The Gospel gives glimpses of Jesus’ daily pattern when he was on missionary journeys around the Holy Land. He began each day at prayer with his Father and ended the day in the same way.
Beautifully simple. “Today, Father, I shall take your love to the people in what I say and do . . . Thank you, Father, for the day drawing to its close. I have spoken and acted in your love and offer all I am to you . . .”
We can make each day like that: begin with God in prayer and end with God in prayer, and at quiet times during the day ask God’s blessing and guidance.
It would be similar to what many of you experience at home: going your various ways in the morning, loving and thinking of the family in the course of the day, joy at being together in the evening and sharing your day. It comes naturally, doesn’t it?
So with Jesus it would have come naturally to begin and end his day with his Father but aware all through the day of the love they shared for each other and their care for all the world.
Such a simple pattern is yours if you want it to be. No one can prevent you except you, and why would you not want to begin and end the day with God?
Give God the time and God will fill it for you with thoughts and memories. Turn them into prayer, thanking God for joyful memories, expressing sorrow and regret for unpleasant ones or gratitude that you came through them.
Whatever and whomever come to your mind are signs of what you carry within you. They are there in the stillness of being with God. Be glad to make every memory, hope, fear, joy, regret, a prayer.
If you discover you are restless, bored, uneasy, you have discovered something about yourself. You are not a good listener. Prayer is listening to God, to your heart. As in conversation: if you do all the talking, you learn nothing – you simply want to impose your opinion on everyone else. Listening to God and others is learning from them.
We have to learn prayer. If we don’t pray we are running away, hiding from God by pretending to be busy. We do it to others, too. People know how to make time for romance. Then we can make time for prayer, can’t we?
God bless you with peace – morning, evening and during the day.
Fr John
(7th October 2018)
Related Links: Popular Reads and Fr John’s Parish Newsletters
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