Recently, our associate director, Lilly Hess, ran across an article she wrote in October 1988 for our then fledgling newsletter. After reading it again, she was certain that what she had learned all those years ago about prayer had only deepened in her. We offer this article from the archives knowing it will ring true still.
Prayer is basic to our lives as Christians. It builds on faith and is strengthened by love. A Christian person is a person of prayer.
Recently I attended Mass at the church of my childhood. It was a celebration for those (myself included) who had made First Communion and Solemn Communion forty years ago. Many memories of my childhood came drifting back to me as I sat in that church. This had been a special place for me with God, and as I sat, I remembered the newness, the eagerness to please, the desire to know my creator that I had felt then. Church, school, and family had been like a funnel reaching out to draw me to God’s presence. I did not know how to speak to God on my own then, so I used prayer books of all kinds and prayed the rosary. The foundation for my life with God goes back to those simple beginnings in the community of my family and church.
Through the years I have sought to know this God of my childhood more intimately. I have read countless books about God and about prayer, each one revealing another facet of God and of my life. I have come to know that there is no one way to pray as there is no one prayer. Prayer is being with and conversing with God each minute of my life.
Sometimes my prayer is full of anger and despair because I am overwhelmed by the crosses in my life. I ask, “Why Lord, why?” And gently through my life, my family, my friends, and my church, God answers me, and my crosses become bearable because I know he carries them with me. Praying the Psalms has helped me to be honest with my feelings, and as much as I praise God, I am also comfortable questioning God.
Today, Sunday liturgies continue to be a source of strength as I pray with my parish family. Shared prayer with Scripture groups, with friends, and those with whom I work opens me to the uniqueness and needs of others. My personal prayer deepens through Scripture and prayer. I seek quiet times with my God when we can bask in each other’s presence, like a friend when no words need be said, just the joy of being in the other’s presence. My life is my prayer.