Notes from today's meeting

Did you miss tonight's CB meeting?  Don't worry! We took notes for you! (Lots and lots of notes.)

Part Four of CCC: Christian Prayer
Songs we taught:  By Your Side; None But Jesus

What is prayer?
- “For me, prayer is a surge of the human heart.  It is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy” (St. Thérèse of Lisieux).
- God’s gift, covenant, communion
   - Do we speak out from our own pride and will?
   - Or do we speak from the depths of a humble and contrite heart?
   - Prayer is a gift from God.  That gift is the opportunity to have a relationship with God.  Therefore, we must receive that gift with humility.  In order to receive the gift of prayer in all its fullness, we must, first and foremost, be humbled (CCC 2559).
   - God started this (CCC 2567).  It is God who took the first step in initiating this relationship with us (CCC 2562).  God made us and God thirsts for us.  But having been made in his image and likeness, that thirst is reciprocated.  Everybody’s looking for something: they’re looking for answers, looking for meaning, looking for a purpose.  Whether they know it or not, those things can only be found in God.  Our search is really a search for God (CCC 2566).  God revealed this to various people in the Bible.  He told numerous prophets, “You will be my people, and I will be your God.”  This is the covenant between God and man (CCC 2962).  And God wasn’t asking.  He didn’t say, “You could be my people, and I could be your God.”  Still, we have a choice.  But St. Augustine wisely noted, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in [God].”
   - What does prayer actually do?  Prayer allows us to communicate with God.  That’s why we call the Eucharist “Communion.”  Through the Eucharist, we engage in the closest communion with him possible.  When we consume God, God consumes us; we’re as close to him as we can possibly get.  But we can’t just sit and eat Eucharist all day.  That’s where prayer comes in.  Communion with God is communicating with him (CCC 2565).
   - From the moment human beings were first formed, God and man had communication.  The fall of man created a rift between heaven and earth, yet God was still willing to communicate with man.  God chose the righteous: Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jacob, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, and so on to be mediators between God and the people.  These people regularly prayed to God; they regularly communicated with him.  And it’s not that God chose these people because they were perfect or sinless.  They were the complete opposite.  But they were humble.
   - Everything that they did and said was an offering to God.  God looked into their hearts and saw that they had no intention other than to live lives that were pleasing to him.  There were obviously more people than just those specifically mentioned in the Bible, but it took many people a while to realize that a personal relationship with God was possible.
   - Even Jesus had to learn this.
- Jesus prayed
   - Jesus learned how to pray from watching those in the synagogue pray.  He learned from watching Mary pray.  He learned how to pray humbly, with his heart (CCC 2599).
But why in the world would Jesus pray?  After all, he is God, isn’t he?  Jesus acknowledges his need for prayer in Luke 2:49 when he says “I must be in my Father’s house.”  We pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  While Jesus was on earth, he had the Holy Spirit with him, but the Father was in heaven.  And so Jesus prayed.  He prayed from his heart and he prayed often.  He said “I must be in my Father’s house” (Luke 2:49) because he knew that the Father completed him.
   - Oh… so it’s like that.  Who’s never watched a chick flick?  I’ve endured many chick flicks.  I can’t name one, but there’s one line that stands out.  “You complete me.”  How romantic, right?  You complete me.  The Father completed Jesus.  And so Jesus, who you’d think would have had no need to pray, prayed.  Communion with the Father completed him.
   - Communion with the Father, and the Son completes us.  We were given the gift of the Holy Spirit through Baptism and Confirmation, and the Holy Spirit is shared with us through the good people we encounter.

- How do we pray?
   - How do we commune with the Father and the Son?  Jesus said “the… Holy Spirit… will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (John 14:26).
   - Indeed, Jesus did teach us how to pray.  Our Father…  But he didn’t give us just words.  Jesus gave us values, morals, an example of how to live life as a prayer; in communion with God.  And Jesus taught us how to be quiet.  Jesus said “I must be in my Father’s house.”  He didn’t say, “I have to teach in my Father’s house” or “I have to read Scripture in my Father’s house.”  Jesus understood the importance of simply being with God.
   - For much of my childhood, I was raised by Mama and Papa.  They talked, but there were a lot of times when they didn’t say anything to each other.  They were just with each other, and that’s all that mattered to them.  I didn’t realize it then, but as a relationship matures, just being there is worth more than all of the conversations you’ve ever had.

- There are three ways to express prayer.
   - Vocal – can be words or actions (CCC 2700).  Blessing, Adoration, Petition, Intercession, Thanksgiving, Praise.  You can even tell Jesus you don’t really feel like praying.  Whatever is on your mind, God wants you to take time to tell him.  He wants you to be honest with him.
   - Meditation – The Bible, daily readings, prayer books, devotionals, chants, the rosary.  Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire (CCC 2708).
   - Contemplative – Contemplative prayer is the simplest form of prayer, yet is possibly the most profound.  No words or actions are necessary.  Yet in this prayer, God enters into the depths of our heart and reveals mysteries to us – about who we are, what he wants us to do, offering us comfort, all in the silence of our heart.  Remember Saint Augustine’s quote?  “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”  This is what he means.  God loves us through silence.  And this is not just any silence.  In this silence, we are overwhelmed with God’s love, mercy, compassion, and comfort (CCC 2717).

- Who do we prayer to?
   - First and foremost, we pray to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  God is who we want that relationship with.  We bring our needs, or concerns, and our praises to him daily.  And we can only pray if we have the Holy Spirit, for “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). If you can pray, you have the Holy Spirit.
   - Mary – people often wonder why in the world we would pray to Mary.  Why would Catholics ever pray the rosary?
   - The rosary is a vocalized form of meditative prayer.  While we pray the rosary, we meditate on 20 mysteries, only 2 of which are even really about Mary.  But Mary is honored nonetheless because of her contribution to the mysteries of Jesus.  Because Gabriel’s words were not his own.  They were God’s.  We chant the “Hail Mary” 53 times… nuns say it 203 times.  I’ve heard people complain that they hate praying the Rosary because it’s so boring and repetitive and their minds often wander because of that.  That’s exactly the point.  After the first 5 Hail Marys or so, let your mind wander.  Let your mind wander to meditate on the mysteries of Jesus (CCC 2676).
   - We pray to the saints and angels.  Yeah, saints and angels.  Because they are righteous.  And “God hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29).
   - But that doesn’t mean God doesn’t hear our prayers or that their prayers are any better than ours.  But we pray for their intercession just like we ask our friends to pray for us.

- Answering prayers
   - Even if we prayed to God, Mary, the saints, and the angels, there’s a chance we might not get what we want.  That sounds messed up.  So what exactly are we praying for?
   - God knows what we need even before we ask (Matthew 6:8).  It seems selfish that God would want us to humble ourselves and pour out our hearts to him, even when he knows he’s not going to give us what we want.
   - Are you going to spoil your kids?  I’m not.  I’m not going to give them everything they want because I know that they don’t need everything that they want.  I’m going to make my kids work for some of the things that they want.  I think working for what you want makes you stronger and builds character.  I think not getting everything that you want makes you appreciate more the things that you already have.  I think living with less makes you appreciate the things that really matter more.  God is our Father; as our parent, he understands these things very well.  We’re not spoiled on earth for a reason.  We have but one true possession on earth that we can take to heaven; and that is God.
   - If God says “no” to your prayer request, it is not because your prayers are weak.  It’s not because you lack faith.  It’s not because you’re not praying often enough, hard enough, with enough people.  It’s not because you’re a bad person.  It’s because God is saying “my child, you already have me.”  God even said “no” to Jesus when Jesus asked to be spared from suffering.
   - When we pray, we want what we think is good for us, but let’s change our attitude about prayer.  Don’t ask for what is good, ask for God.  Jesus did.  Mary did.  They said “Let your will be done, not mine.”
   - But just because God says “no” doesn’t mean we should stop praying.  Just because God already knows what we need doesn’t mean we should stop praying.  Remember that praying isn’t just about asking God for things.  What if I became a priest and the only reason why anybody came up to me was to ask me for something?  What I got married and had kids and my kids only talked to me because they wanted to ask me for something?  Our relationship with God is much more than asking God for stuff.  He really wants to be my Father.  He wants to be my brother, my friend, my guide, he wants us to be everything for us.  He wants to complete us.

- God took the first step in creating us.  So we have the answer to life’s big question:  Why are we here?  We’re here to have a relationship with God.  We’re here to work out all of the kinks in that relationship because we know that we’re not perfect and we know we need some work before we join him in heaven.  And how do we do that?  We pray.