In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity, as reported in Jeremiah 31:31-34, every human being can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.
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LINKS èç GOD èç LIFE èç MARRIAGE èç FAMILY èç GOD èç LINKS
1. In life, how do we connect the dots…? What are the links between GOD – YOU – LIFE – MARRIAGE – FAMILY – GOD?
2. What has been your experience of God? Interiority? Prayer? Spiritual things?
1) Are you familiar or comfortable with your interior
life?
2) Perhaps you’ve never really thought much about your
interior life?
3) Do you find the idea or reality of your interior life
challenging or frightening?
4) Where are you with regards to your interiority at this
point in your life?
5) Have you and your fiancé shared about your respective interior life?
3. We obtain knowledge by thinking / learning and through experience. We need both.
4. A spiritual exercise in PRAYER – whether or not you pray regularly (10 to 15 minutes)
1) Read these instructions through first, prepare and set
a timer, and then go ahead.
2) Sit comfortably, hands resting on your knees… Back & head straight… & relax…
3) Be still… adjusting your body in any way you need to
in order to let go & relax…
4) Pay attention to your interior landscape as if you were
driving in the country…
5) If all is quiet and peaceful, lovely… now focus on a kind
image of God or Jesus
6) If all is not quiet, notice the noise, words, echoes,
whatever comes along…
Acknowledge it briefly and let it go; focus again on a
kind image of God or Jesus
7) If you are on familiar terms with God or Jesus; then have
a good visit with Him.
If you are not on familiar terms with God
or Jesus, consider this an
introduction.
He is very interested in having a personal relationship with you: it’s always up
to you.
8) You always get to decide how open you want to be with
the Creator & Saviour….
9) Now you’ll have 7 minutes of silence….
10) When your timer rings, stop it; then you can choose to continue in silence or stop.
5. Your connection with God will become more real and personal as you make silence and prayer a regular part of your day as a spiritual exercise, an exercise of your spirit. It is within our spirit that God connects with us because God is SPIRIT and not flesh. Yes, Jesus took on flesh, a human nature, when He was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. As Son of God, though, Jesus is SPIRIT like the Father and the Holy Spirit. God created us human beings with an “empty space” in the center of our self, our identity, our soul or spirit and this space is designed to receive the mysterious divine presence of God the Holy Trinity. When God dwells within us, we become most perfectly human.
6. The whole adventure of life begins with you, with me… because that is how God designed life on Earth for humanity. Jesus didn’t come to reform the Roman Empire or even the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. He came to help people, one person at a time, even in speaking to crowds, so that all those who want to encounter God can decide to accept to enter into a personal relationship with the Father through Jesus and with the help of the Holy Spirit. From this point of departure, we can experience how God wants to enrich all our relationships with others, beginning with our own family of origin, and then through marriage, developing our own family as a couple for the flowering of family life.
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1. Why bother with God at all? What if God isn’t real? Cf. Catholic Answers.com / Bishop Barron YouTube
2. How can we possibly get to know God? How can we be known by God? Cf. Christian Disciplines for RC’s
3. If one would like to pray, how does one start? Alone? As a couple? As a family? Cf. Pray Alone, Spouse, etc.
4. If prayer is a divine fire, just putting the kindling and logs together isn’t enough. We need a spark or match or lighter to produce the first flame. What’s a spiritual match, lighter, or spark?
(1) The Book of Psalms in the Old Testament of the Bible
(2) The Gospels and Acts of the Apostles in the New
Testament of the Bible
(3) The Wisdom books in the Old Testament
(4) The Letters of Paul, Peter, John, James & Jude in
the New Testament
(5) These are a good start, and then there’s a lot more.
5. Is it possible to get coaching or mentoring in prayer and in the spiritual life?
(1) The most personal opportunity to experience the
healing power of God’s love and to be interiorly touched personally by God is
in the Sacrament of Penance / Reconciliation, which is also called Confession
and is available from all priests in the R.C. Church. Just find a priest you
can trust or with whom you may feel comfortable and ask him.
(2) The Ignatian Center of Montreal in NDG provides Prayer
Companions
(3) The Ignatian Center of Montreal in NDG also provides
Spiritual Directors
(4) You can obtain spiritual direction on various retreat
experiences in retreat centers
(5) You can ask your parish priest
(6) Your parish may provide spiritual exercises that might
help you
(7) Our Church provides many opportunities for formation, learning, and accompaniment
6. What are the essentials of prayer? The acronym ACTS can help you remember easily.
(1) Adoration: expressing reverence for God by attitude, posture,
words, interior disposition
(2) Contrition: expressing to God sincere regret for wrongs / sins /
omissions / neglect
(3) Thanksgiving: giving thanks to God for his benefits we notice and
those we haven’t
(4) Supplication: putting our needs and requests and those of others to God – He already knows, but we need to exercise our desire in order to get ready for his answer
7. What different kinds or methods or styles of prayer are there? Answer: an almost infinite variety
(1) Prayerfully reading and pondering the inspired Word of
God in Sacred Scripture: the Bible
(2) Prayerfully participating in the various Sacraments,
especially the Holy Eucharist / Mass
(3) Praying and meditating on the Mysteries of the Most
Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(4) Praying the Liturgy of the Hours, also called the
Divine Office or The Breviary
(5) Occupational Prayer: shooting short prayer phrases to
God in the midst of daily occupations
(6) The Prayer of Silence or Contemplation: silently
welcoming the Holy Trinity as interior Guests
(7) Various forms of meditation: relating personally to
work of religious art as a window to God
(8) Calling on a saint to keep you company and help you to
pray to God: e.g. Mary in the Rosary
(9) Many, many more…. e.g. Ignatian Prayer, Carmelite
Prayer, Franciscan Prayer….
In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity, as reported in Jeremiah 31:31-34, every human being can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.
© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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