Lenten Journey 2009 - Prayer Journal - Day 4

Many people assume that we are called to give something up during Lent, but many of us choose to take on something new during Lent. I have wanted to improve my prayer life for quite a while now. My goal is that through practice and exploring different types of prayer, that I might develop a prayer relationship with our God which lasts well beyond Lent 2009. Through this blog, I hope to journal my prayer activity this Lent. Please feel free to share ideas of methods of prayer which you have found successful. My greatest desire is to learn to "shut up" and listen to God speak to me.

Prayer Journal Entry #4 (Saturday, 2.28.09)

*Reviewed Holy Hour Songs & Prayers for 3.5
*Reviewed Disciples in Mission Lesson #1
*Read "Reasons for Hope" - The Gift of Reconciliation
*Daily Offering Prayer and Pope's Intentions for Feb.
*Prayer Starters - "An open heart and mind"
*Read through Mass readings for March 8th

Lenten Journey 2009 - Prayer Journal - Day 3

Many people assume that we are called to give something up during Lent, but many of us choose to take on something new during Lent. I have wanted to improve my prayer life for quite a while now. My goal is that through practice and exploring different types of prayer, that I might develop a prayer relationship with our God which lasts well beyond Lent 2009. Through this blog, I hope to journal my prayer activity this Lent. Please feel free to share ideas of methods of prayer which you have found successful. My greatest desire is to learn to "shut up" and listen to God speak to me.

Prayer Journal Entry #3 (Friday, 2.27.09)

*Prayed "Our Father" upon waking
*Read "Reasons for Hope": We are all "Elder Sons" - need to uncover selfishness to bring understanding and to unite families
*Read "Prayer Starters": "Acceptance" - of life's burdens and pray for grace
*Prayed Daily Offering and Pope's Intentions for Feb.
*Stations of the Cross at CTK

Lenten Journey 2009 - Prayer Journal - Day 2

Many people assume that we are called to give something up during Lent, but many of us choose to take on something new during Lent. I have wanted to improve my prayer life for quite a while now. My goal is that through practice and exploring different types of prayer, that I might develop a prayer relationship with our God which lasts well beyond Lent 2009. Through this blog, I hope to journal my prayer activity this Lent. Please feel free to share ideas of methods of prayer which you have found successful. My greatest desire is to learn to "shut up" and listen to God speak to me.

Prayer Journal Entry #2 (Thursday, 2.26.09)

*Began day reading Apostleship of Prayer - Pope's intentions for Feb. 2009
*Prayer Starter - Return to God
*Reasons for God - On pilgrimage to the Light That Never Sets
*Read paryer and daily reflection on Sacred Space - Online retreat - Jesus asking us to carry our cross and follow Him
*Recited prayer with students at school - "Father, You created me and put me on the earth for a purpose. Help me to discover this purpose...."

Lenten Journey 2009 - Prayer Journal

Many people assume that we are called to give something up during Lent, but many of us choose to take on something new during Lent. I have wanted to improve my prayer life for quite a while now. My goal is that through practice and exploring different types of prayer, that I might develop a prayer relationship with our God which lasts well beyond Lent 2009. Through this blog, I hope to journal my prayer activity this Lent. Please feel free to share ideas of methods of prayer which you have found successful. My greatest desire is to learn to "shut up" and listen to God speak to me.

Prayer Journal Entry #1 (Ash Wednesday, 2.25.09)

*Began the day with Men's group with Morning Prayer, Gospel reading and Faith Sharing
*Mass @ St. Peter @ 930am at School
*Frustration at work, but, then received appreciation from student
*Spent time reading Musings on Sunday readings for March 1st, 2009
*Read Daily Offering Prayer and Feb. Intentions of Pope Benedict XVI from Apostleship of Prayer
*Read from "Reasons for Hope" by JPII called "If you want peace, serve the poor"
*Read Feb. 22-25 in "The Little Black Book": Thinking about Lenten plans, praying the scriptures, placing myself in the scripture story such as when Jesus went out alone w/ His disciples on the boat
*Read Prayer Notes - "Five Simple Prayer Ideas to Enrich Your Lent" - pray one word such as "peace", "faith", etc. and then close eyes and, when distractions come, repeat the word. Try to relax for 20 minutes remaining in silence, then close eyes again for a couple of minutes.
*Mark prayer into my day
*Take an online retreat such as "Daily Prayer Online" at www.jesuit.ie/prayer
*Read Prayer Notes - "Prayer Starters for All Days of Lent" - focused on the virtue of Emptiness
*Read Daily Prayer on "Sacred Space" - Online Retreat
*Listened to a portion of The Catholic Cafe MP3 recording "The Rosary" from www.thecatholiccafe.com

Jesus in the Tabernacle

What a wonderful mystery! Our Lord Jesus Christ present with us in the Tabernacle of every Catholic Church. I have come to love spending time with our Lord before the Tabernacle. Sometimes, I get the feeling that we feel that we have to spend hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament to fulfill some type of obligation. My knee bends in awesome wonder each time I open the Tabernacle to retrieve the Blessed Sacrament to take to the homebound. If you ever wonder to yourself about how you feel when you have received communion, I encourage you to spend a few minutes with Jesus in front of His tabernacle. He calls us to be with Him. A loving challenge: After Mass this next week, go to the Blessed Sacrament chapel to spend even a minute or two in Christ's presence. Let Him speak to you. Not sure what to say to Him. How about telling Him that you love Him and ask for His grace to take the food of communion into your daily life? Struggling with prayer? My experience is that when I have approached the Tabernacle, Christ speaks to me and my thoughts (prayer) rests with Him. Peace to you!

Thoughts on Prayer

As a man approaching 40, I feel close to our God, but at the same time often feel that my prayer life is lacking. Recently, through a visit to a Fishers of Men meeting at Church of the Holy Spirit in Memphis, I was finally introduced to the Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. I was always curious and have known that priests, religious, deacons and many laypeople pray the "hours" on a daily basis, but for some reason have felt intimidated. Well, I was introduced in a group setting to reading/praying the Morning Prayer which was pulled off the website, www.universalis.com, and now I am thrilled. The intimidation is gone and I realize that I can pray through this form in about 10 minutes (I think God deserves a lot more, but this is a start). Additionally, over the past few years, I have developed a relationship with God of simply being able to talk with him as I drive in my car to and from work or anytime I am alone. Now, my goals are two-fold: 1) Learn to pray by shutting up and simply listening, and 2) Striving to implement my love for God with my actions and concern for my wife and children.

God Bless you and thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts.