Have you ever grappled for the right words to express how you feel? In one of the most blissful moments of your life the words you choose just don’t express your happiness enough? Conversely, when hard times break in the sadness you feel can leave you speechless. After all, being tested by God is one of the ways that we humans give meaning to suffering. Words often lack capacity to adequately describe the depth of pain or loss. The collection of sacred writing in the Book of Psalms provides 150 hymns and contemplative poems that beautifully express so many human emotions. The sentimental words of love, hope, sorrow and gratitude weaved within every page quench the soul’s search for God like no other writing can. In the words of C.S. Lewis “The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight…
Through prayer, we share our hopes, fears and our most difficult questions with God. He knows all that is held deep within our heart and wants us to seek Him in prayer. What does God desire from our prayers? Jeremiah 29:12 says “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” God is “a searcher of the desires of the heart.” The Lord doesn’t seek sparkly words and grand gestures. Within a humble and prayerful heart, God finds joy. In a season of rejoicing, our prayers express love and gratitude for God’s goodness. We whisper, “Lord, thank you for this beautiful day and for all the happiness I found inside of it!” In the eye of a storm, our prayers painstakingly…
Mary – Blessed Mary We know Her by many names. She is the Queen of Peace, the Mystical Rose, the Mother of God. Blessed Mary’s many names have been sacredly bestowed following one of her miraculous apparitions or a miracle she granted. Her names have also been revealed through a timely message given to us, as she did at Fatima. In Latin America the Blessed Mother is also known as “La Conquista” or the Mother of the Conquered. Michelangelo’s Pieta depicts her as “Mater Dolorosa” or Madre Dolorosa. Here we see Her suffering as She holds the body of Jesus after his Crucifixion. I call her Blessed Mary, Holy Mother – and use the words given us in the Magnificat: “For hold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” The Litany of Loreto This beautiful prayer venerates the Blessed Mother by her many holy names. It…
