Prayer

Mary Ortwein. "Of Seeds and Saplings" A Catholic Moment. June 15, 2024 It was early May, 1966. I was a senior in high school. But instead of thinking about graduation or college, I was thinking about my mother. She was just laying there in our local hospital.

Mary Ortwein. "Adventures in Prayer" A Catholic Moment. February 24, 2024 The rich readings for this Sunday could take us in many directions. One of them is prayer. Prayer can have many forms and many definitions.

Mary Ortwein. "What Needs Healing?" A Catholic Moment. February 3, 2024 Today’s Gospel is one of my favorites. It looks like only a bit of narrative that ties the story of Jesus casting out an unclean spirit last Sunday with his healing a leper next Sunday. But, to me, it has always been very exciting–and this week, it is healing.

Fr. Simon Gaine. "Love Without Borders" Torch. November 9, 2023 The Thessalonians had joyfully received the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead, and they were confident that Christ had conquered death, and their great faith had become an example throughout Macedonia and Greece. They stopped worshipping idols and turned to the one, true God, waiting for his Son, the risen Jesus, to return from heaven.

Mary Ortwein. "When God Has a Better Idea" A Catholic Moment. August 12, 2023 I remember reading something by Peter Kreeft that included these words of wisdom. “God has three answers to prayer: “Yes,” “later,” and “I’ve got a better idea.” I’ve mulled that over for months, and I’ve seen it hold true again and again.

Fr. John O’Connor. "All Times and Seasons" Torch. July 4, 2023 Jesus clearly has a lot to contend with. Disciples of John the Baptist have gone to ask him if he is the one ‘who is to come’, the Messiah. In response, Jesus asserts both his Messiahship and the great value of John the Baptist’s ministry.

Mary Ortwein. "Living Stones" A Catholic Moment. May 6, 2023 What do you see in today’s picture? Some pebbles in a bowl? Yes. A rosary? Yes. You see that—and there is more. These are my prayer rocks. I am resurrecting them, because I need them just now.

Br. John Blazo, MM. "Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time" Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. October 23, 2022 The reading from Sirach tells us that, while having no favorites, God listens to the voice of the poor. The orphans, widow, sick and materially poor get God’s attention. Pope Francis says the life of Jesus “reminds us Christians that we are called to care for the vulnerable of the earth.

John Bergsma. "The Cry of the Poor" The Sacred Page. October 22, 2022 Several years ago, Christians around the world were shocked and saddened by the execution of twenty-one Egyptian Christian men who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and fell under the power of ISIS. This martyrdom is just one of the more dramatic examples of abuse and oppression that seems so prevalent in the contemporary world. Where is God in all this?

Mary Ortwein. "What’s the Difference?" A Catholic Moment. October 22, 2022 What do you mean, Jesus? What’s the difference? In the parable you tell today, it is very clear you take a dim view of the Pharisee making a list in his head of the good things he does and feeling good about it. On the other hand, in your Word recorded in 2 Timothy, the list Paul makes of what he has done is held up as a model for the young evangelist Timothy and for us.

John Bergsma. "The Battle of Prayer" The Sacred Page. October 15, 2022 Usually we think of men of prayer and men of war as complete opposites. A monk in a habit—such as St. Francis—is a man dedicated to peace, a total contrast to one clad in armor brandishing weapons. Yet the Readings for this Sunday combine the imagery of war and prayer in interesting ways that provoke our thoughts about the nature and reality of supplicating God.

Mary Ortwein. "Measuring Prayer" A Catholic Moment. October 15, 2022 I am on retreat this weekend at St. Meinrad, my almost-heaven home on earth. It is a private retreat, structured only by praying with the monks and meals. My chosen topic for reflection is my prayer life.

Fr. Nicholas Crowe. "Joshua and Amalek" Torch. October 12, 2022 We heard in our first reading that Amalek came and waged war against Israel. The biblical scholars tell us that Amalek was a nomadic tribe that lived on the borderlands between the desert and the Promised Land. Its not hard to imagine why the sudden arrival of Israel in their territory might have concerned these people. Where resources are scarce, a new competitor represents an existential threat to the community.

Fr. Richard Finn. "The Consolation of the Spirit" Torch. September 27, 2022 Across the Day Treatment Unit, the nurse picked up my high levels of anxiety. It can be frightening to learn you have no neutrophils, no white blood cells with which to fight infection or heal bruises. Knowing I was a priest, she slipped me a post-it note. It invited me to read from today’s second reading St Paul’s reminder to Timothy that through the laying on of hands God had given me a spirit not of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.

Mary Ortwein. "In a Storm" A Catholic Moment. August 13, 2022 A prayer group was discussing body positions for prayer—better to kneel, sit, or stand? Arms raised? Hands folded? What difference did body position make? The members didn’t notice an electrical worker in the back of the room, but he was listening to them. Finally, he came forward, “I couldn’t help but listen to you talk. I just want to say the best, most intense prayer of my life was one night during a storm when I was hanging upside down on a utility pole. God heard, answered, and here I am.”

John Bergsma. "Bargaining with God" The Sacred Page. July 23, 2022 Who has the guts to bargain with the Divinity? Abraham, the father of the Israel, does. In the Readings for this Sunday, we find united several themes: persistence in prayer, the justice and mercy of God, the generosity of God.

Mary Ortwein. "Intercessory Prayer" A Catholic Moment. July 23, 2022 Last Sunday we had a visiting priest who titled his homily “Let go, let God in.” As I talked with him after mass, he smiled and said, “What I was hoping to accomplish was to help people pray like a prayer warrior, not like a battle ax.” His words and his message apply even more appropriately to this week’s readings.

Fr. Matthew Jarvis. "Saying Yes" Torch. July 20, 2022 Does God answer prayers? The Psalmist seems to think so: ‘On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.’ A wise person once said that God always answers prayers; it’s just that the answer sometimes is No!

Fr. Lawrence Obilor. "A life restoring God" A Catholic Moment. June 27, 2021 The story about Ann Jillian (an American singer and actress) is quite inspiring to hear. It is all about her victory over breast cancer.

John Bergsma. "Is Life a Drudgery?" The Sacred Page. February 7, 2021 Life is difficult, but it is neither helpful nor virtuous to utter expressions of stoic fatalism. The true virtue, the true courage, is to maintain hope (and also love and joy) in the face of what can sometimes look and feel like an ocean of darkness.

Fr. Lawrence Obilor. "A Cloud of Witnesses" A Catholic Moment. November 1, 2020 Historically, Pope Boniface IV was the first to institute All Saints Day on May 13 in 609 AD when he dedicated the Pantheon in Rome as a church in honor of the Virgin Mary and all martyrs, though without any intention of making it a universal celebration.

Fr. Lawrence Obilor. "One God, Same Salvation" A Catholic Moment. August 16, 2020 The Liturgy of the Word on this 20th Sunday Year A celebrates God’s eternal desire that all men be brought to salvation. Each of the readings speaks of the expansive and universal nature of the “Kingdom of God,” in contrast with the theory that salvation was offered first to the Jews and through them alone to the rest of the world.

Fr. Lawrence Obilor. "Let them be. reliving the experience of a Patient God" A Catholic Moment. July 19, 2020 The readings today draw us closer to the mystery of the kingdom. The first reading and the Gospel are meant to widen our vision about the attitude of God towards the world and the created beings. He shows himself as a God rich in mercy and patience to those who do not live in conformity to his will, but then his mercy and patience cannot be wasted forever.

Fr. Benjamin Earl. "But Why?" Torch. July 1, 2020 Children who wish to be learned and clever, wise and understanding, will not cease to ask questions, will want to learn, and will want to change for the better. And if they ever stop asking questions then there is the danger – I use the word advisedly – that they will have grown up.

Fr. Lawrence Obilor. "Waiting in Prayer" A Catholic Moment. May 24, 2020 The end of Easter Season is very close as we could see it even from our directions. The Ascension of the Lord into heaven opens another important moment meant to perfect the Easter festivity; the Pentecost. The Pentecost not only concludes the Pascal mystery that reaches its “summum punctum” at Easter, but it equally perpetuates it.

Fr. Robert Gay. "Consecrated in Prayer" Torch. March 5, 2020 Our second Sunday in Lent puts before us a great manifestation of the Glory of God which happens on Mount Tabor. It is a theophany, a manifestation of the Divine, and has features both old and new, and shows itself as such in its details. First, let’s look at the features it has in common which other such manifestations in the Scriptures.

Judy Walter. "Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time" Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. February 9, 2020 In Judy Cannato’s beautiful book, “Radical Amazement,” she reflects on how planet Earth was in darkness for billions of years because there was no receptor on earth to receive the light of the sun.

Ron Rolheiser, OMI. "The Frustrating Struggle for Humility" ronrolheiser.com. October 28, 2019 It’s hard to be humble, not because we don’t have more than enough deficiencies to merit humility, but rather because there’s crafty mechanism inside of us that normally doesn’t let us go to the place of humility. Simply put, as we try to be self-effacing, humble, and non-hypocritical, variably we take pride in that and then, feeling smug about it, we become judgmental of others.

Fr. Lawrence Obilor. "God loves the Humble" A Catholic Moment. October 27, 2019 The Psalmist today says that “The Lord hears the cry of the poor” (Ps 34); not just the weak and the oppressed but the poor in spirit. Thus the readings today teach us that the only key to unlocking the heart of God in prayer is humility; for the humble are not just admired by God, but they are the ones that he justifies.

Fr. Roberto Rodriguez, MM. "Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time" Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. October 27, 2019 The readings for this Sunday present to us two different models of faith and prayer. The first reading reminds us that God is a God of Justice who hears the cry of the poor. The responsorial psalm reaffirms this truth about God. Saint Paul, in the second reading, knowing that he is about to finish his time in this world, tells us also that truly God is a just Judge, who is always close to his people.

Fr. David McLean. "Become a good hypocrite!" Torch. October 23, 2019 Church leaders are often confronted by those who assert that they don’t go to Church because it is full of hypocrites. There is the temptation to reply with the retort that there is always room for one more. A better approach may be to refer them to today’s gospel reading, which addresses hypocrisy in its various forms in a more subtle way.

Fr. Lawrence Obilor. "Pray Until Something Happens" A Catholic Moment. October 20, 2019 Therefore, if we must survive the “valley of war”, we must learn to climb the “mountain of prayer.” It is only in this secret place of prayer that God offers us his hand to hold for a connection capable of disconnecting us from the troubles of this life. The first reading and the Gospel reveal to us one of indispensable characteristics of a true believer; “A search for God through persistent prayers”.

Fr. John Farrell. "Prayers and Prayerfulness" Torch. October 16, 2019 St Luke tells us that Jesus gives us this parable in today’s gospel for a definite reason. We are to keep on praying and not give up on prayer. What are we to understand by constant prayer? Obviously Christian life is not to be spent saying endless Hail Marys or even Our Fathers.

Fr. Richard Ounsworth. "Nonsensical Prayers" Torch. July 24, 2019 You can’t prove that the Catholic Faith is true. If you could, I suppose it wouldn’t be faith any more. But I would claim that you can and should try to show that it’s not nonsense. If our religious beliefs were nonsense, we would not be able to hold them to be true and continue to claim, as we do, to be rational animals.

Fr. Lawrence Obilor. "God our guest" A Catholic Moment. July 21, 2019 In the quest to concretize our reflection, I deemed it fitting to share an observation which may be familiar with most of us.

Joseph LaCombe. "Feel His Warmth" A Catholic Moment. March 24, 2019 I love to stare at a fire. I love the comfort that it provides. Not only does it provide a physical warmth, but for me, it also stimulates a spiritual and mental warmth. Whether it’s in the fireplace on a cold winters night, or a summer campfire – fire mesmerizes me. The crackling of the wood as the flame – from blue to orange to yellow – yields to sparks that fly upwards and disappear into the sky. The refreshing smell of the burning wood, the flames dancing – it’s primal. As old as time itself. If you stare into it, it almost becomes spiritual. You reflect about life. Yourself. It’s almost hypnotic. Fire is alive. Perhaps this is why God comes to Moses through a burning bush.

Joseph LaCombe. "Rise to the Challenge" A Catholic Moment. February 10, 2019 One of the things I really love about sports is how the really good players make those around them better. When you have someone who is not only a great athlete, but a great leader and motivator – it makes their teammates better. I’ve seen it over and over. And I’ve experienced it. They motivate others to rise up to the challenge and play at a different level.

Joseph LaCombe. "Anxiety" A Catholic Moment. December 16, 2018 Anxiety. Worry. Fear. All things we struggle with in our daily lives. We too often think about the things that have not come to pass nor ever will be. A figment of our imagination. But for so many of us, it becomes all too real.

Joseph LaCombe. "Make Your Life a Prayer" A Catholic Moment. December 17, 2017 A memory came up on my Facebook page today, from five years ago. It reminded me of something else that had happened that same week, five years ago when I was told I was going to be laid off from my company at the time, a company where I had spent almost 13 years.

Joseph LaCombe. "Call In a Prayer-Strike" A Catholic Moment. July 23, 2017 There’s a scene in the Mel Gibson movie, We Were Soldiers, where Gibson’s character, Lt. Col. Hal Moore is leading his regiment in the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam in 1965. In this particular scene, the battle has gotten sporty, as Col. Moore puts it, and he and his men were surrounded by the enemy.

Fr. Jim Noonan, MM. "29th Sunday in Ordinary Time" Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. October 16, 2016 We are all in mission to one another. When we meet one another in prayer, we leave behind our judgments, our prejudices and biases, our seeing each other as so different from ourselves. We come together on a level playing field, hoping for peace, justice, kindness, understanding, health, happiness and so many things that we pray for.

Joseph LaCombe. "Persistent Prayer" A Catholic Moment. October 15, 2016 Today was a day of distractions. You ever have one of those? Some days, you just have things that make it hard to focus. Unless you’re a hermit – you know what I mean. It seems like every time I got ready to focus on a task today – trying to solve that problem at work, or trying to explain running cadence to kids at Cross-Country practice, or even trying to sit and write this article – I heard, “Hey Joe!” Or, “but coach!” Or, “Dad?”

Fr. Benjamin Earl. "Why Do We Pray?" Torch. October 12, 2016 Prayer is so woven into the fabric of what it is to live as a Christian that perhaps sometimes we forget to ask that simple question: “why do we pray?”. And if we forget to ask why we pray, then there must be a danger that one day we may simply forget to pray altogether.

Joseph LaCombe. "Answered Prayers" A Catholic Moment. July 23, 2016 I have always loved the song, “Unanswered Prayers”, by the American Country Music Artist Garth Brooks. It’s about a man who, when in high school, prayed every night for the love of another girl. She was all he could think about and he wanted to be with her forever, but it just didn’t work out.

Fr. Martin Ganeri. "The School of Prayer" Torch. July 19, 2016 This Sunday’s readings are about prayer and, more specifically about petitionary prayer. We are invited to pray to God for what we need in the expectation that God will answer our prayers and will give us what is good for us.

Fr. Duncan Campbell. "Glowing with God" Torch. February 16, 2016 Why did Jesus appear, suddenly, and so changed, to his closest followers? The gospels are meant to raise these questions. They were written, to report the strangest and most important event in human history, something quite unlike anything else we are told. That was the point of writing them.

Joseph LaCombe. "Pray for Your Calling" A Catholic Moment. January 9, 2016 I think one of the most overlooked aspects of Jesus, is really just how much he prayed. The New Testament is littered with His wisdom and miracles that He performed, and rightly so. But through it all – during the good times and the bad times – he prayed devoutly to His Father. The Gospels talk often about how He prayed before doing something, while He was doing it, and he would withdraw by Himself and pray after it was over.

Carolyn Berghuis. "Let There Be Peace on Earth" A Catholic Moment. December 24, 2015 Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, and what a glorious day it is! The light who, not only created us, the light whom we live, move and have our being within has entered into the world. Yes, our Savior is our Alpha, our Omega – our everything! Today’s Gospel so beautifully reveals the fullness of the truth of Christ. Oh how many exquisite hours we could spend bathing in the beauty of Christ as we meditate on today’s readings. However, as I often do when I read scripture I ask myself why the Church selected these particular readings today.

Fr. Simon Gaine. "Enwrapped In Prayer" Torch. December 16, 2015 The Psalms of David were the prayer book of Jesus, as they were the prayer book of his own Jewish people. He was praying psalms at the end of his life, as he lay on the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? … Into your hands, I commend my spirit.’ Psalms of lament, psalms of praise, all written centuries before the coming of Christ, found their fulfilment in his prayerful offering of himself for our salvation.

Fr. John O'Connor. "Eternally Loved" Torch. June 30, 2015 I remember hearing a radio programme where someone made the following remark: “You know, to grow up knowing that you are loved and accepted is an enormous birthright.”

Sr. Genie Natividad, MM. "Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time" Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. February 8, 2015 As I reflect on the readings especially of today, I was struck that throughout the Gospel Jesus has been portrayed as a man grounded in prayer. His life is described as one spent in communion with God despite the many demands and pressures of life, attending to many people afflicted with all kinds of troubles.

Laura Kazlas. "Take My Yoke Upon You and Learn From Me" A Catholic Moment. July 6, 2014 The scriptures for Mass today are all about Jesus. The old testament reading is a prophecy about Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem, riding on an ass, which he fulfilled. Isn’t the first reading from the old testament beautiful? It describes Jesus perfectly:

Fr. Simon Gaine. "Down from the Mountain" Torch. March 16, 2014 Today’s Gospel has more than one thing to say to us about Lent. We can easily think Lent is just about ourselves, putting ourselves in order, training ourselves to love ourselves in more healthy way. Fasting is the Lenten penance that most easily comes to mind, something by which we train ourselves to love ourselves in a healthy and moderate way.

Fr. Richard Finn. "Humble Prayer" Torch. October 27, 2013 There’s no doubting the good deeds of our Pharisee! His fasting, his tithes, are exemplary. Like his prayer in the Temple, they are a public witness to God’s sovereignty over Israel and over his Israelite. What’s more, his fasting is itself a prayer: the Pharisees fasted twice each week in intercession for Israel. And his tithing is a mark of respect both for the priests and for the poor to whom tithes were distributed.

Fr. Peter Harries. "A Surge of the Heart" Torch. October 20, 2013 Luke especially records Jesus telling us stories, parables, involving some disreputable characters. On recent Sundays we have heard about the manager who was commended because he continued swindling his boss big-time even as he was being disciplined and sacked. We have also heard about the foolish shepherd who abandoned the 99 sheep to the wolves and thieves and went off to look for the wayward lost sheep.

Fr. Bruno Clifton. "Persistent Prayer" Torch. July 28, 2013 It is a feature of Luke’s gospel that Jesus is often to be found praying. And, it is no surprise that having observed this frequent activity of Jesus, his disciples are moved to want to pray like him. So, Jesus takes the opportunity not only to teach them a prayer, but also to teach them the way to pray: persistently. To pray persistently is to pray like Jesus. What does that mean?

Laura Kazlas. "It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask" A Catholic Moment. July 28, 2013 Abraham was sure brave in pleading with God to save the inhabitants of Sodom in the first reading for mass today. This city was filled with such wickedness and sin that God wanted to destroy the entire city. But, Abraham bargained with God. He bargained with the creator of the universe and begged Him for their lives. We know that this was in a large part because Adam’s nephew Lot and his wife were living in this city, but still, Abraham fought for their lives and any other righteous people who lived in that city.

Fr. Gregory Pearson. "Staying the Course" Torch. April 16, 2011 Gethsemane provides the final lesson in discipleship given by Jesus before his execution and exaltation, and that lesson is rooted in prayer.

Fr. John O'Connor. "Urgency and Eternity" Torch. October 16, 2010 In the readings this weekend we are given some insight into how our requests to God relate to time, our time and God’s time.

Fr. Mark Edney. "The Praying Game" Torch. July 25, 2010 ‘I am their father, says God. Our father who art in heaven. My son told them all about my being their father. […] That’s how they seem to me now. That’s how I see them. That’s how I’m forced to see them.’

Fr. Dominic Ryan. "The Imitation of Christ" Torch. February 10, 2008 At its most basic, Christian life is about imitating Christ, Christ as presented to us in the gospels. So given that today’s gospel recounts Christ going into the wilderness to be tempted, must we do the same also?

Fr. Robert Pollock. "Asking and Being Asked" Torch. July 29, 2007 When we ask a question we expect an answer. In the course of our lives, we ask, and we must ask, many questions. We ask questions for different reasons in different contexts. We ask for directions when we are not sure where we are. We ask when we do not know something, and we want to learn and understand. To understand something well, we have to ask many questions.

Fr. Rudolf Loewenstein. "In God's Time" Torch. May 14, 2006 Most of what we read or hear in today's Gospel presents us with very little difficulty, but there is one particular phrase that can sometimes cause puzzlement to people, however simple or innocuous it sounds: 'you may ask what you will and you shall get it'. Now commonly I and many others would take that phrase to mean that if I wanted something enough and asked God for it, then I would get what it is I wanted.

Fr. Rudolf Loewenstein. "How do you pray?" Torch. October 24, 2004 One of the questions that anyone who seeks to enter a seminary or religious institute or order is bound to be asked is how they pray, and what they pray. It is important, after all, to establish what a person’s relationship with God is like — and one way of doing this in the first instance is to ask that person how they pray.

Fr. Paul-Martin White. "Done Speedily" Torch. October 17, 2004 Through radio, television, the internet, and many other means of communication, people in every corner of the globe can be in instant contact with each other. Scientists on Earth are able to be in contact with robots on Mars and receive photographic images of the planet.

Fr. Timothy Calvert. "Praying into Divine Friendship" Torch. July 25, 2004 If a character on a soap opera is shown praying, we are usually supposed to infer that they are either a religious maniac who should be avoided at all costs, or in the middle of an overwhelming crisis in their lives, so overwhelming that they need to make a call to a distant God. God, it seems, is far away, and by praying we can persuade him to help us out of our tricky situation.

Fr. Colin Carr. "Lost to the Temple" Torch. December 28, 2003 This could be a manifesto of the confidently tough-minded, of those who pride themselves on their independence and resist attempts to get them into a committed relationship to a person or a party. But it could equally be the lament of a person who feels isolated, unsupported, vulnerable to exploiters and bullies.

Fr. Aidan Nichols. "The Articulation of Desire" Torch. October 21, 2001 The readings of today’s Liturgy are meant to say something about one part of the God-man relationship, the part we call the ‘prayer of petition’.

Fr. Richard Ounsworth. "Asking God" Torch. July 29, 2001 Petitionary prayer – asking God for the things we need, or even just for things we want – is a very peculiar activity; after all, surely God already knows what we need, and has already decided whether or not to respond. What arrogance to think that we can change God’s mind! And of course we know that God’s will is eternal and unchanging, for he sees and knows all things before one of them comes to be.

Ron Rolheiser, OMI. "Praying for Pentecost" ronrolheiser.com. July 3, 2001 Every generation needs to experience pentecost for itself. It needs God’s spirit and it needs it in its own particular way.

Fr. George Smiga. "" Building on the Word. Today’s gospel passage is a tremendously important one, because in today’s gospel, Jesus recognizes that he cannot do everything. As great as Jesus was, he shared fully in our humanity. Therefore, he had to live with limitations. He could not meet every need.

Fr. George Smiga. "" Building on the Word. Today’s gospel is not about plants. It’s about people. It is not about vines. It’s about life.

Fr. George Smiga. "" Building on the Word. Normally we are quite respectful when we speak to God. Controlled and subservient we place our needs before the Lord. “Dear Jesus, help my son be accepted into the college he prefers.”