A.S.K. = Ask, Seek, Knock = 3 Steps Toward Praying Aloud With Others... a tip for the new evangelization

My latest column over at Patheos is an observation on the active avoidance Catholics apply when it comes to a very basic skill... leading another person in prayer for their sake, or the sake of others. It also offers a brief tutorial with the baby steps on how to overcome it... using a strategy that co-opts some of the words of Jesus: Ask, Seek, and Knock. Here's an excerpt:

I’ve learned that this praying-aloud-thing with another person is a skill that not all Catholics share an enthusiasm for. What I mean is that it is one thing to pray together at Mass, or to pray a rosary aloud with a group, or to pray a formal grace before meals. But it is entirely another experience to pray aloud, somewhat spontaneously, with the people you are with… even when they are Christians themselves, about a subject that is on their hearts and minds. 

Now, I’m not talking about my evangelical Christian friends, who are usually very open to praying-on-the-spot when asked. Their freedom to offer a word of prayer or thanksgiving in-the-moment is something worth emulating. 

Why don’t we Catholics act with the same freedom? 

I hear this thought often: We’re private. My religion is just between me and God. We Catholics love our private prayer… and rightly so. Jesus taught that when we pray we should close our doors and pray to our Father in heaven in secret. And that’s fine. That’s good. Let’s all do more of that, too. 

Maybe all that private prayer is why sharing prayer with another person sometimes feels too intimate… or we fear doing it wrong. But, really, it is nothing to fear because Jesus is there within the breaths of any group prayer… “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Mt 18: 20.)" 

Others have told me praying with others outside of Church is uncomfortable because we Catholics are raised with the formal vocal prayers of the Church -- all of which are wonderful, beautiful, and majestic -- but not with informal or spontaneous prayer -- that we don’t know any other ways to pray. 

Other times, we’re afraid to do something so spontaneous… we don’t want to be labeled as a Jesus freak, or a religious fanatic. 

From an evangelization standpoint, all these excuses are hard to square in front of Jesus who asked us to be active is in sharing the faith, when he said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28: 19.)

Check out the rest. And if you like the column, you may subscribe by email or RSS here. 

Among Women ReadHER 4.14.12 podcast marathon, movies, bishops' new statement on liberty...

Among Women ReadHER 4.14.12

SQPN Podcast Marathon on Divine Weekend
By Fr. Roderick VonHogen at SQPN
Ongoing fundraising and fun-raising event from 10am-10pm Eastern on SQPN's U-Stream channel. Proceeds benefit the non-profit organization. Your truly will be praying the Regina Coeli, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Rosary in the noon hour. Drop by anytime. 

Our First Most Cherished Liberty
Posted by the American Bishops at USCCB
The most recent response by the bishops regarding attacks on religious liberty and conscience. Very important reading.


Traditional Catholicism is Winning
By Anne Hendershott and Christopher White
An op-ed with very interesting stats by diocese on what attracts vocations.


Did You Get Your Business Done?
By Tony Rossi at Christopher Close Up
Tony highlights the TV sitcom "The Middle"... check out his remarks.


Charity in the Face of Opposition
By Jennifer Feeney at Crisis Magazine
Timely advice... yet another person converted to reading the Catholic Catechism when looking for guidance on moral subject matter.

5 Ways to Find Joy in Stressful Times
By Dudley Rutherford at Catholic Mom
To the point.


Embracing the Challenge as Catholic Parents
By Randy Hain at The Integrated Catholic Life
Some very solid recommendations here.


The Gist
Posted at Catholic TV
The premiere season of this new Catholic tv talk show for women can be watched on demand, so go catch up on The Gist, featuring Danielle Bean, Rachel Balducci, and Carolee McGrath.

Among Women ReadHer... 9.3.11

Among Women ReadHer

9.3.11

Explosive New Book Details War on Unborn Baby Girls

--Catholic New Agency

Sad, but true. And we must keep talking about this.


NO Easy Surrenders
--Rebecca Teti at Faith and Family Live
An important look at risks to the first amendment that would seriously impact conscience clauses for Catholics. Please check out all the links. And you may want to write to your Congressperson using this easy link provided by the US Catholic Bishops. Pass this around! Send YOUR opinion to Congress.


Discernment: How Can I Learn God's Will for Me?
--Peter Kreeft, PhD
Kreeft never misses. He truly is a gift to the Church. Of course, go read it!


Feminists Don't Respect Women, the Catholic Church Does
--Jennifer Fulwiler, from her blog at National Catholic Register
Jennifer get to the point and quick. Here, here!

Semper Fidelis
--Dr. Gerard Nadal from Coming Home
About staying faithful in marriage til the end. And about the power of a woman's love in the life of a man.


Friendship and the Artist
-Barbara Nicolosi, over at Patheos
For all the creatives out there, and the ups and downs it brings to friendship. And for all the friends of creatives who stood by and cheered another's giftedness and nudged them toward sharing that their gift. 


The Woman Behind the Icon
--Carolyn Moynihan at Mercator. net
A send-up to Steve Jobs' mother. 


All the Bad Parents Out There, Raise Your Hand
--Mary Beth Hicks, at CatholicMom.com
More Hicks wisdom!


"Game Time" a family movie - Tonight!






One more...Great "summary" video from World Youth Day....

This makes me think... about New Media religious dialogue

[O]nline religious dialogue almost always evokes detractors... Instead of worrying about whether detractors will arise, however, [Catholic] leaders should assume they will, and then prudently decide how to best engage them. What they shouldn't do is let the fear of detraction prevent any type of discussion.


If dialogue is practiced in full awareness of these dangers, it can flourish. Dialogue is at the heart of growth and community, both securely -- see Socrates -- and religiously -- see Jesus. Discussion gives the Church a human element, revealing her to be a living organism rather than a static institution.


Through prudent New Media dialogue, leaders can help people develop a closer relationship to the Church, and therefore to Christ.


--Brandon Vogt, The Church and New Media, Our Sunday Visitor, 2011.

Brandon Vogt's newly released book, with essays from a stellar cast Catholic New Media enthusiasts, is important reading for Catholic parish and diocesan leaders, as well as for any Catholic with a heart for the new evangelization.

This makes me think... God's game plan according to Blessed JP2

Okay, this is one of my favorite quotes of all time from John Paul II. I figured one more couldn't hurt!

Jesus does not in fact merely speak "in the name of God" like the Prophets, but he is God himself speaking in his Eternal Word made flesh. Here we touch upon the essential point by which Christianity differs from all the other religions, by whichman's search for God has been expressed from earliest times. Christianity has its starting-point in the Incarnation of the Word. Here, it is not simply a case of man seeking God, but of God who comes in Person to speak to man of himself and to show him the path by which he may be reached. This is what is proclaimed in the Prologue of John's Gospel: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (1:18). The Incarnate Word is thus the fulfilment of the yearning present in all the religions of mankind: this fulfilment is brought about by God himself and transcends all human expectations. It is the mystery of grace.

In Christ, religion is no longer a "blind search for God" (cf. Acts 17:27) but the response of faithto God who reveals himself. It is a response in which man speaks to God as his Creator and Father, a response made possible by that one Man who is also the consubstantial Word in whom God speaks to each individual person and by whom each individual person is enabled to respond to God. What is more, in this Man all creation responds to God. Jesus Christ is the new beginning of everything. In him all things come into their own; they are taken up and given back to the Creator from whom they first came. Christ is thus the fulfilment of the yearning of all the world's religions and, as such, he is their sole and definitive completion. Just as God in Christ speaks to humanity of himself, so in Christ all humanity and the whole of creation speaks of itself to God—indeed, it gives itself to God. Everything thus returns to its origin. Jesus Christ is the recapitulation of everything (cf. Eph 1:10) and at the same time the fulfilment of all things in God: a fulfilment which is the glory of God. The religion founded upon Jesus Christ is a religion of glory; it is a newness of life for the praise of the glory of God (cf. Eph 1:12). All creation is in reality a manifestation of his glory. In particular, man (vivens homo) is the epiphany of God's glory, man who is called to live by the fullness of life in God.

In Jesus Christ God not only speaks to man but also seeks him out. The Incarnation of the Son of God attests that God goes in search of man. Jesus speaks of this search as the finding of a lost sheep (cf. Lk 15:1-7). It is a search which begins in the heart of God and culminates in the Incarnation of the Word. If God goes in search of man, created in his own image and likeness, he does so because he loves him eternally in the Word, and wishes to raise him in Christ to the dignity of an adoptive son. God therefore goes in search of man who is his special possession in a way unlike any other creature. Man is God's possession by virtue of a choice made in love: God seeks man out, moved by his fatherly heart.

---Pope John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 1994.