Latest radio appearance: how and why to pray for others

Hello! Last week I enjoyed being with John and the Morning Air team to discuss my article, For Whom Should I Pray? with an emphasis on - others! The world, and the church!

You can hear the playback here, starting around the 7:02 mark.

A few interesting things we discussed:

• Where and how do I begin to pray?

• Why do the Church and world need our prayers? (and not just ourselves?)

• Do my prayers really make a difference?

• Prayer is not about getting what we want - and we often will not see the answers to our prayers, especially if it’s for something happening on the other side of the world

• Fidelity to the prayer is as important as the prayer itself. So is trust!

• Mystical prayer is not about sensory experiences, but about complete trust in God

• YOU are called to pray for the Church in all its dimensions

• Priests need your prayers. They’re human, too!

• You never know how your prayers are going to impact someone in their life

• Prayer is not about what you are going to accomplish, but what God is going to accomplish through your prayers - nothing is impossible for God!

• God works outside of time - prayer for now, for the future, and even for the past

• Organize your prayer intentions in a way that makes sense for you, and include your family if you can

• By praying for others, we begin to see ourselves as part of something greater than ourselves

• End your prayer with gratitude - and always thank God ahead of time

Prayer, if you have not noticed, is one of my favorite subjects. I feel strongly that it is a part of everyone’s vocation. So, if you are not yet, take that step, and pray not just for your immediate needs today, but for the needs of the world and church around you. In that, you will begin to find your place in the body of Christ, and build even further your faith and trust in Him.

Join me on Relevant Radio tomorrow at 7:10 am eastern

Friends, I am joining John and Glen at 7:10 am eastern tomorrow morning to discuss part 1 of my recent two-part articles, For Whom Should I Pray? We’ll be talking how to pray for and about things outside of oneself.

You can listen to Morning Air on Relevant Radio live online here.

Very fun news: I will soon be appearing regularly every other Tuesday morning, starting in October. More details to come!

And if you’re enjoying what you’re reading and hearing, be sure to sign up for my newsletter.

Praying you and your family are having a good transition into fall and the last part of this year!

Blessed Feast of the Queenship of Mary

Today is the feast of the Queenship of Mary. A few resources:

One, EWTN has a whole page, here, answering why we celebrate this feast. There, you will learn that the feast day happens eight days after the Assumption (that’s an octave). Pope Pius XII, who established the feast, wrote that:

We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?

Peace among nations. Think we could use any of that?

Secondly, an article I wrote at a few years ago called Why Mary’s Queenship Matters.

Today I am thinking about how so many of our Catholic beliefs are odd, or hard to believe. The Assumption, for example, states that Mary’s body went to Heaven, not just her soul. I read somewhere recently that when a woman gets pregnant, some DNA or biological remnant of the child remains a part of her, for the rest of her life. So, it makes sense that the “vessel” by which Christ entered the world could not disintegrate and rot like a normal human body. And that could be one “scientific” reason this dogma makes sense.

The bottom line is, some things just have to be…believed. I suppose that is backwards from our hyper proof-hungry world, but there you have it. Some things are just mystical, and that’s that. And, it makes life more beautiful.

More importantly, rather than focus on the physics of a miracle, I find it far more interesting to meditate on the devotion itself. “Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?” Have you ever heard more beautiful words to describe a holy woman? Do you not find it reassuring? For all the disintegration and rot here on earth, it is a reminder of the eternal things: heaven, and God’s love, and his promise to be with people for all time, until the end of the age.