Fifth Session: How do I pray? What is it important? Does it transform me?

Transcription

1 Fifth Session: How do I pray? What is it important? Does it transform me? Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) In this first part of the DVD, we will learn about prayer: the place where our yearning for God and God s desire for us meet. This encounter between us and God will be explored by looking at the journeys and teachings of three great spiritual masters. What is prayer? How can I pray, draw closer to God, and know his voice? What is the fruit of a prayerful life? This is how you are to pray This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13) Just as we are always learning and growing in our relationships with other human beings, we are doing so with God as well. We can always learn to pray more deeply. In the second part of this DVD, Father Barron tells us about the mystical prayer life of another Carmelite, St. Teresa of Avila, and also about prayers of petition and intercession. Questions for Understanding: 1. What is prayer? How is it even possible to pray? Page 1 of 5

2 2. Why does prayer take practice? Why isn t it enough to just tell God what is in our hearts? 3. What id Thomas Merton experience when he went to Mass for the first time? 4. Why did Thomas Merton become a Trappist monk? What was the focus of life at the monastery? 5. What were the hard times that John of the Cross experienced? 6. What did John of the Cross say that we must do to prepare to pray more deeply and draw closer to God? 7. Describe the early life of Teresa of Avila. 8. What were her mystical experiences? Page 2 of 5

3 9. Explain St. Teresa s description of the soul as a castle. 10. What do all three spiritual teachers tell us should be the main reason for our prayer? 11. What does Jesus say about prayers of petition? 12. What does St. Augustine say is the real goal of prayers of petition? 13. Describe Thomas Merton s experience in Louisville. What does it reveal about each one of us? Questions for Application: 1. Think and write about all kinds of different kinds of way that you pray. 2. Think about a time of prayer in which you have sensed God s presence more strongly than other times. What were those circumstances? What came out of it? 3. What kinds of difficulties do you have in praying? How might the insights of John of the Cross help you? Page 3 of 5

4 4. If you were to think about your soul as a castle, who or what would be king? 5. Why do you pray? What do these spiritual masters and the words of Jesus in the Gospels tell you about those reasons? 6. How can the words you have heard from these three spiritual teachers help you prepare your own heart for deeper prayer? 7. What have been your experiences with prayers of petition? 8. How could prayer bring you to other people? Suggested readings for follow-up study in the Bible (listed by a book in the Bible) or in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): Psalm 84, Luke 11:1-13, Luke 18:1-14, 1 Thessalonians 5, CCC Page 4 of 5

5 Terms or Names to get to know: Contemplation/contemplative prayer: To reflect, ponder and focus upon God, opening one s soul to Him. Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. (CCC 2715) References: Catholicism: Pilgrimage Journal Adult Leader s Guide, Word of Fire 2013 Bible and Catechism of the Catholic Church, access, United States Catholic Bishops Conference website Teresa of Avila "Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world. Let nothing trouble you. (Bookmark) Prayer of Thomas Merton My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. St. John the Cross O blessed Jesus, give me stillness of soul in You. Let Your mighty calmness reign in me. Rule me, O King of Gentleness, O King of Peace. Page 5 of 5