prayer

Fr. Mike Schmitz discusses a few helpful tips to pray, mostly

Fr. Mike Schmitz talks about making time to pray.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank-you for guiding me to deepen my prayer life. Give me the graces I need to stay committed to what I have decided. Give me the gift of prayer and perseverance. Open my heart and mind to experience your love and truth in prayer. Give me the gift of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Catholic Church has a rich variety of prayers on offer. The greatest prayer is the Mass, but there are many other prayers. On this webpage are organised various suggestions for prayer organised according to beginner, intermediate and advanced.

Mass is the ultimate prayer. There is no prayer that comes even close to praying the Mass. It is the "source and summit of the Christian life." (LG 11) If you are not going to Sunday Mass, then this is an essential step in growing closer to God. It is one of the precepts of the Church (the official suggested minimum requirements for being Catholic). This should be one of the first prayer choices you make.

How often and of what types of prayer do you currently pray? It is a good idea to write these down in your journal. Is this prayer routine meeting your needs? If you have previously made a decision to work on a new prayer routine and have not consolidated it (it is not well established), then it might be worth to keep on working on it or come up with a better routine that is achievable and would meet your needs. 

Dear Lord Jesus, thank-you for the gift of prayer and how you have worked in my life so far. I ask you to guide me as I review my life so that I will make the right decisions about deepening my prayer life. Give me the gift of prayer and perseverance. Open my mind and heart to experience your love and truth. Amen.

Every quarter of a year we should review our prayer life. If you have not done this, then please take the opportunity to do this now or at your earliest convenience. The following steps will guide you through this process. This is best accomplished when you have some time and use a journal as a part of the process.