Archive for July, 2009
One of the main themes of my website is that prayer is exercise for the soul. In a previous post I said that we should let the Holy Spirit be our personal trainer and allow Him guide us in our prayer life. I came across this article where someone did just that. Stacy Peterson used to pray the rosary while jogging until she injured her ankle and could not run. She took it as a sign that God was calling her to pray to Him in a different way.
From the article:
For some reason God’s will for me this summer is to contemplate him in the stillness I find hard to achieve when I am of sound body. Since my injury enforces a driving hiatus, I must sit and read to my “little ones” from whom I can become distracted during my hectic days of bustling around the house and town. Weeks of healing have given me the gift of listening to tiny voices doing “talk-overs” for Polly Pockets. Their pleasure at play reminds me that my Heavenly Father, too, delights in my smallest endeavors, like when I “crutch over” to inspect sun-kissed blueberry bushes.
This woman really knows the meaning of “not my will, but Your will be done.” How many of us would see a broken leg as a blessing and an opportunity to pray differently? If it were me, I would be a little disgruntled that God took away my usual and comfortable way of praying. But as we can see in any of the Sorrowful Mysteries, God’s plan for us isn’t always comfortable and can sometimes be a challenge. But like Jesus in His Agony in the Garden, we can overcome any obstacle when we ask God earnestly for the strength to do His will.
Further in the article, Stacy discusses how the Holy Spirit drew her out of her comfort zone:
The theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love are the gifts that the Holy Spirit infused into my soul at my baptism and through worthy reception of the Sacraments, to draw me away from myself and unite me to the Trinity during this apparent trial.
In physical fitness, a personal trainer will switch up exercises so that your muscles don’t get too comfortable with the usual routine and stop developing. In other words, our muscles need a challenge to grow and develop. The Holy Spirit can do the same thing with our spiritual fitness. We need variety and depth in our prayer to build spiritual muscle. And like a good trainer, sometimes the Holy Spirit needs to push us hard especially when we become too comfortable or complacent with our usual routine.
I’m not saying that God deliberately broke this woman’s leg to force her to pray differently. But I do think that the Holy Spirit lead her to a new way to approach prayer after her injury. Because she had already built up a good spiritual base, she was receptive to what the Holy Spirit had to offer. And that is why it is so important to pray regularly. We all need to have the reservoir of grace so that we can follow God’s will and grow in faith even when life hits us with the unexpected.
PS: Interestingly enough, it looks like even the Pope needs a little spiritual kick every now and then. Regarding his recent wrist injury, Pope Benedict said:
Perhaps the Lord wanted to teach me more patience and humility, give me more time for prayer and meditation.
Technorati Tags: catholic, Holy Spirit, prayer, spiritual fitness
July 30 2009 | catholic | No Comments »
Our Lady’s message on July 25, 2009 is short and simple:
Dear children! May this time be a time of prayer for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.
That’s it. Of course, the simplest message is often the hardest to carry out. After all, how much time do you spend in prayer every day? Do you think you could stand before God and honestly tell Him that you spent enough of your life in prayer? Or better yet, do you make your entire life a living prayer where you put God first above all other things? I know that I have a tendency to isolate my faith where I set aside some time for God but then go about my day focused (or obsessed over) other things.
So ask yourself, do you make your entire life about loving God and having His love shine forth through you in all that you do? Or is there a disconnect between your prayers and how you live your life? Let us remember that prayer is more than just reciting an “Our Father” or “Hail Mary.” It is a time for us to talk to God and learn how we can incorporate His will into our lives. May our prayers bare fruit by living as God calls us to live.
Technorati Tags: catholic, mary, medjugorje, Religion and Spirituality
July 26 2009 | catholic and medjugorje and prayer | 1 Comment »
Today’s rosary meditation is The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery — The Crucifixion. After suffering through the scourging, being mocked with a crown of thorns, and carrying a cross, Jesus died alongside two criminals. People seeing Jesus on the cross were puzzled because He saved others, but couldn’t save Himself (Matthew 27:42). They wanted Him to perform one more miracle so that they would believe in Him forgetting all the miracles He had already performed and that His largest miracle, conquering death and opening the gates of Heaven, was yet to come.
I feel that Jesus’ crucifixion is the ultimate example that we are all called to follow God’s plan even in the face of great difficulty. Jesus, being the son of God, could have easily put an end to His suffering any time He wanted. And yet, He suffered and died horribly. Why? Because Jesus practiced what He preached. His entire ministry revolved around the principles of sacrifice, redemptive suffering, charity, forgiveness, and having faith in God’s plan for us. And when the time came for His crucifixion, Jesus did not ignore His teachings in order to save his earthly body. When Jesus taught that we must “take up our cross” in order to gain salvation, He knew full well those words also applied to Him. Therefore, as imitators of Christ, we cannot ignore or avoid God’s will when we find ourselves in difficult situations.
Jesus’ crucifixion, while extreme, highlights a situation we find ourselves in all the time. How often do we try to ignore God’s plan for us because following it causes difficulty or suffering? How many times do we feel the urge to tell a little lie in order to avoid punishment? How much easier is it to drown ourselves in drugs or alcohol when times are difficult? How much simpler is it to “go with the crowd” and not stick out even when the crowd is not living morally? But God calls us to have faith in His plan despite our situation. Jesus loved and forgave those who tortured or abandoned Him on the cross because God’s way is one of unconditional forgiveness. We often try to make excuses for our shortcomings, but in the end we must understand that we are called to live as Jesus taught us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without exception. The last time I checked, Jesus did not say “love thy neighbor EXCEPT when he is really, really annoying.”
Let us recall those times in our lives when we did not follow God’s will because it seemed too difficult. Let us remember when we ignored His plan out of fear of suffering and pray that we can show more resolve in the future. May we remember that all earthly suffering is temporary and is a minuscule when compared to the infinite joy and happiness of Heaven we gain by following Christ. It’s true that many people have a much tougher road and a much heavier cross to bear than others. But we must have faith that God never gives us a larger burden than we can handle. So we should pray, not only that we have find our innate strength to imitate Jesus’ unconditional love and sacrifice, but that others can find that same God-given, moral fortitude as well.
- Underestimating the Cross: (brothersjuddblog.com)
- The Proof of God’s Love (Part 1) (justanotherclaypot.blogspot.com)
Technorati Tags: catholic, crucifixion, rosary, rosary meditation, sorrowful mystery
July 21 2009 | catholic and meditation and rosary and rosary meditation | No Comments »
Today’s rosary meditation is the Second Joyful Mystery — The Visitation. After accepting God’s will in the Annunciation, Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary came with this message, “My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit finds joy in God my savior. For He has looked upon His servant in her lowliness; all ages to come shall call me blessed” (Lk 1:46-48, emphasis mine). She stayed with Elizabeth for three months presumably offering a helping hand whenever needed.
This mystery is one of the best examples of using God’s grace to help others. Keep in mind that traveling to see relatives in the time of the Roman Empire was no easy task. It would take weeks, if not months, to travel between villages. Traveling was a challenge and dangerous for the very strong let alone a pregnant teenager. Despite the hardship, Mary made the journey in order to share the good news with her cousin and help in any way she could. As the Mother of God she chose to use God’s grace to serve others and not to be served. As she said in Luke’s Gospel, God’s greatness is found in His lowly servants doing His will, not those who try to be masters. We see this same theme through Jesus who is King of Heaven and yet came into this world as a humble servant.
When I meditate on this mystery I’m often reminded about the difference between acquiring God’s grace and using it. I know that prayer, fasting, and receiving the Sacraments (particularly washing away sin during Confession) all help me achieve God’s grace. However, I often fail in using grace to help others in need. I could help others more whether it be donating some of my time for charitable causes to just making myself available when friends or family need me. I’m sure I miss great opportunities to actually put my faith into practice all the time. Ask yourself, are you using all of your God-given gifts to their full potential? Are you choosing to serve others as Mary did or are you expecting to be served?
The lesson behind The Visitation is that God calls on us all to put our faith into action. Yes, our faith is something that is deeply personal. But it is also something that should be very public. God gives us grace not only for our own sake, but to also help others in their conversion towards God’s love and their ultimate salvation. I’m reminded of the saying, “actions speak louder than words.” Let us remember that about prayer. Let us not just pay lip service to God, but actually put into action what we believe. Prayer is good and necessary, but it is the foundation for good works and not an end in itself.
Technorati Tags: joyful mystery, mary, rosary, rosary meditation, visitation
July 08 2009 | prayer and rosary and rosary meditation | 1 Comment »
One of the main themes of my website is that prayer can be likened to exercise. Like physical exercise, prayer requires an earnest and consistent effort for noticeable results. In physical exercise, you will never get into good shape if you only do one push-up. Likewise, throwing out a “Hail Mary” once a month really won’t get you very connected to your faith. However, you also want to be careful not to go to the other extreme and wear yourself out. Any good fitness instructor will tell you that you need to rest periodically so you can regain energy and avoid injury. Likewise, make sure your prayer routine includes time to rest so that you don’t experience spiritual burnout.
When I say you should take prayer rests that does not mean that you can go and sin your heart out or stop prayer entirely. Much like how an athlete shouldn’t devour an entire cheesecake on a rest day, taking a break from your usual prayer routine does not give you license to sin. When I say rest, I mean changing or lightening your prayer routine in order to restore spiritual energy and gain new perspective. There are many ways to add variety to your prayers to break you out of your routine. For example, try reading the Bible, praying the rosary, listening to Catholic radio, saying different prayers, or just setting aside some personal “quiet” time for reflection and meditation. Maybe there is a friend or family member who is going through a hard time whom you should call or visit.
My aim is to pray two rosary mysteries every day during my commute to and from work. I started out trying to pray all four mysteries, but I found that I just do not have the focus and attention for that at this point in my life. Instead of praying earnestly, I ended up just repeating words while think about other things. Even two mysteries can be a stretch at times as my mind has a tendency to wonder. When I’m not up to giving the rosary a 100% effort, I turn my attention to other activities like listening to ETWN or reading Catholic news websites. Often, when I resume my usual routine after a one-day break I’m more focused and can meditate on each mystery from a new perspective. Maybe I read or heard something on my rest day that I then integrate into my meditations. By taking a little rest, I get much more out of subsequent prayers.
Let’s remember that life is a long journey and we should pace ourselves in all aspects of our lives. You can’t win a marathon by trying to sprint 26 miles. Doing so would lead to exhaustion, injury, and discouragement. Not only would you not win, chances are you won’t even cross the finish line. Likewise, you should pace your spiritual life and build up your spiritual “muscle.” There are times for intense prayer and meditation and there are times for lighter reflection and learning. How do you know the appropriate mix? Just listen to your spiritual fitness instructors — Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the saints, and the choir of angels in Heaven. They will let you know when it is time to step up your efforts or take a breather.
Technorati Tags: catholic, exercise, prayer, spirituality
July 03 2009 | catholic | 2 Comments »
