- Prayer is an encounter between the real me with the real God. I might not be in the inner place where I think I “should be”, “want to be” or “ought to be.” Because this is where I am, this is the only place where God can find me.
- As a friend of mine says: “Let your God love you.”
Monday, October 20: Getting Started - Robin Ryan, CP
If you are not used to a regular rhythm of prayer in your life, getting started can be a challenge. Three suggestions may be helpful.
First, follow the “Nike” slogan: “Just do it.” In other words, a person can read many books about prayer and listen to countless lectures, but at some point we just need to bring ourselves before the Lord on a daily basis.
Second, start small. Don’t begin with a commitment to an hour (or even a half hour) of prayer each day. Begin with ten minutes of focused time. If you make this a habit you can build on it and add to the time.
Third, find a place that is conducive to prayer. That place may be your own room, driving in your car alone, sitting under a tree or beside a lake, or in a church. But it is important for us to locate a place that is quiet and peaceful -- removed from the rush of ordinary life -- which can become a “sacred space” for us.
