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"Prayer enlarges the
heart until it is capable
of containing God’s
gift of himself"
Mother Teresa
Loving Father
Thank you for the gifts you have given me: life, faith, family and friends.
_Shine your light so that I may see the path
that leads to you.
_Help me to make those choices which respond
to your personal love for me, so that I may become more fully the person
you call me to be.
Amen
Every
life is a journey to God. We need to look for signposts, make choices
and so embark on the journey of life. How do we "read the signs"?
How do we know what steps and choices will bring us to a deeper sense
of God’s unique love and plans for us?
Prayer
and discernment
For Christians the most important sign reading takes place in what we
call prayer. There are many ways to pray: sitting, standing, kneeling,
using words or in silence and stillness. What matters in prayer is that
we are trying to listen to God and not to all the other noises that bombard
us from all directions, some helpful and some not-so-helpful! Often reading
or listening to words from the Bible – the Word of God – can
be a good way of helping us to tune in to God’s voice. The Bible
also teaches that when we pray, really seeking to know God, the Holy Spirit
comes to our aid:
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes
with sighs too deep for words"
Romans 8
The
listening to God in prayer, and then through the events and experiences
of our daily living, we call discernment. This is a life-long process
of discovery and may lead us into very clear and concrete choices such
as "I want to be a priest" or "I hope to marry
this person".
In
the busy-ness of life people often find it hard to make time and space
for prayer. Here
are some resources and links that may help you…
Taize
Landru
Jesuits
Catholic
online
Sources for Meditation
Christian
Meditation - rosary, centering prayer, the Jesus prayer
Products
for sale and a section on Christian meditation
World
Community for Christian Meditation
Praying
Each Day
©
National Office for Vocation 2003
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National
Office for Vocation The
Chase Centre 114 West Heath Road London NW3 7TX United
Kingdom
Tel: 020
8458 6017 Registered
Charity No: 257239