Prayer is powerful! We unite in prayer as a community at each liturgy. We pray at home, before meals, at night. We use written words, established prayers, or simply say things from the heart. For me, when I have trouble praying, I simply reflect on the nature of prayer. Just as food and water is necessary for our physical health, prayer is necessary for our spiritual well-being and helps us live a more abundant life.
An Animated Life
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that prayer “is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment” (no. 2697).
I love that description: animation. The technical term means to bring something into full liveliness and vigor. I also see it as like a cartoon that is drawn in black and white, and then converted into a drawing with vivid and detailed colors. Without prayer, our life can seem to go through the motions. However, during moments of divine communication, everything we do and experience can be animated with purpose.
A Deeper Communication
When we pray, we pause in time. It’s refreshing. We get to empty our thoughts and be fully present with our Lord. It is in this space that prayer brings refreshment and peace.
I remember attending a silent retreat. It was late at night as I was sitting on a bench outside that I opened the scriptures. I remember reading 1 John (3:2): “Beloved, we are God’s children.” I’ve heard that verse before, probably hundreds of times in my life, but for the first time, I understood that verse and what it meant for me. I couldn’t stop smiling as I read those words. That was a profound communication I received from being in that silent space and opening myself up in prayer.
This divine communication allows us to not be isolated in the world. This is why the Catechism says that we see prayer as a “vital and personal relationship with the living and true God" (CCC, no. 2558).
Prayer Is Love
“Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.” - St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney
When someone asks me to pray for them, I take that as an honor that they have entrusted me with such an important task; it is an opportunity to grow in greater love. When we pray for others, we remember who they are, what they need, how it might be affecting them, and we get to let their personal concerns occupy our thoughts. Then, we extend our prayers for them to our Lord. What a gift.
For an animated life, a greater communication, and a source of love, there is nothing more powerful than prayer!
Daniel Quintero is a stand-up comedian currently attending Mary, Mother of the Church Catholic Parish. His favorite motto: “Awkwardness does not exist.”
Answering Christ’s call, Pilgrim Center of Hope guides people to encounter Him so as to live in hope, as pilgrims in daily life. See what’s happening & let us journey with you! Visit PilgrimCenterOfHope.org.
