PRAYER

Chapter 6-part 5The ChurchMr. Perrotti

Today’s Prayer

• Lord, bless us all as we finish our year in the next few weeks. Allow the Holy Spirit to open our hearts to you, and as earthen vessels feel His Spirit in all we do.

• Bless our seniors as they start a new journey in their lives. Keep them all safe and successful in your love.

• Most of all, bless those who have suffered and died because of the natural disaster in Oklahoma, please show them your love as they grieve and rebuild.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJiEWFSF0Tg.com

The Four Types of Prayer

• Petition

• Adoration

• Contrition

• Thanksgiving

Petition

• We ask God to Lead us.• Take away our doubts.• To heal us.• To help us become more virtuous• To help all of our Friends in need.

– At Mass the Prayer of the Faithful is an example of Petition.

Adoration

• We praise God for His continuous Grace.• We thank him for His divine attributes which

he shares with us.

– Adoration– Benediction– These are formal forms of Adoration Prayer

Contrition

• We sincerely ask for God forgiveness.• We ask Him to help us reconcile for our sins.

– But most of all we ask Him to relieve us of the temptation to repeat the offense.

– We can say ”An Act of Contrition”– We can receive The Sacrament of reconciliation

Prayers of Thanksgiving

• We pray to thank God for an act, a sign of Grace that he has given us.

• In the story of the bible about the ten leopards, Jesus reinforces the point that we should always be thankful for what God has done for us.– Blessing before meals– Prayers after Communion– Prayers after Reconciliation

How do we express our Prayer

• Vocal Prayer- formal like the Our Father and Hail Mary or informal “words from our heart”

• Vocal prayer follows Christ example at the Sermon of the Mount when he taught us to pray by teaching us the “Our Father”

• Vocal Prayer can be a public sign of faith, practiced within our Church Community. A Liturgy is a form of vocal prayer

Meditation

• All year long I have been using music as a form of meditation prayer.

• The Rosary, although it can be vocal, we are asked to meditate on one of 20 mysteries.

• It is a prayerful quest engaging our thoughts as a form of prayer to God

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zqYJj5ucG8.com

Contemplative Prayer

• The simple of the mystery of prayer.• It is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus an attentive

to the Word of God, a silent love.• It achieves a true union with the Prayer of

Christ to the extent that it helps us share in His mystery.– We may read a Bible verse and contemplate what

God is asking us to do.

Sacrifice and Self Denial

• W hen we seek Holiness through self denial, giving something up, or even taking something on.

• God constantly asks us to sacrifice as he did.

• He asks us to share in His Paschal Mystery.• To abstain is to not eat meat• To Fast is to deny oneself a normal day’s meal.

Sacrifice and Self Denial

• Community Service

• Charity

• Works of Kindness

• “Loving one’s neighbor as ourselves”– Are all forms of Sacrifice and Self Denial

How much are we willing to Give

• Without any expectation of return.– Unconditional Love– The greatest form of self denial and prayer!

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZCP6OqRlE.com

Vocation's

• Religious Life- Priest, religious order

• Marriage

• Single Life

Living as Christ Did

• Are we willing to be the giving tree!

• How can we willing to live a life of witness to Jesus?

• How can we live a life of Holiness in our Family?

• How can we Live a life of Holiness at Work?

Final Meditation

• Are we living a life of Holiness?

• Can you answer that question? If so, Why or why not?

• What Temptations are in our lives keeping us from this great devotion to God?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ8MFn4yikA.com