Category Archives: Spirituality

Ten Types of Prayer To Help You Know God

June 11, 2016 Vicki Scheenstra Leave a comment

The Cross and Prayer Pope Francis Facebook — The Cross and Prayer
Pope Francis Facebook

How do we come to know and love God? The first commandment is:

“Love the Lord thy God with your whole heart, mind, and soul.”

How is it possible to love someone we don’t know? When we truly love someone we don’t fear them, we want to spend time with them; we enjoy their company.

Prayer is the way we come to know God. It is not enough to pray just on Sunday. If we love God, we will pray without ceasing…always, … in our thoughts and in our actions.

Knowing the different forms of prayer can help us explore getting to know God better. When Jesus was asked by his disciples how to pray he responded by giving us the well known “Lord’s Prayer”.

The following are different types of prayer:
1. Prayer of petition: When we ask for specific things we are making a petition. Hopefully we also say “Thy will be done.” Our will is not always God’s will. This is why God’s answer is sometimes “No, I have a better solution.”

Prayer of intercession: When we pray for the welfare of someone else, this is the prayer of intercession. When the saints pray for us they are interceding for us.
Prayer of Glory, Praise and Thanksgiving. Saying thank you to God is an important part of our spiritual journey. Remember the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers? Only one returned and thanked Jesus. Let me be grateful for all the gifts God gives me.
Prayer of Adoration: This prayer is acknowledging God as our creator; all good and all powerful.
Prayer of Quiet: This prayer is the prayer of LISTENING to God. We sit quietly in the presence of God, quiet our mind, and ask God to lead us. We find God in the silence. Actually, God finds us.

6. Scripture: Reading Holy Scripture is a form of prayer. We read and meditate on both the Old and the New Testament.

Music: Music is a powerful way to pray. “When we sing we pray twice.” St. Augustine. Music is prayer which comes from the heart. Some people find it easier to connect with God with this type of prayer.
Meditation: Reflection on nature, art, humanity and scripture are all forms of meditation. Take the time to reflect on what is happening in your life. Ask God to lead you in your meditative prayer.
The Catholic Mass: It incorporates all of these types of prayer. During the Mass we pray for others, give glory and thanks, ask for mercy and guidance, listen to scripture, adore Christ in the Eucharist, and pray through silence and singing.

10. Praying can be either spontaneous or memorized. When we are in a crisis it is sometimes hard to know what to say to God. This is when memorized prayer is very powerful. The Catholic Church has many formal prayers for every occasion and need. They guide us when we are at a loss for words. Spontaneous prayer is also a very meaningful way to pray to God.

When Jesus is our closest friend, we can tell him anything. Praying on a regular basis in all these different ways helps us to come closer to God. Letting ourselves be led by God in prayer is how we put into action the first commandment.

Loving God means spending time with him. Each of us has a different prayer style. If we are too busy to pray, we are too busy for God. God does not force himself on anyone. If you are having difficulty praying start by meditating on the Our Father, the prayer Jesus himself gave us. Ponder each word in the prayer. Your relationship with God will begin to grow.

The Lord's Prayer Public Domain Image — The Lord’s Prayer

Their is a different prayer style for each person. Each of the saints also prays in a way that is special to that saint If you are searching for the type of prayer that works for you a wonderful book to read is Six Ways to Pray from Six Great Saints by Gloria Hutchinson.

This book introduces you to six different saints: St. Francis of Assisi (Franciscan), St. Clare ( Poor Clares), St. Teresa of Lisieux (Carmelite), St. Therese of Avila (Carmelite), St. John of the Cross (Carmelite ) and St. Ignatius of Loyola (Jesuit). You will learn not only their story but also their prayer style. Each chapter contains exercises to help you discover what type of prayer works best for you. When I read this book, I learned about the “Prayer of Detachment” taught by St. John of the Cross. The exercises helped me to practice and meditate in a way I had never tried before. I encourage everyone to read it and discover their own prayer type.

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Faith, Pope Francis, Spirituality

Pope’s message: Christian Joy is a Gift from the Holy Spirit

May 31, 2016 Vicki Scheenstra 3 Comments

Pope Francis
Face Book Image

Pope Francis preached about fear during his morning homily at Casa Santa Marta on Friday, May 15. According to Vatican Radio he said that Christian joy is a gift. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit.

Pope Francis began his homily by saying, “Fear is not a Christian attitude, but rather an attitude of a caged animal without freedom.” The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that Jesus appeared to Paul in a vision telling him not to be afraid. To go on speaking and not to be silent, for he was with him. Pope Francis described fear as an attitude that can harm, weaken and diminish. In his homily he emphasized that a fearful Christian is a person who has not understood the message of Jesus.

Pope Francis explained, “This is why Jesus says to Paul: ‘Do not be afraid. Continue to speak.’ Fear is not a Christian attitude. It is an attitude, we could say, of a caged animal, without freedom, who does not have the freedom to look ahead, to create something, to do good… no, always: ‘No, but this is dangerous, there is something else, something else…’ And this is a vice. It is the fear of doing evil. A person who is afraid does nothing, doesn’t know what to do. He is focused on himself, so that nothing bad will happen.”

Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to ask for the grace of courage, so as not to become fearful. The pontiff continued, “There are fearful communities that always go on the safe side: ‘No, no, we aren’t doing this… No, no, this can’t be done, this can’t be done.’ It seems they have written on the gateway: ‘Forbidden.’ Everything is forbidden because of fear. And you enter into this community and the air is stale, because it is a sick community. Fear makes a community sick. The lack of courage makes a community sick.”

Pope Francis stated that fear must not be confused with fear of the Lord, a grace that allows the faithful to experience awe in adoration.

Pope Francis continued by describing the true meaning of joy which is the opposite of fear.

“Christian joy is not simply enjoyment, is not a fleeting cheerfulness,” he explained. “Christian joy is a gift, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. And having a heart that is always joyful because the Lord has triumphed, the Lord reigns, the Lord is at the right hand of the Father, the Lord has looked upon me and called me and has given me His grace, and has made me a Son of the Father… That is Christian joy. A Christian lives in joy.”

Continuing his homily, Pope Francis said that it is the lack of joy in Christian communities that causes it to become sick. Perhaps it would be a fun-loving community but it has grown sick with worldliness, because it does not have the joy of Jesus Christ. And thus, when the Church is fearful and when the Church does not receive the joy of the Holy Spirit, the Church is sick, the communities are sick, the faithful are sick.

Pope Francis concluded with this prayer: “Lift us up, O Lord, to Christ seated at the right hand of the Father… raise our spirit. Take away our every fear, and grant us joy and peace.”

Courage is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which is received when one receives the Sacrament of Confirmation. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are: Wisdom, Understanding, Courage (fortitude), Counsel, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord (Awe), Thousands of Catholics will be confirmed this spring. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are what guide a Catholic Christian throughout his/her life. Without the Holy Spirit as our advocate we are afraid and uncertain about the will of god in our lives.

Faith, featired, Prayer, Spirituality

Catholics Nourished by Living Bread

Quote May 27, 2016 Vicki Scheenstra 1 Comment

Monstrance Body and Blood of Jesus Christ — Monstrance
Body and Blood of Jesus Christ

Catholics Nourished by Living Bread

At the center of the Catholic faith is its’ belief in the Eucharist. Jesus Himself said:

“I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6, 35).

In John 6.53 He states,

“Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.”

The church has always interpreted this statement to be literally true. How is this possible? All things are possible with God!!

In the Old Testament, God rained down manna from the sky to feed the Israelites in the desert for forty years. The Eucharist is modern day manna. Our faith is nourished and kept alive by living bread… the body and blood of Jesus Christ. St. Paul teaches us that the church is the Body of Christ. In I Corinthians 12-13 St. Paul states:

“For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

The Saints in the early church all professed a belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Justyn Martyr (100-165) was one of the first to try to explain this belief.

Next Sunday, we celebrate Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ). It is important for us to reflect on how Jesus came to nourish us, not only by scripture but by being true food for us.

Through God all things are possible. When we read the bread of life discourse (John 6), we need to ask ourselves, do we truly believe what Jesus tells us, or like the disciples who turn away do we pick and choose the teachings of Jesus we want to believe.

To quote St. Augustine ((354-430),

“If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it’s not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”

To be true disciples of Jesus, we must get to know Him, to love Him and let ourselves be fed by Him.

Faith, Pope Francis, Spirituality

Pope Francis Explains Community of Saints to Crowd of 80,000

April 21, 2016 Vicki Scheenstra Leave a comment

More than 80,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square Wednesday morning to listen to the teachings of Pope Francis as he spoke for his General Audience, according to Zenit News Agency. He focused on the Catholic belief in the Communion of Saints. (October 30, 2013)

Pope Francis stated that the Communion of Saints relates both to the communion with holy things and the communion with holy persons. The Holy Father stated that no one is alone but rather exists in a communion with all who belong to Christ.

“The Church,” Pope Francis said, “in its most profound truth is a communion with God. This relation between Jesus and the Father is the ‘matrix’ of the bond between us Christians: if we are intimately inserted into this ‘matrix’ in this fiery furnace of love that is the Trinity, then we can become truly one heart and one soul, because the love of God purges our selfishness, our prejudices, our internal and external divisions.” He also stated that our faith needs support from others during difficult moments.
Pope Francis told the crowd that within the communion of saints exists a great family where each one helps and sustains the other.

“A final aspect of the communion of Saints,” he continued, “is the spiritual bond that exists between those who continue their pilgrimage on earth and those who have passed the threshold of death into eternity. All who are baptized down here on earth, the souls in Purgatory, and all the blessed already in Paradise form one big family.”

“This communion between heaven and earth is realized especially through intercessory prayer,” he concluded.

Pope Francis called it the ‘highest form of solidarity’ as well as the foundation of the liturgical celebrations of All Saints and All Souls, which will be celebrated on Nov. 1, and Nov. 2.

This article was originally published on October 30, 2013.

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Faith, Prayer, Saint of the Day, Spirituality

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. John Climacus, Feast Day March 30

March 29, 2016 Vicki Scheenstra Leave a comment

The feast day of St. John Climacus is celebrated on March 30.

St. John Climacus was born in Syria in 525. He enjoyed studying science and the arts. In 547, at the age of 16 he dedicated himself to God. He went to Mt. Sinai to live as a hermit. His spiritual advisor was Martyrius. St. John lived in silence and solitude living with humility and obedience. He never argued with anyone. After four years of living as a hermit John made his profession at the age of twenty.

St. John had received from God the power to heal spiritual disorders. One person he healed was named Isaac who was on the verge of despair by temptations of the flesh. St. John could see that Isaac had faith and said to him, “My son, let us have recourse to God by prayer.” They both lay prostrated on the ground in fervent prayer and Isaac felt the despair leave and was filled with peace. Many others came to John for assistance. Due to jealousy, St. John was censored and accused of vanity. John imposed on himself a year of silence. Those who charged him asked him to resume giving advice and told him not to bury the talent given to him by God.

St. John became Abbot of Mt. Sinai and Superior General to all the monks and hermits in that country when he was 75. During a severe drought the people asked him to intercede on their behalf to God. His prayers were soon answered with large rain storms.

After four years as Abbot he resigned to prepare for death. St. John died on March 30, 605. After his death, his book Ladder of Divine Ascent became very popular making him very well known.

Humility is the only virtue no devil can imitate. If pride made demons out of angels, there is no doubt that humility can make angels out of demons.

Quote of St. John Climacus

March is the Month of St. Joseph

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Faith, Prayer, Saint of the Day, Spirituality

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. John of Egypt, Feast Day March 27

March 26, 2016 Vicki Scheenstra Leave a comment

The feast day of St. John of Egypt is celebrated on March 27.

St. John of Egypt was born in Lycopolis, which is now Egypt, in 214. He worked with his father as a carpenter. He felt a call from God to live a solitary life of prayer in the desert. For ten years he was the disciple of an elderly hermit, whom he considered his spiritual father. When this man died he chose to live in various monasteries to learn the life of a monk.

Eventually, John decided to live in a cave he found in the desert rocks. The cave had three rooms; a living room, workroom and a chapel. He had a single window through which he would preach to people who sought his advice. He would spend five days of the week in solitude with God, but on Saturday and Sunday he would listen to and give advice to people who sought it. Emperor Theodosius the Elder is believed to have sought his advice twice. People brought him food and necessities. He attracted followers who became his disciples. They built a hospice nearby so people could seek his advice.

St. John was known for his gifts of prophecy and healing. He seemed to be able to look into people’s souls and know what they were thinking. Many people were cured after he anointed them with holy oil. In spite of his growing fame, St. John remained humble and lived a very frugal life. St. John died at the age of 90 from natural causes. He was found on his knees as if in prayer.

The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one things about reforming himself.

Quote of St. Peter of Alcantara; Feast day October 19

March is the Month of St. Joseph

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The Mystery of Faith

Category Archives: Spirituality

Ten Types of Prayer To Help You Know God

Pope’s message: Christian Joy is a Gift from the Holy Spirit

Catholics Nourished by Living Bread

Catholics Nourished by Living Bread

Pope Francis Explains Community of Saints to Crowd of 80,000

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. John Climacus, Feast Day March 30

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. John of Egypt, Feast Day March 27

Discovering the Spirituality of Catholicism