THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Caring for your spiritual life fills you with hope says Offaly columnist

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." (Mark 1:35).

Repeatedly in the Gospels we hear about Jesus going away to spend time on his own with his Father in prayer, such as before choosing the twelve apostles (Luke 6:12) or before His crucifixion (Matthew 26:36-44).

It highlights the dependence on God for guidance, strength, and alignment with His will. Jesus nurtured his own spiritual connection with his Heavenly Father and carefully looked after his own prayer life.

Prayer was central to Jesus' ministry and life, serving as a means of communication with the Father. Jesus' prayer life serves as a model for believers, emphasizing the importance of regular, intentional communication with God.

What is it that makes your soul beautiful? Prayer. What is it that keeps you from sin? Prayer. What is it that fills you with hope? Prayer. What is it that leads you on the road to holiness? Prayer. Prayer is the key to all things.

If Jesus could find the time to care for his spiritual life, we surely can too. The secret to prayer is to let Jesus through the Holy Spirit pray in you; one just needs to let the Holy Spirit into one's heart and soul and let Him guide you.

Importance of prayer

A while back a reader of my column asked me to give them help for a talk about "the importance of prayer" that they were asked to give for a retreat. They said they couldn't think of a better example of the importance of prayer than someone who writes about it and prays for people all the time and asked me if I had a moment, could I write down a few pointers about prayer for him. How much time a day do I spend in prayer? What do I pray about? What encourages my prayer life? What struggles do I have with prayer?"

So this week's thought for the week is part of the reply I gave him. First off I would never claim to be an example of the importance of prayer, but these are a few things I've learned so far on my prayer journey of life. My immediate thought after deliberating this request was how inseparable faith and prayer are and that we need to be always blessed by the virtue of humility. In my world I try to live my life as "a life of faith" but in action it's "a life of prayer", a call if accepted is no different from any person's call to be a servant of Jesus in this life. For me no one can really do "good works" without a serious prayer life enhancing and nurturing them.

The Church has never declared someone a saint or blessed just based on the amount of good works and actions they accomplished although very important, but also more importantly on how they were transformed and converted and how they faithfully and prayerfully lived out their lives. For example, if St. Mother Teresa knew she was going to have a rough or busy day she spent two hours in the morning praying instead of one and was prompted to pray at specific times of the day, as well as while she worked. She was prompted to pray quick prayers such as “I love You God,” “I trust You,” “I believe in You,” and “I need You now".

Saint Teresa of Avila was prompted to pray by her habit of prayer, praying at particular times throughout the day as she carried out her daily tasks. Saint Teresa was also prompted to pray by practicing the Presence of God: imagining Jesus at her side, looking at her and teaching her with kindness and love. Saint Ignatius of Loyola was prompted to pray about specific events or actions of each day, through the daily Examen, reflecting on them and letting them guide and transform him. Saint Francis de Sales was prompted to pray in a way that could transform his thoughts, feelings and actions. He was prompted to make resolutions based on his prayer and was prompted to put them in action right away. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was prompted to pray continually through her gifts of love to God: she would sacrifice her comfort and personal preferences, offering them to God as a prayer of action.

Humble prayer

Prayer makes us humble. We realize how awesome and mighty and powerful God is and in comparison how small and weak we are. We realize we cannot do anything of our own and we stand in need of God's grace, love, compassion, forgiveness and mercy. Prayer is simply asking for it and thanking God when we and if we get it. In that action the relationship of love is formed. We begin to see the awesome, tremendous love God has for us and as His sons and daughters how deeply in need of Him we really are.

Obviously, you can't have a relationship without communication. But without that close deep intimate contact with Him, you cannot aspire to become like Jesus because you won’t know Him and you won’t know what's in His heart. You have to spend time, lots of time, to get to know and to love someone and it also takes a lot of patience. Likewise with getting to really know Jesus we have to spend time in constant prayer, fasting, confessions, going to daily eucharist and meditating daily on the bible.

A humble prayer of tenderness and love takes just a matter of seconds to utter, but its influence on our lives can be permanent. ‘A moment on our lips is a lifetime on our souls.’ A simple prayer can change us; can lead us on the path to healing ourselves and our world. So pray. Pray for peace, pray for healing, pray for a cure to various illnesses, pray for love, pray for mercy, pray for forgiveness, pray for tenderness, pray for advances in science, pray for the strength to eradicate poverty and disease, pray to overcome injustice, pray for resolve, pray for others, pray for acceptance, pray for our poor, abandoned and homeless, pray for yourself.

Pray to God with all your heart and soul, and then gather up your might to meet the challenges that lie ahead and we all know at this present time in our wonderful county, country and world that we need that help and strength to make the lives of our children, our elderly and our loved ones brighter, so let's get doing it for our beautiful children and elderly parents and grandparents. Prayer is asking. Prayer is pleading. Prayer is praising. Prayer is loving. Prayer is healing. Prayer is tenderness. Prayer is merciful. Prayer is hoping. Prayer is forgiving. Prayer is thanksgiving. But the ultimate goal of prayer is personal intimacy with God. Millions of people pray every day for a variety of different reasons. Whether you’ve found yourself in need of a listening ear or you want to praise a recent triumph, prayer has the ability to help people feel more grounded as they communicate with a higher power.

The experience of prayer

All people of faith struggle at times to maintain a meaningful prayer life, a struggle felt all the more keenly in times like times of illness, confusion, political turbulence, injustices of all sorts and global calamity. Prayer is not a passive activity. Prayer awakens us. Our eyes begin to notice beauty where we never noticed it before. Our hearts begin to feel compassion, forgiveness, tenderness and mercy we never knew we had. Our priorities shift.

As we talk to God, we receive the encouragement to live up to the potential inside us. Soon we start to see beyond ourselves into the world that is waiting for our help and is suffering from the fears and loss of life. I believe God is listening. And I believe God answers us. God’s answer to our prayers may be very different from the answer we were or are searching for. God’s reply might come as the strength to fight on. It may come as the courage to face what we have feared. God’s answer may be the ability to accept what we have been denying. Or it may appear as hope in the face of despair.

We are not alone. God is present in our lives. When we stop bargaining with God and start opening up our souls to God, our prayers suddenly start working. We can pray for strength and receive strength. Prayer is ultimately an experience, not a request. It is a sense of being connected, of being part of something larger than ourselves. It is an attempt to be in the presence of God. As my Nana Scully used to say a beautiful prayer and a beautiful world starts with you and as usual a nice story from my Nana Scully's prayer book might help..

God knows!

"Berela Dunne, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work. They had seven children and they needed food. John Murphy, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store. Visualizing the family needs, she said: "Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can." John told her he could not give her credit, as she did not have a charge account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family. The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, "Do you have a grocery list?" Berela replied, "Yes sir." "Okay" he said, "put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries." Berela hesitated for a moment with a bowed head. Then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed. The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scale went down and stayed down.

The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, "I can't believe it." The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more. The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement. It was not a grocery list. It was instead a prayer which said: "Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands." The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in stunned silence. Berela thanked him and left the store. The customer handed a fifty euro note to the grocer and said, "It was worth every penny of it." It was sometime later that the grocer discovered the scales were broken; therefore, only God knows how much a prayer weighs!!"

A beautiful new world starts with you

Be the one who prays, comforts, consoles and listens especially during these worrying times in people's lives, and you will be comforted, consoled and heard. Be the one who prays, loves and cares, and you will be loved and cared for️. Be the one who prays, supports, helps and gives, and you will be supported and blessed. Be the one who prays, encourages, and you will receive encouragement. Be the one who prays and is kind and caring, and you will have kindness and care shown to you. Be the one who prays and is considerate, and you will receive consideration. Be the one who prays, nurtures and is good to nature and animals, and nature and animals in turn will be good to you.

Be the one who prays, shows admiration and you will be admired. Be the one who prays, values truth and respect, and you will be respected. Be the one who prays, takes action for the good of others, and you will move life forward. Be the one that prays and does good things for Our World, and our world will help you to achieve good things. Be the one who prays, shows mercy and compassion, and you will have mercy and compassion shown to you. Be the one who prays and lights candles for others, and you will be heard and have your prayers answered. Be the one who prays, shows courage, and you will overcome your fears. Be the one who prays and is honest in all your dealings in life, and your life will be one of truth.

Be the one who prays, lends a helping hand, and many hands will help you when in need. Be the one who prays and lifts others up and higher, and your life will be rich. Be the one who prays, brings and makes peace, and your world will have as its core peacefulness. Be the one who prays and shows real forgiveness, and you will also be forgiven. Be the one prays and is filled with gratitude, tenderness and thanksgiving, and there will be no end to the things for which you'll be thankful. Be the one who prays, lives with joy, with hope, with courage, with love, with purpose, as your own light brightly shines. Be, in every moment the special and precious someone you are truly meant To Be. So, that is the simple answer to your questions. I hope it helps bring something new to light... in fact I'll pray it does!

Thought for the week

As your thought for the week, hold in tenderness and prayer the collective suffering of our world at this time. We grieve for those precious lives lost and vulnerable lives threatened because of so many wars and conflicts and many types of illness. Let us be enlightened with prayers always for our loved ones, friends, neighbours and ourselves, facing an uncertain future at times.

I will leave you with the following prayer that I adapted a bit by Chris Antenucci that I like to pray daily, "Jesus, help me to always be a reflection of your glory in all possible ways and at all possible times, so that when others look at me, they don’t see me at all, but only see You. When I’m angry, help me to reflect Your kindness. When I’m sad, help me to reflect Your joy. When I’m scared, help me to reflect confidence in You. When I’m depressed, help me to reflect happiness. When I’m tired, help me to reflect Your energy. When I’m weak, help me to reflect Your infinite power. When I’m feeling hopeless, help me to reflect hope in You. When I’m feeling worthless, help me to reflect the infinite worth You’ve bestowed upon me by becoming one of us and raising us to your divinity. When I’m feeling stressed, help me to reflect Your peace. When I’m feeling vengeful, help me to reflect your mercy, compassion and forgiveness. When I’m feeling sinful, help me to remember that You took on the burden of my sins, and forget about them once I repent of them. When I’m feeling envious, help me to reflect gratitude for all of the blessings You’ve given me. When I’m feeling desirous of something, help me to reflect a desire for You alone. When I’m feeling proud and arrogant, help me to reflect Your humility and meekness. When I’m feeling lazy, help me to reflect your passion. When I’m feeling cold and indifferent to the suffering of others, help me to reflect Your thirst for the salvation of souls. When I’m feeling worried and anxious, help me to reflect trust in You. When I’m feeling stupid, help me to reflect Your wisdom. When I’m feeling lonely, help me to reflect Your presence. When I’m feeling lost, help me to reflect faith in You. When I’m feeling empty, help me to reflect Your love. Jesus, no matter how I feel, and no matter what I’m thinking, help me to always reflect Your love, truth, goodness, and beauty in everything I say and do. Help me to be your instrument that accomplishes Your will and brings people to You. Help me to be a mirror that reflects Your light for all to see, and reminds everyone of who they are- sons and daughters of God, who are loved beyond all comprehension. Help me to pray without ceasing in every moment of my life's journey and help me always to help others in most need no matter who they are. Amen. "