Seminar / Workshop on God - Introduction to Prayer - Marriage Preparation Online Meeting "From This Day Forward" - Saturday, May 6th, 2023 - Marriage is a great adventure for LIFE!

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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“From This Day Forward”

Marriage Preparation Course 2023

WORKSHOP 💘 GOD 💘 LIFE 💘 MARRIAGE 💘 
💘 FAMILY  💘 PRAYER 💘 TRINITY 💘 SEMINAR 

👇 Link to Fr. Gilles' Power Point Presentation: 👇

👉  Workshop / Seminar "Introduction to Prayer" -
Saturday, May 6th, 2023 👈

PDF Version of this Power Point Presentation 

INTRO of Father Gilles Surprenant 
by Bridget Bagshaw, Coordinator 

Father Gilles Surprenant in Capernaum, Galilee, Palestine

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 💘 WORKSHOP ON PRAYER 💘 

"The Trinity" by Andrei Rublev - 1411 A.D.

Russian icon 56" x 45" 

This is a 3-Hour WORKSHOP / SEMINAR 

We'll have actual prayer experiences...

... discussion, couple time, Q&A, & breaks...

Last year, afte we prayed a little with couples, they wanted more. Well, this morning we will spend 3 hours exploring prayer. 

You will have opportunity to express any doubts and ask questions. Let this Workshop / Seminar be an adventure; I am your field guide.

Violence, troubles, dangers threaten humanity. Our human condition causes us to suffer insecurities, fears, doubts, and concerns for the future. We endure the faults of others and dislike admitting our own faults. 

The awesome truth is that our Creator God loves us without limits. God gives us freedom because He designed us for friendship love. It is only in learning to love our Maker back that we will be perfectly happy. We can please others but we cannot “make happy” anyone; it is unfair to even expect a human, other  than Jesus, to try to “make us happy”. 

GOD - REAL? or NOT REAL?

Despite mounds of evidence,

many people are indifferent …

Our choices are:

1. Ignore God

2. Hold God in contempt

3. 💘Respect God as real and cultivate the relationship.

We're off!

WORKSHOP 💘 GOD 💘 LIFE 💘 MARRIAGE 💘 

💘 FAMILY  💘 PRAYER 💘 TRINITY 💘 SEMINAR 

Please join me as we begin with a PRAYER 

OPENING PRAYER 

LED BY FR. GILLES

💘 GOD 💘 LIFE 💘 PRAYER 💘

“Lord, I can’t pray properly. 
I’m weak; I’m human; 
I’m fragile. I’m easily distracted,
taken into thoughts of myself and the world.
But you, Lord, lead me past that.
Help me to pray truly as I am. 

Help me to focus on the Father, the Son,
and You, Holy Spirit,
so that my soul may be opened,
and I can receive the grace that is there
for everyone in prayer. Amen.” 

Prayer published by C. Alan Ames inspired by St. Teresa of Avila

“The Warning: Testimonies and Prophecies of the Illumination of Conscience.” By Christine Watkins, Queen of Peace Media, 2020. Sacramento CA

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METHOD: LIKE WINE TASTING 

or LIKE BEER TASTING

OUR METHODOLOGY :

ADULT LEARNING MODEL

OUR OUTLINE - in 4 segments 

 (1) The human prayer impulse (2) Praying in common 
(3) Praying alone (4) Praying as a couple

WITH GOD... WE ARE ALL BEGINNERS...
WE LEARN BEST TOGETHER...

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Living Prayer 

By Anthony of Sourozh, Metropolitan. Living Prayer: The Pocket Library of Spiritual Wisdom. Foreword, p. 5. Darton, Longman & Todd LTD. Kindle Edition. 

Worship to me means a relationship. I used not to be a believer, then one day I discovered God and immediately he appeared to me to be the supreme value and the total meaning of life, but at the same time a person. I think that worship can mean nothing at all to someone for whom there is no object of worship. You cannot teach worship to someone who has not got a sense of the living God; you can teach him to act as if he believed, but it will not be the spontaneous attitude which is real worship. Therefore, as a foreword to this book on prayer, what I would like to convey is my certitude in the personal reality of a God with whom a relationship can be established. 

Then I would ask my reader to treat God as a neighbour, as someone, and value this knowledge in the same terms in which he values a relationship with a brother or a friend. This, I think, is essential. One of the reasons why communal worship or private prayer seem to be so dead or so conventional is that the act of worship, which takes place in the heart communing with God, is too often missing. Every expression, either verbal or in action, may help, but they are only expressions of what is essential, namely, a deep silence of communion. 

We all know in human relationships that love and friendship are deep when we can be silent with someone. As long as we need to talk in order to keep in touch, we can safely and sadly assume that the relationship is still superficial; and so, if we want to worship God, we must first of all learn to feel happy, being silent together with him. This is an easier thing to do than one might think at first; it needs a little time, some confidence and the courage to start. 

Once the Curé d’Ars, a French saint of the eighteenth century, asked an old peasant what he was doing sitting for hours in the church, seemingly not even praying; the peasant replied: ‘I look at him, he looks at me and we are happy together.’ That man had learned to speak to God without breaking the silence of intimacy by words. If we can do that we can use any form of worship. 

If we try to make worship itself out of the words we use, we will get desperately tired of those words, because unless they have the depth of silence, they are shallow and tiresome. But how inspiring words can be once they are backed by silence and are infused with the right spirit: ‘O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise’ (Ps 51:15). 

1* Adaptation of a talk given on the BBC in the ‘Ten to Eight’ programme first broadcast in 1965.

Anthony of Sourozh, Metropolitan. Living Prayer: The Pocket Library of Spiritual Wisdom (pp. 5-6). Darton, Longman & Todd LTD. Kindle Edition. 

PRAYER RESOURCES

👉 "Beginners' PAGE"

👉 Catholic Christian Tools  page

👉 👉 HOME - https://gillessurprenant.blogspot.com/      

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A few additional texts... reflections.... 

Man & Woman both can spend themselves to exhaustion God has a plan …

Husband & Wife praying for each other = “ Spiritual Tag Team

You daily know where each other is, what’s happening, and are

praying for those situations = You’re constantly united...

MATRIMONY = mater + monium = burden of mothering

THE BRIDE the woman God designed to give & nurture life

THE BRIDEGROOM the man God designed to “groom” or “care for” the bride in her giving and nurturing life

Constantly praying for one another…

you constantly call on God to save each other’s life…

We are created in the IMAGE and LIKENESS of GOD...

God is an infinite "fire" of life-giving love...

Our "soul" / "spirit" in our "center" is a flame of

God within us... God is infinite... so there is in us

a living, dynamic flame of the infinite....

That is why we are never content with just a taste...

something in us wants to...

eat the whole buffet... drink the whole bottle...

completely consume what we love and desire...

A man wants to love every woman in the world...

A woman wants to love every man in the world...

which is why pornography is so dangerous...

not because sex is bad... no, God made us beautiful...

in us is a flame of the infinite, life-giving love-fire of God...

To touch high tension electricity wires is to "fry" and die...

electric power goes through transformers to make it safe...

Human sexuality must also go through a transformer to be safe...

To look at human beauty from a distance is a torturing fire leading to depression and death...

Marriage is the "transformer" that makes our intimate loving safe and life-giving and it takes place in the presence of God. 

For a detailed exploration of this theme, go to…

“LIVING IN THE IMAGE and LIKENESS of GOD”

by Father Ron Rolheiser 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/8489527?page=3   

Father Ron Rolheiser’s website: https://ronrolheiser.com/ 

or see his books - contact:  Samia at   https://theologia.ca/ 

For the remainder of the workshop / seminar, see the Power Point presentation :

👇 Link to Fr. Gilles' Power Point Presentation: 👇

👉  Workshop / Seminar "Introduction to Prayer" -
Saturday, May 6th, 2023 👈

PDF Version of this Power Point Presentation 

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PERSPECTIVE - Victor Frankl's discovery about who survived and who didn't in the Nazi concentration camps - "Man's Search for Meaning" 

= the freedom we have to "choose" our interior attitude to life 

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GO TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE

Link to MORE INSPIRATIONAL TEXTS 

 

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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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© 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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Christian Prayer – How to Pray as a Married Couple, that is, with your spouse

In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person 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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 PDF file for more detail   

Christian Prayer – How to Pray as a Married Couple, that is, with your spouse

For busy parents – a simple approach to prayer 

Prayer is simply visiting with God – the Creator – who is always present – a Community of Divine Persons: the Father, the Son, Jesus – and the Holy Spirit.

PRELIMINARY NOTES FOR ALL WHO PRAY

1.      BUSY PRAYER IN THE DUTY OF THE MOMENT: We can pray – visit with God – anywhere, anytime, but in the car, driver, attention to the road!

 

2.      PRAYER OF SILENCE: Friends of God find Him in the silence we learn to keep within ourselves, quieting our mind, heart, and spirit, like a baby in the parent’s lap. We can share the silence together.

 

3.      OTHER FORMS OF PRAYER: You can pray TO God with Scripture, with the Mysteries of the Rosary; at Holy Mass; or with the saints.

 

4.      PRAYER TIME & PLACE: Choose a time and place to visit together with God by setting aside any other activity.

 

5.      IT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO REALLY DOES THE PRAYING WITHIN US: Let the Holy Spirit carry you in the praying, and to help you pay attention to each other and listen with care to each other.

RETURN TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE 

ACTUALLY PRAYING

1.      “BE NOT AFRAID!” Remember: God will always remain mysterious to us, but what’s life without mystery?

 

2.      DECIDE: Simply decide to take some time to visit with God together.

 

3.      ASK: Ask the Holy Spirit to be with you both and help you to pray together, to visit together with the Holy Trinity.

 

4.      ENTER INTO YOUR PRAYER METHOD: In “silent prayer” OR with a Scripture text OR with the Mysteries of Jesus in the Rosary OR…

 

5.      “WORRY NOT – ENJOY!” Enjoy the presence and the love of God the Father, his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in the presence of your spouse.

 

6.      AT THE END GIVE THANKS: Say together or one of you for both: “Thank You, Lord… or Father… or Jesus… or Holy Spirit.”

SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE DETAIL 

Especially for busy parents with young children – simplifying our approach to prayer

Prayer is visiting with God – the Creator of the Universe – who is always present. Jesus revealed God to be a Divine Being that is a Trinity, a Community of Divine Persons: the Father, the Son – who became human through Mary and is named Jesus – and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides us interiorly in our own spirit.

RETURN TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE 

PRELIMINARY NOTES FOR ALL WHO PRAY

1.      BUSY PRAYER IN THE DUTY OF THE MOMENT: Our life is complex in many dimensions. We can pray – visit with God – anywhere, anytime: in bed, in the shower, as we prepare food, before / after a meal, commuting to and from work, pausing a moment during work, at play…. CAUTION: Pay attention in the “front” of your mind to what you are doing to avoid injury… let prayer “happen” on the “back burner”….

2.      PRAYER OF SILENCE: Friends of God find Him in silence, not the absence of noise, but in the silence we learn to keep within ourselves, quieting our mind, heart, and spirit, like a baby in the parent’s lap. You can brush away interior “noises” by noticing them and immediately letting them go with your “out” breath. Try to sync your breath in / out with a holy word: “Lord Jesus, I trust in you.” OR simply “Jesus Christ.”

3.      OTHER FORMS OF PRAYER: You can pray with Scripture, the Word of God in the Bible; or with the Mysteries of the Rosary; or at Holy Mass; or TO God WITH the saints to help you pray; or written prayers.

4.      PRAYER TIME & PLACE: Choose a time and place to visit with God by setting aside any other activity.

5.      IT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO REALLY DOES THE PRAYING WITHIN US: Let the Holy Spirit carry you in the praying, especially when you are doing something else. At all times it is really the Holy Spirit who prays in us, and if we want, the Holy Spirit can give us the grace to relax; so we don’t need to “strain the brain” at all, and the Holy Spirit teaches us how to allow the prayer to “echo” within our spirit.

 

RETURN TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE 

ACTUALLY PRAYING TOGETHER

6.      “BE NOT AFRAID!” Remember: God, revealed to us by Jesus of Nazareth, is a “Divine Being” in whom is a “community” of Divine Persons: the Father, his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; yet God is a single Divine Being. God will always remain mysterious to us, but what’s life without mystery?

7.      DECIDE: Simply decide together to pray with each other, and in this way visit together with God.

8.      ASK: Ask the Holy Spirit to be with you and help you to pray, to visit with the Holy Trinity.

9.      ENTER INTO YOUR PRAYER METHOD: In “silent prayer” together using a “holy word”, learn to “breathe” the word in and out, letting your breath and word “sync” to relax and rest in the Lord.
OR Select a Scripture text and read slowly, “ponder” the words, let them touch your mind, heart, spirit.
OR Pray the Rosary with Mary while meditating on the Mysteries of Jesus in the Holy Rosary. OR…

10.  “WORRY NOT – ENJOY”: You can almost hear Yoda say this to you. Just let whatever comes into your mind or heart – worries, ideas, emotions, resolutions, anxieties, lists or whatever – as you notice it wanting to occupy you, just let it drop, fall away… you will be able to find it or pick it up again later. Enjoy the presence and the love of God the Father, his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

11.  AT THE END GIVE THANKS: Say “Thank You, Lord… or Father… or Jesus… or Holy Spirit.”

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RETURN TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE 

PRAYING WITH HOLY SCRIPTURE – THE WORD OF GOD – AS A COUPLE

God is the source of vitality and love for Marriage and Family life.  Prayer is entertaining God’s presence in order to let Him connect us to his divine vitality. Here is how you can pray together as a Couple.

Step 1.  Pick a form of prayer activity, such as praying with Scripture, and select a passage.

Step 2.  Someone pray out loud, in a way something like this, in order to ask God’s guidance: “Dear God, here we are in your presence. Please guide and inspire us, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Step 3.  Follow this simple process, which will give each person the opportunity to hear the other person sharing their thoughts and in this way reveal how they need to be prayed for.

1.      One person read the Scripture passage out loud, slowly, and clearly. 

2.      Both remain quiet for a good 2 to 3 minutes, to allow the Word of God time to bounce around inside you and stir up impressions that come from your daily life, thoughts, and feelings.

3.      The other person reads the same passage over again out loud, slowly, and clearly.

4.      Both listen again in silence to what’s bouncing around inside as the Word of God continues to connect with thoughts, impressions, and feelings that come from your daily life and deep within you.

RETURN TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE 

Step 4.  Now you take turns putting into words, for each other’s sake, what effect the Word of God had on you.

1.      Now one of you can start and give the other a glimpse of what the reading from Scripture stirred up inside – your thoughts, impressions, feelings, and maybe experience of your day. The other listens.

2.      The second person prays a simple prayer out loud repeating some of the words the first used to say what in them is being touched by the Word of God.                E.g.: She said, “As I listened, I remembered the fight I had with my boss, and I feel bad about it, and worried.” So, he says, “Father in Heaven, You heard her say what happened, and now she feels bad and worried. Please give her peace and help her find a way to resolve this problem, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!”     

3.      Your prayer for the other can be simple or detailed, as you are comfortable and have the time to do, but use the other’s own words. This whole exercise is done in freedom, trust, faith, and generosity.

Step 5.  Now it’s the other’s turn to put into words, for each other’s sake, how the Word of God touched you.

1.      Now the second gives the first a glimpse of what the reading from Scripture stirred up inside – your thoughts, impressions, feelings, and maybe experience of your day. The one who was first listens.

2.      The one who was first prays a simple prayer out loud repeating some of the words the second used to describe what in them is being touched by the Word of God.                 E.g.: He said, “As I listened, I recalled I didn’t handle our child’s discipline very well, and I don’t know what to do.” So, she says, “Father in Heaven, You heard him say what happened, and now doesn’t know what to do. Please give him peace and help him find a way to correct this problem, in Jesus’ Name. Amen!”    

3.      Your prayer for the other can be simple or detailed, as you are comfortable and have the time to do, but use the other’s own words. This whole exercise is done in freedom, trust, faith, and generosity.

RETURN TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE 

Step 6.  You look at each other and notice how you now feel, having prayed for one another. (Kleenex time?)

1.      You may not need to talk, but may see in each other’s eyes that this has been a significant time of prayer – a time of intimacy with God, but also a time of intimacy with each other – you have trusted each other with simple, daily, secrets of the heart. You are revealing yourself to each other in love.

2.      We tend to feel tremendously loved when someone listens to our heart, because this is who we are.

Step 7.  Wrap-up and closing

1.      Now, hold hands, sitting as you are, or standing up, or even kneeling together. 

2.      Wrap up with prayer out loud in your own words, to simply express to God your gratitude for his abiding presence, care, and love. 

3.      You can also end with an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory be to the Father.

4.      Feel free to hug, kiss, stand up, genuflect, prostrate yourself, bow before an icon, make the Sign of the Cross, or make a reverent genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament if in a chapel. Prayer may be without words and is as lively and connected as we are. Praying together is a marvellous way for husband and wife to prepare for sexual intimacy, the “holy blessing” of Matrimony, especially when unhurriedly he joins gently with his wife, entirely focused on her pleasure rather than his own.

Remember that prayer is a normal human activity. You will become more at ease with it the more you do it. On the other hand, because you are not alone in it, but God is there with you, prayer is not only a human activity, but also divine, like a dance. So it doesn’t make sense to try to evaluate our prayer experiences using human parameters or measuring sticks. In fact, it is better not to evaluate our prayer at all, but rather to pay attention to the fidelity and generosity with which we spend or “waste” time “visiting” with God every day. With time you will discover which forms of prayer are most loving for each other and most helpful in your couple intimacy. The ultimate rule of thumb is the rule of love that expresses itself and gives itself in freedom and generosity.

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RETURN TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE 

PRAYING WITH HOLY SCRIPTURE – THE WORD OF GOD – AS A COUPLE

The above method of praying as a couple with Sacred Scripture can be easily enough adapted to other forms of prayer, such as meditating on Mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, reading spiritual works by one of the saints, reading inspiring passages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sermons from the saints or pastoral and spiritual letters written by various Popes, and so on. There is no talking when you pray in silence together, but at the end of the silence you can share with each other any “word” you felt arise within you perhaps as a “personal hint” from God. By sharing such “words” with the other, you can better discern together whether this word is really from God or simply a distraction, or perhaps even a temptation from the “evil one”, the “adversary of humanity”, the evil angel who accuses us before God and tries to lead us astray here on Earth.

Whenever you pray together as a couple, the abiding values are:

First - in your praying together to God at the beginning and at the end; 

Second - in your “interior converse” with God;

Third - in your sharing with each other;

Fourth - in your listening to each other;

Fifth - in your praying out loud for each other;

Sixth - in the mutual trust you show to each other by the simple act of praying together; and

Seventh - in actually opening your heart, mind, soul, and body (sharing at times even any physical sensations you may have experienced during prayer) to each other.

God is always at work within us, but through the incredible trust we show God and each other in praying as a couple; we give God permission to accomplish wonderful things in us individually and in our couple.

RETURN TO CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN TOOLS PAGE 

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In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person 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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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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