Days of Prayer

Watch with me one brief hour

Jesus would spend much time in prayer. If he needed prayer, then so do we! Our first (of many) Days of Prayer is on Friday 21 July from 9am to 4pm. This means there are six slots that need filling—there is room for two names for each hour. People are welcome to come at any time even if they haven’t signed the list—but we do need each hour covered. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on the altar in the side chapel. Do come and spend some time in quiet, or join with us at this time from home.

The following is a guide to how this time might usefully be spent.

It sounds quite daunting, doesn’t it? A whole hour in prayer. Nothing to break it up, no-one to lead us, no singing. Just quiet and stillness. And yet to pray for one brief hour was Jesus’ call to his Apostles on the night before his suffering and death. It was his own practice, too. Jesus springs out of the passages of the gospel as a person of prayer, a man who would spend the whole night in prayer to God. He would pray especially before big decisions (like calling the twelve apostles) or at times of difficulty or crisis.

The purpose of this time of prayer is simply the search for God, to spend some time in his presence. The fruits of prayer include personal holiness but also the greater holiness of the whole church of which each of us is a part. I would suggest that this time should be prayer for prayer’s sake – not a time to agonise about women bishops or lack funds!

What follows is a guide to spending this time. But it is only how I will go about it. If it doesn’t work for you, that’s fine, everyone prays differently. If you find it easy to sit and be still in Jesus’ presence, you probably have no need of help!

1 Come into God’s presence

When you enter the chapel, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed above the altar. This is so that it can be seen. Spend some time adoring the Son of God truly present among us. Gaze upon Jesus!

Then spend some time calling to mind recent sins. These things keep us from God and are a barrier to prayer, so it’s best to get them out of the way first (as we do Sunday by Sunday). You might like to say one of the penitential prayers we use on Sundays or simply a Lord have mercy.

2 Invoke the Holy Spirit

Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your time of prayer so that you spend it as God wills. You might like to repeat quietly some verse – such as Come, Holy Spirit…

Inevitably you will approach this time very conscious of what you have been doing, what you will go on to do, the problems of the church and world. Don’t be surprised if it’s hard to settle into the silence. Sometimes the best way of being still is not to dismiss the distractions but make them our prayer; as they enter your mind, either now or later in the hour, bring them to God before trying to move on.

3 Read

You might like to give your prayer some focal point, to allow God to inform your prayer through his Word. Take a look at a passage which you heard recently at Mass. Perhaps the sermon made you think of it in a new way! Or look at the story of the night before Good Friday and how the disciples failed in prayer (Luke 22: 35-38). Look at Jesus’ great energy in his own prayer by comparison. And pray to resist temptation.

4 Imagination

Try to enter into the passage. Who would I have been? How would I have reacted? What does this say to me and to our church in 2006? Or try to live through the scene as though you were watching a play or looking at a picture. Think of the faces, their expressions, the place, etc.

5 A verse to remember

It is good to try to take something from our prayer. Single out a verse that sums up your prayer or which you have come today to see in a new light. And memorise it!

6 Resolution

Your time of prayer might have presented you with challenges. You might not have liked the way you looked in the face of God’s love. The passage you read might have challenged you or your time of self-examination might have. This time should be a time of renewal in prayer. So what areas do I especially need to work on? Have you tried bringing these things to God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Go home with at least one determination to do better!

Fr P