Personhood
· 2 May 2008 | 202 words
From Br. Joseph -- What is a person? Classical Christian theology and philosophy defines a person as one who has the ability to know, to love, and to choose (to will). This is the image of God in which we...
Tag: prayer (46 entries)
Because of you…
· 22 April 2008 | 19 words
Because of you, I changed the deepest prayer in my heart for the grace to see through your eyes....
Shatter Our Illusions and Plans
· 14 April 2008 | 339 words
Yesterday evening, I was reading this certain book by a particular author who was opening windows and doors for me to paths of insights into metaphysics, mysticism, the mystery of God, etc., when all of a sudden, in one paragraph,...
An Evening Prayer
· 16 March 2008 | 448 words
This prayer comes from my parish's lenten penance service the other night. In its own way, it is a form of nightly examen. I might just try to adopt this as part of my routine. I am not dust of...
Promise of a Coming Day
· 10 March 2008 | 187 words
A stanza from "Southern Cross" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash: When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, You understand now why you came this way, ‘Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small, But...
A Prayer for Lent
· 6 February 2008 | 126 words
From Br. Joseph -- Here is a simple prayer to start each day during Lent. As with all prayer, liturgy, worship, and spiritual reading, it is to draw us deeper into relationship with God, our Father. Father, I call upon...
Time
· 29 January 2008 | 607 words
From Br. Joseph -- All is gift. Even your next breath is gift if you think about. Everything involves a choice, especially how we spend our time. Is it our time or God's time? Here is a reflection/prayer on time...
Humbly Adore
· 3 January 2008 | 36 words
O God, as once the good angels humbled themselves to adore You appearing before them as a man, may man humbly adore You appearing before us as bread. -- from a prayer card [via]...
A Prayer for the New Year
· 1 January 2008 | 250 words
We so often pray from a sense of need. In Scripture, Your son Jesus always prayed from a sense of Your abundance. And so Father, we too pray in Your abundance. Father, please bless all of the children born this...
Mind, Heart, Wisdom, Conduct
· 26 December 2007 | 41 words
Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. -- Saint Thomas...
Servant Song
· 22 November 2007 | 197 words
What do you want of me, Lord? Where do you want me to serve you? Where can I sing your praises? I am your song. Jesus, Jesus, you are my Lord. Jesus, Jesus, you are the way....
Time
· 17 November 2007 | 569 words
All men complain that they haven't enough time. They look at their lives from too human a point of view. There is always time to do what God wants us to do, but we must put ourselves completely into...
Between Faith and Doubt
· 15 September 2007 | 284 words
A prayer I wrote for our all-school retreat. We are called. But who calls us? And why? How? What? When? Where? These are all good questions, but-- of all of these, the most important is who? In the name of......
Psalm 139 (Slightly Reworded)
· 4 September 2007 | 452 words
From Br. Joseph -- A preeminent theologian of the 20th century was once asked near the end of a long and distinguished career what was the most significant discovery or idea that greatly impacted his life. The great theologian's response...
Prayer to the Trinity
· 13 August 2007 | 123 words
O infinite Trinity, We sing of your glory in this daily prayer, Because through Christ you have made us sons And our hearts your dwelling place. Eternal, beyond time, The fountain of the life that never dies, Creation returns to...
The Shoulder Wound of Christ
· 24 July 2007 | 175 words
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux asked Jesus what was His greatest unrecorded suffering. The Lord answered, "I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound, which was more painful than the others,...
A Prayer to Resist Sexual Temptation
· 16 July 2007 | 531 words
Love can wait to give; lust can't wait to get. Christopher West was on Life on the Rock last night to answer questions related to Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Someone asked if he had any...
Holy Cross Be My Light
· 11 July 2007 | 548 words
It has been well over a year, maybe two, since I started wearing a wearing a small crucifix on a chain around my next. I wanted it close to my heart, so I wore it underneath my shirt. Sometime after...
Past and Future Around the Present
· 3 July 2007 | 21 words
My past, O Lord, to your mercy; my future, to your providence; my present, to your love! -- St. Padre Pio...
Alone in God
· 27 June 2007 | 45 words
Alone in God my soul waits, silent. My help is from Him. Alone in God rest, my soul, in silence. My hope is from Him. He alone is my rock, my safety; I shall not be shaken. -- Psalm...
Only in Love
· 25 June 2007 | 111 words
Only in love can I find You, my God. In love, the gates of my soul spring open, allowing me to breath a new air of freedom and forget my own petty self. In love, my whole being streams...
Seeing Christ
· 2 June 2007 | 202 words
My deepest desire and most longing want is to see the face of Jesus Christ. Based on one of the Beatitudes, my daily prayer is for God to purify my heart so that I may see Him, see Him in...
Learning to Read
· 24 May 2007 | 245 words
As one has to learn to read or to practice a trade, so one must learn to feel in all things, first and almost solely, the obedience of the universe to God. It is really an apprenticeship. Like every...
A Litany of the Person
· 23 May 2007 | 88 words
image of God born of God's breath vessel of divine love after his likeness dwelling of God capacity for the infinite eternally known chosen of God home of Infinite Majesty abiding in the Son called from eternity life in the...
This Ocean of Suffering Created by Love
· 17 May 2007 | 244 words
Another parabox--joy and suffering, both come from love. A friend shared this meditative reflection with me recently. I asked permission to post it. I feel waves of suffering coming from within my being. It's as if they are at regularly...
In My Emptiness You are Present
· 14 May 2007 | 435 words
I'm bad about shopping for books. I cannot stop in a bookstore without rummaging through the religion/faith section. If a book looks good, I'll purchase it in hopes of reading it some day. Sometimes, I'll start the new book the...
A Prayer to Seek You
· 27 April 2007 | 50 words
O Gracious, All-Holy God, give us Wisdom to perceive You, Diligence to seek You, Patience to wait for You, Eyes to behold You, A heart to meditate upon You, And a life to proclaim You; through the power of the...
A Prayer for the Lost
· 17 April 2007 | 50 words
Father, have mercy on those souls who died in the shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday. Please bless the survivors, family, and friends who are left behind. May this tragedy be transformed in your Paschal Mystery from death to life, loss...
Beginning, Ending, and in the Middle
· 19 March 2007 | 82 words
Please pray for all the babies born today; that they will be drawn into a deep relationship with God and bring others to Him. Pray for all those that God calls home today; that He will grant them His grace...
An Act of Contrition
· 8 March 2007 | 115 words
"Repentance seeks to know the truth." I am guilty before You. I admit it. You are the Judge. I come before You, against myself. I desire You. I want to be with You. I want Your will to be...
A Simple Prayer
· 1 March 2007 | 56 words
O my God, I ask of You for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Your holy will, to accept for love of You the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so...
Raining in My Head
· 26 February 2007 | 184 words
Your words to me just a whisper Your face is so unclear I try to pay attention Your words just disappear 'Cause it's always raining in my head Forget all the things I should...
Circle Me
· 4 February 2007 | 185 words
The last song on a beautiful, meditative/prayerful, instrumental CD called A Thin Silence by Jeff Johnson is this song/prayer. Circle me, O God, let Your arms enfold me. Circle me, O God, let Your love surround. Circle me, O God,...
Beyond Words
· 31 January 2007 | 80 words
Sound -- music -- prayer no words -- emotions, feelings, but more... essence, existence, but more... A lifting up of the heart from within the heart, not the head, not the intellect, a place reachable without words, beyond words. The...
My Heart Beats for You
· 29 January 2007 | 123 words
At the retreat this weekend, one of my students had a small epiphany during a very special prayer moment around the Blessed Sacrament. The following words come to her; it seemed as if God was speaking directly to her within...
Let Nothing Disturb You
· 20 January 2007 | 129 words
Let nothing disturb you; Let nothing make you afraid. All things are passing; God alone never changes. Patience gains all things. Who has God wants nothing. God alone suffices. -- The Bookmark of Saint Teresa of Avila In this...
I Bind to Myself Today
· 12 January 2007 | 66 words
I bind to myself today: God's power to guide me, God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to teach me, God's eye to watch over me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to give me speech, God's hand...
A New Year’s Prayer
· 2 January 2007 | 139 words
Father, Please have mercy on those souls you called home this past year, bless their families and friends who were left behind. Please bless all the babies that will be born this year; let them be beacons of...
Make Me Over
· 13 December 2006 | 225 words
This song by Natalie Grant is really a prayer. It says much about where I am at lately. I can't do this. I need Your help. I trust in You. I've been silent instead of speaking up Gave my advice...
Value
· 10 December 2006 | 129 words
From part of today's second reading (Philippians 1:9-11), Saint Paul's prayer: And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you...
Your Cross
· 5 December 2006 | 126 words
The everlasting God has in His wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross that He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost heart. This cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with...
Prepare the Way of the Lord
· 3 December 2006 | 194 words
My daily prayer for Advent this year: Gracious God, inspire us this Advent to make straight our ways so you can come to us and to our world. Challenge us to fill in our valleys by...
My Advent Shovel
· 1 December 2006 | 71 words
A prayer to begin Advent: O God, Grant me your grace as I take up my Advent shovel to fill in the valleys of neglect in my prayer and daily life. May I be zealous in my labors of straightening...
Pretending
· 16 November 2006 | 54 words
I heard the song "Pretending" by Eric Clapton on the radio this morning. It's about ones heart ache due to another pretending to love in the relationship. O Father, please do not let my love for you, for others, be...
Grace for the Present Moment
· 12 November 2006 | 19 words
Father, I ask for the grace to be in the present moment, to live in the now where You are....
That which I am…
· 4 November 2006 | 21 words
That which I am, I offer to you, O Lord, for you are it entirely. -- The Book of Privy Counseling...
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us