Today’s message focuses on “Lenten Prayer
Opportunities”. Find my reflection with some prayer “suggestions” which I
better term as prayer “opportunities” to usher in a deeper faith response
during Lent especially in light of health developments worldwide.
Recent
developments worldwide due to the COVID – 19 health crisis has ushered in a new
reality as well as heightened levels of anxiety and uncertainty. For
many, as a result, it has prompted an important faith response to prayer
especially in the midst of the sacred season of Lent. For the remainder of Lent
I offer this challenge . . . increase your prayer life, for your own benefit,
for your family, for the sake of the Church as a whole. You don’t have to do
all of these, try picking one or two of them and do it for the remaining days
until Easter Sunday, and then look back and I guarantee you’ll see much more spiritual
growth . . .
- Pray
daily. Try to start every morning with a prayer. Pray before you fall
asleep. If you are praying daily already then start adding a few more
minutes a day to your prayer
routine.
- Pray the rosary daily, it only
takes 22 minutes (yes... I’ve timed myself
lol)
- Pray the chaplet of Divine
Mercy. This is one of my personal favorites and about half the time of a
rosary if you don’t have 22 minutes.
- Try Lectio Divina. That is
prayerfully reading and meditating on even just one verse of scripture.
There are so many beautiful and timely ones right now… Matthew 6 is one I
shared in a previous Faith Formation reflection earlier this
week.
- Read a chapter of the Bible
every day. What better way to get to know the heart and mind of God?
- Pray in song listening to and
singing hymns of worship &
praise!
- Even if it’s not possible to
attend daily or weekly Mass due to the recent health crisis… watch a
virtual mass or podcasts. “The world could survive more easily without the
sun than without the Mass” – St.
Augustine
- Pray for priests, your parish
priests especially, but also all priests around the world . . . Pray for
your bishop, and all the bishops. They are the shepherds of Christ’s
church, and successors of the apostles . . . Pray for the Pope. I can’t
even imagine the amount of pressure he is under. That’s why during his first
address, after being elected, he asked us to pray for
him.
- Pray
the stations of the Cross. This beautiful prayer can be prayed all year,
but you’ll find it available to be commemorated with a group at almost every
parish on Lenten Fridays (perhaps this practice will be altered during
this Lenten season).
I know it
may sound like a lot, especially in the new reality of this busy world we live
in but give a couple of those a try. Treat it like a “workout regimen” . . .
try doing one for a week and then adding a new one in. Do what you can . . .
but just keep working towards more prayer. Most importantly . . . do not
underestimate the power of prayer! The following prayer seems very fitting at
this time in light of the reflection and the times that are upon us. . . You
may wish to pray in it individually or communally with another … with family members and friends.
In closing,
please take a few minutes to listen to the beautiful version of the Lenten song
“Above All” by Fr. Rob Galea. It was performed before a crowd of over 200,000
people during Stations of the Cross at the Sydney World Youth Day in
2008. While the occasion reminds of the solace and solidarity that we
have in prayer with God (whether in spoken word or song), the words and message
remind us of the gift we have in His abundant love through the ultimate
sacrifice of His son Jesus.
Blessings
& peace!
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