Tag: Prayer

Praise

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn spirituality2 Comments

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 17, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071724.cfm

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Matthew 11:25

What really is praise? Is it song and dance and lifting up the reputation of the other in glory?

Or is it when Love moves fully from the heart into the heart of the one esteemed? And does its light come not from within us but from the One to Whom it is given?

There is a total selflessness in praise. The Other is the full focus of our awe and gratitude.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

For many of us, our prayer may be full of petitions with little room for much else. Today, we think about how Jesus loved and praised the Father. We ask for deeper praise and gratitude in our own prayer.

Poetry: Gitanjali 11 – Rabindranath Tagore

Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!

He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the path-maker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!

Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever.

Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.

Music: Love Divine – Jan Mulder with the London Symphony Orchestra

Extra Pre-Lent #1

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn spirituality2 Comments

Sunday before Lent
February 11, 2024

Today we stand at the threshold of a sacred time. In a few days, we will begin our Lenten journey for the Year of our Lord, 2024. I reflected this morning on the purpose of Lent and on how I want to prepare in these three days leading up to Ash Wednesday.

Often Lent is interpreted only in the light of sacrifice and renunciation. We think about what we will give up, or what difficult practice we will assume. We might even introduce mixed purposes to our renunciations – thinking that fasting is a good way to lose weight, or that purging our excessive possessions is a path to feng shui in our environment. I know I have been guilty of these hidden agendas. Realizing this, I want to make the effort to live a more sincere Lent. I want to focus my spiritual awareness on Lent’s true purpose which is to align my life with the life of Christ.

To help me more truly engage this Lenten time, I have considered some proven elements from our long Christian tradition. I know that many of my readers already live a spiritual life deeply enriched by their own chosen practices. Still, I thought some of you might like to think about these few simple elements as well. These three elements are:
• Practice
• Time
• Reflection

Today, let’s think about “Lenten Practice”. Tomorrow, “ Lenten Time”. On Tuesday, “Lenten Reflection”

Lenten Practice
What practice might I introduce or deepen in my life that would turn my attention to God?
The choice of a Lenten practice can be very simple:
• to take a daily morning or evening walk in a spirit of prayer
• to read a spiritual rather than secular book throughout Lent
• to write a note or make a phone call to someone who would be blessed by your voice
• to not choose a new practice, but to choose a new attitude about some circumstance in my life, an attitude of hope or generosity

What is essential is to focus our attention on God as we engage this simple practice, to make our actions a prayer.
More tomorrow.

Becoming Wine

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, Poetry, Prayer, spirituality2 Comments

Christmas Weekday
January 7, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010723.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we have the belovedly familiar story of the Miracle at Cana.

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”

John 2: 1-3

Like all good stories, this one is engaging on so many levels:

  • We see Mary and Jesus enjoying a social event in the same way we would.
  • We see Mary extending her solicitude and influence for the sake of the hosting family.
  • We see Jesus needing a swift nudge from his mother to do the right thing!
  • We see the Apostolic tipsters slowly waking up to the fact that Jesus is not just the guy next door!

We can pray with this Gospel passage by entering it from any one of these, or other, perspectives. We can easily sit right down at one of the wedding tables and watch the slow, human revelation of God in the world. But I think our first reading makes a strong case for us to pray the Cana story as a perfect example of how we should make our prayers of petition.

If you’re like me, you ask God for a lot of things every single day. Some of them are big deal things like “Please move hearts to stop the war on Ukraine.” And some of them are little deals like, “Please don’t let it rain on my picnic!”

In our first reading, John tells us how to pray our needs to God – with the utter confidence that, within God’s Will, we are heard.

Beloved:
We have this confidence in God,
that if we ask anything according to God’s will, we are heard.
And if we know that God hears us in regard to whatever we ask,
we know that what we have asked for is ours.

1 John 5: 14-15

This is the way Mary offers her petition in our Gospel story. She knows that Jesus will hear her and do the right thing. She doesn’t niggle him to death to get it done. She knows that by her “prayer”, she is now present to God’s infinite awareness of our needs.

His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”

John 2:5

In this case, that “right thing” was to turn huge vats of water into delicious wine. A very satisfying outcome! But what about when our prayer doesn’t result in a deluge of wine? What about when it seems like God paid no attention to our request? Can we still have the unyielding confidence which John encourages and Mary exemplifies?

Our faith calls us to believe that God is present with us in all things. Our prayer opens us to seek that Presence and to respond in faith to our circumstances knowing that even when the vessels seem empty, God abides. Ours is a life in God not limited to one petition, or one prayer. It is an incremental immersion into an Eternal Truth which transcends any particular circumstance. God is always with us and that alone is the source of our confident prayer.

We also know that the Son of God has come
and has given us discernment to know the one who is true.
And we are in the one who is true, in God’s Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life.

1 John 5:20

Poetry: Cana Wine – Irene Zimmerman, OSF

“The weather’s so hot
and no more wine’s to be bought
in all of Cana!
It’s just what I feared—
just why I begged my husband
to keep the wedding small.”

“Does he know?” Mary asked.

“Not yet. Oh, the shame!
Look at my son and his beautiful bride!
They’ll never be able
to raise their heads again,
not in this small town.” 
“Then don’t tell him yet.”
Mary greeted the guests
as she made her way
through crowded reception rooms.
“I must talk to you, Son,”
she said unobtrusively. 

Moments later he moved
toward the back serving rooms.
They hadn’t seen each other
since the morning he’d left her—
before the baptism
and the desert time. 

There was so much to tell her,
so much to ask.
But this was not the time!
They could talk tomorrow
on the way to Capernaum.
She spoke urgently, her words
both request and command to him:
“They have no wine.”
But he hadn’t been called yet!
He hadn’t felt it yet.
Would she send him so soon
to the hounds and jackals?
For wine? 

Was wine so important then? 

“Woman, what concern is that
to you and me?
My hour has not yet come.”

Her unflinching eyes reflected to him
his twelve-year-old self
telling her with no contrition:
“Why were you searching for me?
Did you not know I must be
in my Father’s house?” 

She left him standing there—
vine from her stock,
ready for fruit bearing—
and went to the servants.
“Do whatever he tells you,” she said. 

From across the room
she watched them fill water jars,
watched the chief steward
drink from the dripping cup,
saw his eyes open in wide surprise. 

She watched her grown son
toast the young couple,
watched the groom’s parents
and the guests raise their cups.

She saw it all clearly:
saw the Best Wine
pouring out for them all.

Music: od Hears Our Prayers – Mandy Lining

Pray for One Another

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Faith, holiness, spirituality2 Comments

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Saturday, October 15, 2022

St. Teresa of Avila – François Gérard

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101522.cfm

Ephesians 1_18 Blessed be

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we read the magnificent Ephesians prayer, spoken by Paul over his beloved community — and over us.  The phrases are like sacred honey, each one to be individually savored and consumed.

  • I never cease giving thanks for you
  • May God give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
  • May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened
  • May you know what is the hope that belongs to God’s call
  • … what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones
  • … and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe

Wow! What if we prayed for one another like that? What if we prayed for ourselves like that?

Sometimes we, and our companions on life’s journey, do require prayers for a specific need: recovery from illness, strength in a time of trial, courage in darkness.  

But we should pray for one another every day – a prayer that transcends specific needs – a prayer for wisdom, faith, understanding, and wild confidence in God’s loving  power in our lives.

Such a prayer, like Paul’s, helps create a web of spiritual resilience for our beloveds, around them and within them. This is the power of the Communion of Saints.

Let us pray like this for each other.

Poetry: some thoughts from today’s holy Wonder Woman, Teresa of Avila:

Each of us has a soul,
but we forget to value it.
We don’t remember
that we are creatures
made in the image of God.
We don’t understand
the great secrets
hidden inside of us.

Music: Ephesians Hymn I, Suzanne Toolan, RSM

https://youtube.com/watch?v=kcsO_wSpayc%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

Lift Your Heart in Praise!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, friendship, holiness, spirituality2 Comments

Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
October 14, 2022

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101422.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Paul tells us that we were created “for the praise of God’s glory”. Paul emphasizes the phrase by using it twice in the first reading.

so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.

the first installment of our inheritance
toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.

praise

Thinking about the prayer of praise may remind us of the four types of prayer we learned by nemonic as a child: ACTS.

  • Adoration
  • Contrition 
  • Thanksgiving 
  • Supplication 

The last three types are prayers centered in the self. They express my regrets, my gratitude, and my needs.  But the first type, Adoration, is centered on God – a prayer of awe and absorption into God’s Presence.

That kind of prayer is so important to deepening our relationship with God. We can understand why just by considering our human relationships.  

In order to love someone deeply and intimately, we have to forget ourselves and allow ourselves to embrace their reality. It’s very hard to do this. We are naturally self-centered and self-concerned. But through generosity, intentionality and self-sacrifice, we can learn to love unselfishly.

We can learn to love God like this too. Our prayer of adoration may be a shared silence with God. It may be simple phrases we offer in the awareness of God’s Being, as we breathe the breath of God’s life: 

  • You are Beauty….
  • You are Life….
  • You are Mercy….
  • You are Love…
  • You are…

We let go of time and purpose. We give ourselves to the One who sustains us.

We don’t ask for anything, say thanks or sorry for anything. We simply absorb God’s Presence and return it in praise. 

If we feel the need for words to begin this prayer, we might use the first phrases of an old, beloved mantra – the Divine Praises. Here’s my translation:

Blessed are You, precious God.
Blessed is your Holy Name.
Blessed are dear Jesus, truly God, truly human.
Blessed is your holy Name.
Blessed is your Sacred Heart.
Blessed is your Precious Blood.

…. and then go on with your personal praises to bless God:
blessed is your Presence in my Life
… your call to my heart
… your peace in my turmoils…..

Poetry: from Rumi

To praise
is to praise how
one surrenders
to the emptiness.

Music: We Praise You, O Lord ~ The Dameans

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vyaPv1MVGyg%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

Holding Hands with God

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, friendship, Prayer, spirituality5 Comments

Picture two people, who love each other deeply, walking along a quiet beach. They may be a child and parent, committed spouses or devoted friends. They are walking, fully in each other’s presence. But at times, one or the other may wander off to study a shell or watch a sandpiper while the other continues slowly walking. Still, they are completely with each other and will often reconnect to share snatches of thought and imagination. In many ways, this image captures the meaning of the epistolary admonition, “Pray always.” On the beach of our lives, we are walking with God always.

But there are times in that walk when, for some reason, we will reach for the other’s hand. We will intensify and focus our attention to each other. The reason may be an awareness of something beautiful, poignant, frightening, joyful or overwhelming. We will remember these moments as specific experiences such as:

  • • “It was the time we saw the magnificent sunrise.”
  • • “It was the time we were frightened by the unexpected storm.”

In our lifelong walk with God, this reaching for and holding each other’s hands is a good image for the act of prayer. It may be initiated by God or by us, or perhaps by both at once. It may be vocal or silent. It is an experience which has a beginning and an end. Like the shared moments on the beach, these acts of prayer are definite moments, for example:

  • • “It was the time I was overwhelmed with gratitude for God’s gift of my family and prayed that gratitude as I watched them around our family table.”
  • • “It was the time I became aware of the call to greater generosity and service and prayed aloud for God’s guidance and support.”

These acts of prayer change us. They open us to greater depth in our journey with God. They deepen the sense of God’s presence within our total experience. They thin the veil which separates us from the Divine.

To become pray-ers like this, we must first become constant listeners. God is whispering to us in every moment and experience of our lives. As we learn to hear God in our own lives, we become better at hearing God in other’s hearts. Our prayers become a response to that Voice which first and constantly speaks to us.

Some music for you all:

Tony O’Connor – Whispering Sea

Prayer

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Faith, Prayer, spirituality1 Comment

February 26, 2022
Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s Readings

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, each of our readings encourages us to live a life of prayer – with fervor, perseverance, and childlike simplicity

The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.

James 5:16

O LORD, to you I call; hasten to me;
hearken to my voice when I call upon you.
Let my prayer come like incense before you;
the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice.

Psalm 141:1-2

Let the children come to me; do not prevent them,
for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Mark 10:14

Rather than make any theological comment on prayer, I thought I might simply offer some of my own poetry-prayers today, if you would care to pray with them.

Awaking

Sunrise paints 
the hedge's morning side
rosy gold.
But I choose
the western side.
There, midnight's purple leaves
awake in lazy grey, 
then stripes
of green and silver.
There, the awesome 
grace of living
rises slowly in the heart,
a liquor savored,
a prayer lingering
In genuflected silence
Photo credit: Mary Pat Garvin, RSM

Prayer

Still ourselves,
we are more one
than separate now,
Heart over heart,
heart within Heart,
like a word's meaning
held within its sound.
I drink from that union
like the verdant earth drinks
from its deep reserve of water.
It is Your color
that flushes
every blossom
sprung from me.
But that water, once tasted
precludes satiety
by any other water.
There is
no return for me now
to a season
not fed by You.
What I have given You, then
is the whole seed of my life.
Love it in that way.

Music: Inside This River – Gary Schmidt

How Long, O Lord?!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Faith, ordinary time, Poetry, Prayer, Psalms, spiritualityLeave a comment

October 27, 2021
Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s Readings

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 13, a powerful lesson in prayer.

The psalm is one of my favorites because it feels so “real”. The one who prays, presumably David, needs an answer to his prayer- and is not perceiving one. (emphasis on “perceiving”)

So the psalmist sounds a bit like someone desperately calling customer service to see why a life-saving order has not arrived😉:

How long, LORD? Will you utterly forget me?
How long will you hide your face from me?
..
Look, answer me, O LORD, my God!
Give light to my eyes that I may not sleep in death

Psalm 13: 2, 4

But as the psalmist continues to pray, an evolution of grace and understanding occurs. There is a realization that the kind of answer expected is one according to human measurement … one that will make the pray-er look triumphant in the eyes of his enemies:

Answer me, Lord my God …
Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed,”
lest my foes rejoice at my downfall.

Psalm 13: 4-5

But the depth of our relationship with God is not determined by what our enemies think … or even our friends. That sacred relationship is rooted in our grateful recognition and trusting immersion in God’s ever-present mercy and love for us:

But I trust in your mercy.
Grant my heart joy in your salvation,
I will sing to the LORD,
Who has dealt bountifully with me!

Psalm 13: 6-7

God always answers us. We may not have the capacity to perceive the answer because it is not the one we expected or wished for. But the truth is that through whatever “answer” unfolds to our prayer, God is leading us deeper into God’s heart.

Can we trust that? Can we yield to it? That is the “salvation” the psalmist ultimately prays for:

Sometimes we might hear a person say that they don’t know how to get started talking with God in prayer. They seem to feel it’s kind of like a blind date where you end up realizing you have nothing in common with each other.

Paul – in our reading from Romans says – no, wait a minute. God is already within you simply by the nature of your creaturehood. You are made of the very stuff of God. In fact, the Spirit of God deep within our souls is like the fiery magma from a volcano. It erupts from our love and prays for us to the Creator – if we will only let it.

Poetry: Praying by Mary Oliver

It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

Music: Spirit Seeking Light and Beauty – by Janet Erskine Stuart, interpreted here by the Daughters of St. Paul (Lyrics below)

Spirit seeking light and beauty,
Heart still longing for your rest
In your search for understanding,
Only thus can you be blest,

Through the vastness of creation,
Though your restless thought may roam,
God is all that you can long for,
God is all creation’s home.

Taste and see God, feel and hear God,
Hope and grasp the unseen hand;
Though the darkness seem to hide you,
Faith and love can understand.

Loving Wisdom, guiding Spirit,
All our hearts are made anew.
Lead us through the land of shadows
‘Til we come to rest in you.

Let the Spirit Pray in Your Heart

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Conversion, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus2 Comments

Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

October 30, 2019

Click here for readings

Today, in Mercy, our Gospel tells us that our life is about getting to know God ever more intimately. Otherwise, when we come to our final moments, we may not be recognized by our Lord and Master.

Could this be possible? Could God not recognize the work of his own hands, the one made in God’s own image?

Probably not. But what I think the Gospel suggests is that if, throughout our whole lives, we have never prayed or drawn closer to God, God’s own image in us may be quite obscured after that disconnected lifetime.

Sometimes we might hear a person say that they don’t know how to get started talking with God in prayer. They seem to feel it’s kind of like a blind date where you end up realizing you have nothing in common with each other.

St. Paul says no, wait a minute. God is already within you simply by the nature of your creaturehood . You are made of the very stuff of God. In fact, the Spirit of God deep within our souls is like the fiery magma from a volcano. It erupts from our love and prays for us to the Creator – if we will only let it.

Rm8_26 groanings

Let us give the Spirit the space, time and invitation to rise up in our hearts, praying with us and through us. In the deep love of that relationship, we will know ourselves to be recognized and loved. We can trust that all things are working together for our good.

Music: Spirit Seeking Light and Beauty – by Janet Erskine Stuart, interpreted here by the Daughters of St. Paul (Lyrics below)

Spirit seeking light and beauty,
Heart still longing for your rest
In your search for understanding,
Only thus can you be blest,

Through the vastness of creation,
Though your restless thought may roam,
God is all that you can long for,
God is all creation’s home.

Taste and see God, feel and hear God,
Hope and grasp the unseen hand;
Though the darkness seem to hide you,
Faith and love can understand.

Loving Wisdom, guiding Spirit,
All our hearts are made anew.
Lead us through the land of shadows
‘Til we come to rest in you.

God, please …

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, Lent, Prayer, spirituality, Thanksgiving1 Comment

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Click here for readings

Today, in Mercy, our readings talk about prayer – a particular kind: the prayer of supplication. 

As children, many of us learned this acronym for the types of prayer: ACTS
Ollie_pray

Adoration – Contrition – Thanksgiving – Supplication

The mnemonic has been helpful to me as an adult too. It reminds me to communicate with God only many levels, not just to ask for something. I know how I feel about someone who never talks to me unless they need something. I don’t want to be that way with God.

In our first reading, Esther prays a prayer of supplication for the deliverance of her people from death. Her prayer is not a simple, passing, “Please”. The passage tells us:

She lay prostrate upon the ground,
together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, (praying)

In our Gospel, Jesus describes the prayer of supplication :

Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.

My prayers of supplication haven’t always seemed to get the results Esther got or that Jesus describes. Ever feel that way … that your prayer really hasn’t been answered?

Faith assures us that all our needs are met … even before we present them to God. God is acting in our lives whether or not we speak with God about it.

Our prayer, as it becomes deeper and truer, allows us to enter God’s action with faith, hope, love and courage. This is the perfect prayer of supplication – it allows us to float, content, in the water of God’s will always flowing around our lives.

ask-Receive

David Foster Wallace created a parable you may have heard:

Two young fish are swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and says, “What is water?”

Foster explains, “The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.”

Our reality is that we exist in the “water” of God’s life and presence. May our “asking” of God lead us to understand that our life in God is already the answer.

Music: Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire – James Montgomery (1771–1854)

Montgomery wrote the lyrics at the request of Edward Bickersteth, who wanted them for his book Treatise on Prayer. Montgomery called this “the most attractive hymn I ever wrote.”

( I have included all the Lyrics below. Quite beautiful, I think.)

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains
That reach the Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters Heav’n with prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, “Behold, he prays!”

The saints in prayer appear as one
In word, in deed, and mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.

Nor prayer is made on earth alone;
The Holy Spirit pleads,
And Jesus, on th’eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.

O Thou by whom we come to God,
The life, the truth, the way,
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray.