the battle of praying more part 2
Let's continue our look into prayer….
Continuing on with the BATTLE OF PRAYER, the last sentence in paragraph 2728 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, To overcome these obstacles [to pray], we must battle to gain humility, trust, and perseverance.
This week we're going to tackle section II - HUMBLE VIGILANCE OF HEART - and see how it can help us in our battle to pray more.
Some excerpts from paragraph numbers 2729-2730 - bold/underline added by me:
The habitual difficulty in prayer is distraction…..To set about hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our heart: for a distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified.
DISTRACTION. I think we can all agree we live in a distracted world. And some of those distractions are easy to point at as a problem (looking at you, cell phone!). But other distractions for a Catholic (especially as a mom) we can't just dismiss as unnecessary.
Here's some necessary distractions that come to mind…
…my to-do list
…the call of my 6 year old for breakfast
…my son's piano practice
…cooking dinner for the family
But I think the key is this - God comes first and we can't forget it.
All these distractions are valid and necessary, but we make a mistake when we put them above God. Which is really easy to do! As a mom, I feel like I'm constantly running around putting out fires and chipping away at my neverending to-do list.
But like Martha (Luke 10:38-42), we have to fight this tendency to put our worldly cares over our souls.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. Matt 6:21
“No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matt 6:24
When I get overwhelmed with providing “everything” for my kids, I remind myself that my number one job and priority is getting them to Heaven. But I need to remember it's also true for myself! My number one priority also has to be getting to Heaven!
We need to work on switching our perspective towards our vocation by remembering our number one priority - Heaven.
…the battle against the possessive and dominating self requires vigilance, sobriety of heart.
Remember, this section of the Catechism is titled HUMBLE VIGILANCE OF HEART.
The first part to overcoming our obstacles to prayer and win the battle of praying more, is to “battle to gain humility."
In other words…
1️⃣ be humble - remember our total dependence on God, that all good things come from Him
2️⃣ be vigilant - watch for danger or difficulties that threaten to turn us away from that
Which leads us to…
3️⃣ giving our spiritual life (prayer) the priority in our lives that it requires
And of course that's probably easier said than done! Which is why it's called a “battle” 🙃
My encouragement for you (and me!) to seek the sacred this week:
Litany of Humility. Try saying this prayer often 💪🏻
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected,
Deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
This was originally shared with my newsletter subscribers - join me as we Seek the Sacred and grow in holiness - get encouragement in your inbox here.