There is often a spiritual journey to be had, and it goes beyond the “want” that leads people in the door. So your willingness to offer that to those ready to take that journey, bless you. Namaste.

Thank you Michelle. I will carry this within.

Once I was going through a very solemn and tear-filled meditation on his ascension into heaven. When the time came for Jesus to ascend, he did it in such a corny b-movie way (you could almost see the ropes lifting him up) that I burst out laughing. Then I saw that he and the disciples were all laughing and I’d been the victim of a practical joke.

Thank you.

I was turned on to this by Dad, and I am glad I finally had a chance to read it.

Thanks for these words about praying, and praying the Hail Mary, in particular. I appreciate what you’ve said. The reflections help me to understand more what this prayer can do, both for the person praying and for the person’s environment.

I will confess I pray this prayer daily and nightly, and have for years. It is not puzzling to note that there was a decided increase in the recitation of this and other prayers that corresponds directly to the time, three years ago, when I was placed in job transition. Since then, my prayer life and spiritual time has been a steady source of calm, inspiration and hope in the midst of it all.

These times are generally preceded by an Our Father, or two or three, as sometimes I feel the first time or two through, I was not focused on the words I was saying. I will then find myself well into a few Hail Marys before I know it, and feel peace floating through. Seems odd, but great nonetheless. It is what it is, and it keeps me coming back.

I will often throw in an Angel of God, sometimes turning it plural, praying to all the angels of God, asking them “to light, to guard, to rule and guide,” our immediate family through their endeavors, on their behalf.

Or I find myself reciting portions of the mass as well, the ‘older’ versions before the recent changes. And recently, I will simply state, “Lord I’m not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul will be healed.” This phrase alone seems to give me peace and resolve in many situations or in times of reflection.

Like you, these prayers can come at various times of the day; in traffic, making lunch, prior to falling to sleep or in the middle of the night, to get back to sleep.

All this said, after seeing your thoughts on this, I will spend a bit more time pondering my Hail Marys now, as I have much to learn, in so many areas of life, including my prayer life.

The blessing in all of this, at least for me, is that nothing in my life pervades all areas of my life more positively and profoundly than my time spent in prayer or reading the Word. Without exception, these blips of time, and the resulting uncontrollable-by-me graces that result, have definitely made me, and are making me, the man I am evolving into today. Thanks be to God!!

Blessings, brother!

John

“The Jerusalem to Jericho study was effectively a modern-day reenactment of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

“The study involved seminarians preparing for the ministry.”

——————–
follow the link to see the conclusions (its a short blog post, but a bit too long to provide the setup context and the conclusions as an excerpt). interesting, and cause for reflection.

–sgl