{"id":39884,"date":"2013-05-29T06:30:58","date_gmt":"2013-05-29T11:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=39884"},"modified":"2013-05-29T09:20:34","modified_gmt":"2013-05-29T14:20:34","slug":"pilgrimage-of-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/05\/pilgrimage-of-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pilgrimage of Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Actually, the Catechism has a section titled The Battle of Prayer<\/a>. We have God the Holy Spirit and Michael the Archangel to help us. Here\u2019s a perspective of pilgrimage: ever since Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, humanity has been on a pilgrimage. Pereginus (from the Latin) is one who comes from afar through land to an end or destination. Humanity has been journeying toward the house of God, toward Heaven, ever since Adam and Eve. Our journey and order and way to God is<\/i> prayer. The land we journey through is earth, the material and seen world. Prayer, along with creation, should order us and guide us to our end, goal, and home.<\/p>\n

Think of a triangle with three points: (1) Salvation is our end and goal and purpose, (2) Prayer is necessary for Salvation (Question 1104 of the Baltimore Catechism)<\/a>, and (3) Knowing God is the experience of eternal life (Jn 17:3).<\/p>\n

\"Praying<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With that in mind, it follows that we should pray.<\/p>\n

How to Pray:<\/b> For those of us who want steps on \u201chow-to-pray,\u201d here you are:<\/p>\n

Stop<\/i> what you are doing, who you are thinking about. Come to yourself. Be at peace and stop moving away from yourself and from God. Be still and at peace with yourself. This may be the hardest one for many of us. It is difficult to slow down, quiet down, and stop.<\/p>\n

Look<\/i>. Here\u2019s a bad analogy: Imagine yourself in a library, coffee shop, or other public place. You notice some stranger giving you a creepy stare. You look away but the stranger is still staring. You wonder, \u201cShould I return the creepy stare or move?\u201d God gives you that same stare. Let\u2019s contrast that, though. He is not a stranger who stares creepily; he is our Father who gazes lovingly. Therefore, when we \u201clook,\u201d it is more accurate to say we notice his loving gaze and are invited to return it by \u201clooking.\u201d We return the loving gaze He has for us.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/i>. Is listening passive osmosis? No! Listening is active receiving. College students address professors as \u201cDoctor.\u201d Doctor means Teacher, from a Latin word docere<\/i>. If I listen, I am available and teachable and ready to receive. When I am docile<\/i> to the Holy Spirit, to the will of God, I am available and teachable. I must stop in order to look. I must look in order to listen. There are three steps, taken from Peter Kreeft\u2019s \u201cPrayer for Beginners.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happens<\/b> when we pray? In John 8:12 Jesus says, \u201cI am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life.\u201d The context of that verse is beautiful! Do some reading and praying with that passage. Here\u2019s a little quote to relate it to prayer: Prayer taps into the life of God; the life of God gives us the light of the world<\/i>. We receive life when we pray!<\/p>\n

When<\/b> do I pray? In Mark 1:35 we see this: \u201cAnd in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.\u201d Uh-oh. Here\u2019s the early morning discipline plug. Jesus did it, we can too. It is summer isn\u2019t it? It is the perfect time to pray in the morning. Not at 11:30am, but before the day<\/i>, a great while<\/i> before the day. In summer the sun rises before 7am, and Jesus was up a great while before then. Here\u2019s something else: He didn\u2019t just throw off the covers and mutter a \u201cGlory Be,\u201d he rose<\/i> and he went out<\/i>. What happened after that? He didn\u2019t distract himself with traffic or the bus ride or car ride to campus or work, he went to a lonely place<\/i>, and there he prayed. We are to do the same.<\/p>\n

The times I have done this, it\u2019s like being on a retreat. It\u2019s like experiencing the pilgrimage. It\u2019s like waking up with creation. It\u2019s beautiful, refreshing, and so often even breath-taking.<\/p>\n

What do I do in prayer<\/b>? When I am honest and vulnerable with God, I have peace with Him and then myself. I can accept myself as I am because God does. God teaches<\/i> me how to love Him, myself, and others. Further, I have peace with others. Therefore, I can honestly and purely ask forgiveness and forgive, because I have first asked and received from God and reconciled with Him and myself.<\/p>\n

Finally, ask God, the Holy Spirit. He teaches us for we know not how to pray. Chapter 8 of Romans is a great take away and homework assignment. Let us continue our journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actually, the Catechism has a section titled The Battle of Prayer. We have God the Holy Spirit and Michael the Archangel to help us. Here\u2019s a perspective of pilgrimage: ever since Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, humanity has been on a pilgrimage. Pereginus (from the Latin) is one who comes… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[826,74,859],"class_list":{"0":"post-39884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-faith-blog","7":"tag-growth","8":"tag-prayer","9":"tag-spirituality","10":"entry","11":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":121445,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/06\/the-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":39884,"position":0},"title":"The Heart","author":"Rachel","date":"June 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This past weekend the wisdom of the Church invited us\u00a0to experience a beautiful truth - the unity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Church led us into this discovery of this union by celebrating the Solemnity of the\u00a0Most\u00a0Sacred Heart on Friday that leads\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My three-in-one heart Calligraphy doodle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/IMG_8095-550x440.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/IMG_8095-550x440.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/IMG_8095-550x440.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":187810,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/prayers-4th-sunday-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":39884,"position":1},"title":"The Prayers – 4th Sunday of Advent","author":"William Rooney","date":"December 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we can learn much from what we pray day in and day out in our Liturgy it would be profitable for us to reflect more profoundly upon the prayers of each day. 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