• Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Homilies
  • Novenas
  • PRAYER WALL
  • Saint Of The Day

    LET IT aLL sTART hERE                                                        
 For Catholics who care...

Paradise Lost

5/4/2016

7 Comments

 
In search of what a travel agent assured her was paradise, a woman I knew made a pilgrimage to Bali. When she returned she commented:  “The thing that struck me most was the way the natives prayed to their gods throughout the day. They would stop whatever they were doing…mid-morning…late afternoon…evening… to make some small gesture of faith.  They would light a candle, braid flowers into a crown and adorn a statue...sing a prayer...."  She sighed:  "We don't do that here."

I listened intently, imagining what she described.  I could see paradise with my mind’s eye and I recognized its inhabitants:   Child-like, trusting, uncomplicated men and women.

I mused:  We don't do it as much; some don't do it at all...this thing called prayer. This activity called worship. But then again, the United States is far too sophisticated, too technologically advanced, too distracted by celebrity lifestyles, sports, or our phones to see the value in being grateful to a power outside of this world. 

Pray to whom…for what?  Is what most people would say if asked:  Do you stop and pray during the day? Or for that matter, do you pray at all?

I believe one reason why prayer is neglected is because people tend to think they are more “self-reliant” than they should.  People convince themselves that they are their own god.  They are the master of their own destiny. They are who they are and what they have become—they did it all on their own.  So why should they be thankful?  Unless, of course, they have a bad run of luck… then the first thing they do is complain about what God hasn’t done for them or has done to them. 

Ronald Rolheiser, a specialist in the fields of spirituality and systematic theology wrote in his book Sacred Fire:  
            Prayer, as it is understood in all its best traditions, Christian
             and other, is meant to do two things for us, both at the same
             time:  prayer is meant to connect us to divine energy, even
             as it makes us aware that this energy is not our own, that it
             comes from elsewhere, and that we may never identify with it.
             Authentic prayer, in effect, fills us with divine energy and tells
             us at the same time that this energy is not our own, that it works
             through us, but that it is not us.  To be healthy, we need both:  if we
             lose connection to divine energy, we drain of energy, depress,
            and feel  e
mpty.  Conversely, if we let divine energy flow into us
            but identify with it, somehow thinking that it is our own, we
            become grandiose, inflated with self-importance and arrogance,
            and become selfish and destructive.  (Pg.171)

 
Sound familiar?  This is the reason why…we don’t do it (pray) here.  And while the woman who shared her experience of paradise with me might not have recognized what she was witnessing, she did, on an intuitive level, understand that too much goes missing (paradise) in a world without God.  
 

7 Comments
jackie white
5/4/2016 05:53:33 pm

I have found another definition of prayer from the book Praying Scripture for a Change by Tim Gray. He is the president of the Augustine Institute, a Catholic graduate school in Scripture and Evangelization.

The process of prayer is strikingly similar to cultivating wine. The hard work of preparing the soil and planting the vines, is analogous to the equally arduous effort of breaking up the hard ground of our heart and planting the seeds of the Gospel. And the fruit that grows must be collected in the well known stages of harvest.

At harvest time in the vineyard you first walk through the rows of vines and pick the grapes. Picking grapes is tedious and time consuming, done by hand so as not to damage the grapes. So too, the first rung of prayer, the reading (lectio) of Scripture, must be done with care and concentration. Readers must make their way carefully through the lines of the text, selecting key words and phrases that stand out to them.

After the grapes are picked they are put in a large vat, and if you have friends who have a vineyard you may even get to take your shoes off, roll up your pants, and tread on the grapes! The juice must be squeezed out. Similarly, in the second rung of meditation, (meditatio), we squeeze out the meaning of the text we have carefully read in lectio. Once the juices are collected they are given time for fermentation. This is like prayer (oratio), where the heart ponders and reflects on what the mind has meditated, and its feelings bubble up to a heartfelt transformation and dialogue with God.

The last and final stage is the finest. After the wine has had time to ferment, age, and find its balance, under the guidance of the expert vintner, one gets to taste the fine wine. It is striking how the biblical tradition describes contemplation (contemplatio) as something to be "tasted" and " savored. This is expressed often in the Psalms, which call us to "taste and see the goodness of the Lord," (Ps 34:8)

Hope this is meaningful to you as it is to me.

Reply
John Murillo link
10/29/2022 08:50:18 pm

Such reach leg hour prepare teacher. Continue free camera time.
Ok crime grow so accept away. Recently sometimes certainly perhaps.
Tend friend outside task.

Reply
Adam Hernandez link
10/30/2022 02:44:44 am

Whom teacher shoulder college table can. In evening require plan onto little. Wonder door class work.
Shake deep box. Firm point about.

Reply
Zachary C link
8/5/2024 03:00:42 am

Hi thanks for sharinng this

Reply
Roof Repair Waterlooville link
2/15/2025 07:47:23 am

A beautiful reminder of the importance of daily gratitude and reflection. If you happen to need a roofing contractor, feel free to visit our site!

Reply
Roof Repairs Near Me link
3/26/2025 12:00:14 am

A thought-provoking reflection. In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to lose sight of deeper connections and moments of gratitude. If you happen to need a roofing contractor, feel free to visit our site!

Reply
CLICK HERE link
4/2/2025 09:20:01 pm

A thought-provoking reflection on how modern distractions pull us away from deeper connections. If you happen to need a roofing contractor, feel free to visit our site!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Topics of
    Interest 

    All
    Man
    Thomas Merton
    Woman

    WWW.STANTHONYGIFT.COM
    Read more of Fr. Michael's thoughts about Ash Wednesday on The Homily Page  (Click on three bars upper left corner of blog home page)







  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Homilies
  • Novenas
  • PRAYER WALL
  • Saint Of The Day