The Friar Podcasts - preaching prayer and spiritual reflections

Make a Good Decision. As we reflect today on prayer for the third time, we do so with the view that today you will have some idea of what it is you are doing to strengthen your prayer life, or at least are in a better position to ask God to strengthen your prayer life during this season of Lent.

Maybe it is because I have found such fruit over the past few months of praying with the bible that I think it could be valuable to pray with the Bible. And so I am going to suggest some ways in which you can pray with the bible as what it is you do during the season of Lent.

For the bible is the Word of God, and many Catholics may not be familiar with the bible. Perhaps it is because Catholics used to be discouraged from reading the bible. Perhaps is was because of the fear of not interpreting the bible correctly. Perhaps it was because the bible is not always easy to interpret.

For whatever reason, not being familiar with God's Word is not a good stance for Catholics. It is the Word of God, and it provides the means and methods of following God and growing in faith. And, if you are one who is not familiar with the bible, fear not. There are many ways to become more familiar with God's word.

Sometimes we can think that if God is with us it means that everything is going our way. Yet Scripture is filled with people that God was with and things were not so great. There is Joseph in the book of Genesis, King David, Job, and others. Sometimes we need the darkness and brokenness so that we can see God clearly.

How to Stop fighting. Anger is all around us. People are yelling at each other at school board meetings, council meetings, in the streets and in public places. It feels like even the simplest disagreements will boil over into angry fights. What is the antidote to this? How is it we can move away from this anger to something more helpful to recognize the common connection we share as humans?

I know that there is no instance in history that I can remember where we lived in a kind of utopia where all people lived in perfect harmony. Since human beings sinned, and continue to sin, relationships share in the brokenness produced by sin.

At the same time, our faith impels us to seek to live in harmony with all people. It is not enough to suggest we should stop at simply tolerating each other. We may not all agree but we need not be disagreeable. But in a world where the disagreements can be significant, and when there can be times to stand up for what is right and true is necessary and right.

So is there a way where we can work harder to be more and more in harmony with each other? Do we seek to ask the question the lawyer asked Jesus? Or do we seek to be more like Cain and his question? One of the questions concerns greater understanding of God's law. The other is an attempt to escape responsibility for a sinful deed.

I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

The above quote from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans gets at the heart of fasting. Christians are not masochists who enjoy suffering for its own sake. Rather, at the heart of our fasting is to make ourselves more a gift offered for a pleasing, spiritual worship. When we fast, we recognize that we live not firstly for this world, but rather for the next life.

I know that in my own life when I am too comfortable I can ignore the needs of others. I can forget how much it is I depend on God. I can turn my back on the sufferings of others. I can believe the good things that are happening to me are the result of my effort and not because of the grace of God.

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Let's begin be reviewing what it is the Catechism of the Church has to say about prayer. The first thing to acknowledge, in a variety of ways, is that each of us is searching for something deep beyond ourselves. While not everyone may realize this, it is still the case that God calls everyone of us to a powerful relationship.

Simply put, God is always the one who initiates this call. We can choose to respond of not. The definition of Saint John Damascene can be helpful here. As quoted in the Catechism, what he says is "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God" (St. John Damascene, Defide orth. 3, 24: PG 94, 1089C)"

What Augustine is trying to solve is the problem of evil. And to be sure, the problem of evil in the world, and the role of God with the problem of evil is challenging. Augustine can see that evil is often the result of human beings doing not so pleasant things. On the other hand, he can witness these same humans make progress in growing into becoming better people.

Important Lesson. You receive more when you give. When I was principal of a Catholic elementary school (a lesson for another day) I changed the celebration of Christmas in the school. The students did not bring in gifts for each other, but they worked to help a poor school in Chicago so that kids there could have the supplies they needed for school.

The homily today focuses on the question that Jesus poses in the gospel. “But who do you say that I am?” This is arguably the most important question we can be asked by the Lord Jesus. Who do we say Jesus is? What are the implications for our life? And how does our answer to this question lead us to follow Jesus more closely?

Making God a priority. How do we go about making God a priority? For when we discuss fasting, what we are really trying to sort out is how we go about getting our priorities in order. So, when we think about fasting, we must guard against making our fasting only a matter of willpower. It must be, rather, about removing idols for a time from our lives and not letting them get into the way of God. 

We are starting Day 1 of our Preparing for Lent Novena. We are hoping that these days of prayer will help you to learn just how Jesus longs to have a deeper and more powerful relationship with you.

Each day there will be a reflection, followed by some bible verses that may help, some questions to consider and reflect on, as well as a closing section where we will be praying. At the end there are also others resources that you might find helpful for you on this website.

Ask God to come into your heart. Pray for a deeper relationship with Him. By seeking to pray and prepare, here's hoping that you can feel the power of God's love in your heart. God does amazing things for us, for God loves us more than we could ever know.