In my homily last weekend, on Saturday evening, I talked in the second part about prayer and encouraged a way of prayer that seeks not to be "lengthy" as the scribes and others were doing in Jesus' day. It follows a particular structure that produces a sincere and purposeful prayer that can be used in private or in a setting with others. The structure or format is, "YOU, WHO, DO, and THROUGH." The "YOU" involves using the name of God (or the traditional "Father") at the start of the prayer. It can begin simply "Oh God" or "Oh heavenly Father" or it may be more descriptive of attributes of God (like Almighty, Loving or Merciful) to address the one you are praying to.
The "WHO" part of the prayer is naming something that God has done or is doing now as a reminder that God has been and continues to be active in our lives and in the lives of the community of faith. Acknowledging that to God and to those who hear the prayer hopefully says at least something that I heartily believe about God and his ongoing goodness and love for us.
The third aspect of the prayer is the "petition" ("DO" part) which asks something of God for ourselves or for others. This, obviously, is not the time to express a long list of what we want (which would probably make for a lengthy prayer), but rather one or two things that we believe that God, in his love, will do for us. Asking for his grace, his inspiration and his peace are always good things to ask for that God is ALWAYS ready to give to us and to others.
Finally, we conclude our prayer by indicating that this ( and really all prayers for Christians) should be offered "THROUGH" Christ, our Lord. The second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews on Sunday, October 31 said about Jesus "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Jesus interceded on behalf of many during his ministry which led to many positive and even miraculous outcome. Since our Faith tells us that Jesus is God, some might ask if our prayer can be directed throughout to Jesus since he can answer them as he sees fit. The answer of course is "Yes." Our prayers can always be addressed to one member of the Blessed Trinity or all of them. It's understandable though, that while most of the Mass is directed to God in general or God, the Father, that since we "know" of Christ and the words and actions of his ministry the best, it is good for our prayers to end by referring Jesus, as Christ the Lord who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit as "God" forever and ever.
I pray you will reflect on the YOU, WHO, DO, and THROUGH form of prayer and use it in the future. I can tell you that I will try.
The "WHO" part of the prayer is naming something that God has done or is doing now as a reminder that God has been and continues to be active in our lives and in the lives of the community of faith. Acknowledging that to God and to those who hear the prayer hopefully says at least something that I heartily believe about God and his ongoing goodness and love for us.
The third aspect of the prayer is the "petition" ("DO" part) which asks something of God for ourselves or for others. This, obviously, is not the time to express a long list of what we want (which would probably make for a lengthy prayer), but rather one or two things that we believe that God, in his love, will do for us. Asking for his grace, his inspiration and his peace are always good things to ask for that God is ALWAYS ready to give to us and to others.
Finally, we conclude our prayer by indicating that this ( and really all prayers for Christians) should be offered "THROUGH" Christ, our Lord. The second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews on Sunday, October 31 said about Jesus "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Jesus interceded on behalf of many during his ministry which led to many positive and even miraculous outcome. Since our Faith tells us that Jesus is God, some might ask if our prayer can be directed throughout to Jesus since he can answer them as he sees fit. The answer of course is "Yes." Our prayers can always be addressed to one member of the Blessed Trinity or all of them. It's understandable though, that while most of the Mass is directed to God in general or God, the Father, that since we "know" of Christ and the words and actions of his ministry the best, it is good for our prayers to end by referring Jesus, as Christ the Lord who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit as "God" forever and ever.
I pray you will reflect on the YOU, WHO, DO, and THROUGH form of prayer and use it in the future. I can tell you that I will try.