Early one morning, after observing Jesus as prayer, one of his disciples came to Jesus and said, “Lord, teach us how to pray.” Catholic first graders of another era were taught a poem that began, “Lovely lady dressed in blue / Teach me how to pray / God was just your little boy / Tell me what to say.” When we say, “Teach us how to pray” we are not really asking for a course of instructions on prayer or a secret formula for getting through to God. The disciples had observed Jesus at prayer; but, more important, they had observed the impact prayer had on Jesus: how prayer seemed to center him on the mission that he had received from the Father; how he seemed energized by prayer, even after a long day of ministry; how he was able to fend off the temptation to do and say only what other people expected of him; how prayer gave him the fortitude to face persecution and ultimately death. Much the same could be said about Mary, whom the Scripture says “turned things over in her heart,” reflecting on the many challenges that life presented her. Through prayer she was able to find the hand of God in her life and sing boldly of the greatness of God, who casts down the mighty and raises up the lowly. So, growing in prayer is about developing a greater intimacy with God and enabling our life to become more focused on the reign of God.

At the most recent meeting of our Renew My Church Leadership Group, we were reviewing the results of the questionnaire from the Catholic Leadership Institute that many of you filled out during March, and we landed on the subject of prayer. Little by little I am filling you in on what you said in that survey about our parish and how well the parish meets your needs. In previous columns I have talked about Assumption as a welcoming community and the role that music plays in the liturgy. As noted previously, almost everyone who participated in the survey attends Mass weekly. So, it goes without saying that for those who responded, Mass is integral to your prayer life.

There were two questions in the survey about prayer outside of Mass: “How often do you spend individual prayer time with God?” and “How often have you prayed with another person outside of Mass?” As for individual prayer time, 72% said they prayed daily. This is not surprising. Daily prayer is important to most Catholics. I have found that even those who do not attend Mass regularly pray daily. Regarding the second question, “How often have you prayed with another person outside of Mass?” The results were much more scattered. 10% said daily; 10% weekly; 14% monthly; 10% quarterly; 23% once or twice a year; and 31% never. These numbers were below average for both the Archdiocese and the national average, but, not surprising. A lot of us live alone (24% of the people who filled out the survey identify as “single”), and Catholics as a whole think of prayer as private and personal. The survey also showed that our comfort level at talking about our faith is very low. One of the aims of the Alpha course (which will be starting in a few months) is to help us become more comfortable expressing our beliefs. The Leadership Group is looking specifically at how the parish can better support your personal prayer life.

One area to consider are those no longer physically able to attend Mass regularly. Some parishes offer a Ministry of Prayer or Ministry of Praise. Each month a newsletter is mailed or emailed to participants, with specific prayer intentions for the month. Other parishes have a Prayer Chain: When a specific need arises, ministry participants alert one another by phone. While neither of these ministries facilitate praying together; they do keep us connected to one another and to the faith community.

The conversation then moved into a more general area about prayer itself. There are so many ways of praying, from very structured forms of prayer like the rosary to having informal conversations with God to forms of prayer that focus more on listening. People who pray in a certain way each day sometimes encounter a roadblock. Because of some stress or trauma or just because of their changing relationship with God, they find it difficult to follow their usual prayer routine. So, another suggestion for supporting the prayer life of the community was to offer a monthly series on prayer, some of it virtual, some of it in person. The goal would be to acquaint all our pray-ers with the many ways of pray-ing. Meanwhile, it is important to remember that prayer in whatever form it takes is never meant to be an escape from social action, charity, or showing love for other people. By being in touch with the source of love and generosity, we are renewed in our own discipleship, just as Jesus and Mary were.

                         Fr. Joe