Perceptions of Prayer

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I notice that some Catholics I know think that prayer is just “mindless repetition”. But what is a bit more bothersome to me (and I’m sometimes guilty of it myself) is when prayer is just utilized when we want something. It’s not really a part of daily life, it’s just something to be done when we are in need.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
people who pray don’t do those other things like serve others, fast etc.
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Someone told me this one once. I reminded him of the words of St Teresa of Avila: prayer is the greatest of the blessings of this life, the channel through which God grants us favors, the beginning of every virtue.

I cannot imagine a spiritual life without prayer.
 
Oh, I don’t think prayer could be that important. It’s only one of the four pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, afterall.

🙂

I think there may be some people who are called and will be called by God to be apostles of prayer for the world today. You’re onto something Bear, seems to me, prayer needs to be reemphasized. It does, of course, in every age, but most certainly in today’s culture. If we want authentic “mindfulness” then people need to make prayer, not just a consideration for their day’s schedule, but a priority that ought not be pushed aside by something else, barring the duties of one’s state in life. No one is too busy to focus on God for at lest 5 minutes out of their 1,440 minutes in their day.
 
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The original charism of the Carmelites is to suffer and PRAY for priests. Hmmm, I think St. Therese of the Child Jesus and Teresa of Avilla, both discaleced Carmelites, were on the right track as doctors of the Catholic Church.
 
I only started becoming closer to God when I started to say more prayers each night. The reason I started to pray more was because I wanted a lot of things for myself, but God changed my attitude over time. If it wasn’t for prayer, I wouldn’t be any more serious in my faith than I was a couple years ago.

I agree-prayer is very important.
 
Some thoughts:

I’ve noticed Pope Francis use ‘parrots’ a couple times lately. I picked up on it after reading in Acts where Paul goes to Athens and preaches there, and the Greeks call him a ‘parrot.’ That’s what the NJB uses, in other bibles it’s ‘babbler.’

Any way, I heard somewhere that before going out to serve the poor of Calcutta, Mother Theresa would go to daily Mass, spend time in adoration, pray the Rosary, and pray the morning Office.

It’s another one of those ‘both/ands’ that seem to encompass the Catholic thing: faith AND works, prayer AND service, etc.
 
I do relate to the Carmelite spirituality to a goodly extent. I kind of flip-flop between them and the Jesuits. My favorite Jesuits tend to be very prayerful guys though.
 
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Excellent choices. Teresa also loved the Jesuits for their learning. She preferred them as spiritual directors.
 
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