Tag: prayer

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love love love

I’m sipping some tea late into the night. It was hot at the baseball game, and even though we were having fun, it was hot. So now, after a shower, I don’t feel like going to sleep, but I don’t want to watch any more news, either. Tomorrow I’ll catch up. Tonight, I think I’ll just sit in the half light, drink my tea before it gets cold, and pray. The world needs prayer. And love. So much love.

I like the technique proposed by Pope Francis, to use your hand as a guide for prayer:

1. Thumb: This is closest to you, so pray for your dear ones, your family, your friends.

2. Index finger. We point with this finger – pray for teachers, the people who guide you, law enforcement and emergency responders. They need God’s guidance, too, to do their work.

3. The middle finger. Sometimes we use it in a not-so-nice-manner. It’s the tallest finger, so pray for our leaders. The world is a mess. Policies are a mess. People are a mess. We need good leaders to help us. To make this world a better place for everyone.

4. The ring finger. Associated with marriage and love. It’s also the weakest finger. Pray for the weak. The marginalized. The misunderstood. We are all God’s children. We are all worthy of  love.

5. The pinkie.  This is the smallest finger, and reminds you to pray for yourself. Putting ourselves last in this prayer strategy doesn’t mean we dismiss ourselves — it helps us order our needs after thinking broadly about our relationships.

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light a candle – say a prayer

candlesMy husband says I’m a pyromaniac. I’m not an arsonist, but I do like fire. It’s true; I play with fire, especially in my chimenea on the porch. I burn everything: paper, cardboard, leaves. I even burn wood. Gasp!

My favorite things to light are candles. I have many scattered about the house, and I usually light one on my desk when I’m working there. Scented ones that give off the warm aroma of vanilla or sandalwood are my favorites.

It’s no surprise that when I go to Adoration, I usually light at least one candle, maybe more depending on how many intentions I’m taking to prayer.

This morning was no different. I went to Mass, stayed a while before the Blessed Sacrament and paused a moment before the Blessed Virgin, where I lit several candles for dear ones, each a prayer bound by the light of the flame to the Light of the World.

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the end and the beginning

novena end

If you’ve been following my posts this past week or so, you’ve seen a number of petitions, prayers for some particular graces. They are all a part of the St. Thomas More novena I’ve been praying for a special intention.

As so often happens to me when I embark on an intentional prayer regimen, I grow in ways that I wasn’t expecting or anticipating. I mean, I started with a very specific intention, but it moved in me a number of changes that I’ve experienced daily.

It jump-started my prayer life — something that got away from me with all the excuses about the end of term responsibilities gobbling up my time. I am annoyed with myself for letting that “lack of time” excuse get me, every time. God operates outside of time, and I find that when I give Him that first hour of the day, I manage to have the time to do what I need (read that as want). Yet — I’ve managed to get everything done that was meaningful.

I’m done with the novena, but I intend to fill that time with something else. More prayer. More contemplation. More intentionality in my use of time.

Here’s a piece of the novena:

Dear St. Thomas More, you spent your whole earthly life preparing for the life to come. Everything you endured prepared you not only for the glory God wished to bestow upon you in heaven, but for your work as the patron of lawyers, judges and statesmen, and steadfast friend to all who call upon you. Through your prayers and intercession, obtain for us aid in all our necessities, both corporal and spiritual, and the grace to follow in your footsteps, until at last we are safely home with you in the mansions our Father has prepared for us in heaven.

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