The heart of Christian community is the person of Jesus Christ. As the Gospel reminds us this week, Jesus is the vine; we are the branches. Contrary to the rugged individualism that our society so highly values, as followers of Christ our worldview should be informed by our connectedness, our relationship to Jesus.
That relationship is developed primarily in prayer, which contrary to popular belief is not something that just comes naturally. After 40 years of ministry, I am more convinced than ever that one of the most important things I can do is to help folks to learn to pray daily. Throughout this pandemic, I’ve been blessed to journey with many parishioners as they’re deepening their prayer life. If you don’t know how to pray, join the club. There are no prayer experts here, we are all learners at best. But if you want to develop that relationship, and you want to learn to pray, there is help available. There are a good number of people in our parish who are learning. There are a good number of people in our faith community who pray regularly. There is the book of Psalms in the Bible which for three millennia has been the primary school of prayer for God’s people. And there are these prayer aids that people in the parish find helpful:
Daily Devotionals that include the Mass readings of the day:
The Word Among Us
Living in Christ
Magnificat
Give Us This Day (my favorite)
Books on Prayer that the School for Disciples has used:
The Ignatian Adventure by Kevin O’Brien, SJ (advanced)
I Heard God Laugh by Matthew Kelly (good place to start)
Learning to Pray by James Martin, SJ (broad overview)
As you pray this week, please be mindful of our children who have been preparing to receive their First Holy Communion this Sunday and next. They are so excited. Pray that as they receive Jesus in the Eucharist that Jesus will help them along with their families to focus on what really matters in life and to avoid anything that could detract from following him in everyday life. Teddy Ashdown Leland Hayes Nancy Coyne Christian Henriquez Jack Remeta Hadley Sprague
Taking the Gospel Home: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
How and where am I bearing fruit for God’s Kingdom? Am I resisting some pruning that God is trying to do with me? Where might I need to do some pruning in order to strengthen my relationship with Christ?