Inspired by Scholastica

  Many people think that long prayers, preferably on one's knees, are more efficacious than short prayers. Or prayers said aloud are more likely to be heard than silent prayer. So we pray rosaries or attach a string of prayers together.  Yet saints and theologians tell us God hears us no matter how we pray. St. Benedict says that prayer should be short (Chap. 20:4,5 of St. Benedict's Rule)  Father John Dunne, 20th century theologian and author, agrees. He even composed a song about short prayer:            Short prayer Penetrates heaven, Like Help!    Like Thanks! Like Yes! May I know me! May I know thee! Everything Is in your hands! Guard me And guide me! Your will is our peace.  Just a verse of a psalm can be an effective prayer, such as: "O God, come to my assistance." A prayer in our own words is perhaps better than a prayer from a book.  Prayer should rise from the depths of our heart. If we feel like we are at the en...

 Michael Casey, an Australian Benedictine monk, wrote a book about monastic life called "An Unexciting Life." He wrote about the prayer, work, and lifestyle of monks, which is pretty mundane and ordinary. They go  about their daily routine with a good deal of  time spent praying the psalms, working in the monastery, and doing Lectio Divina or spiritual reading.   The Rule of Benedict contains 72 chapters devoted to ways to achieve peace and order, such as the Twelve Steps of Humility, the Tools of Good Works, Good Zeal, and the Order of the Psalms. The early monks prayed seven times a day but in modern times some monasteries have amended it to three or four times a day. It is a simple rule for a simple life. That seems fitting for monks but why would it attract other people? Somehow lay women and men have found sustenance in the Rule of Benedict, associating themselves with monasteries by becoming "oblates." These people make an "oblation," a commitme...

In the gospel last Sunday, Jesus has just instructed a huge crowd and they are hungry. The apostles want to send them away to eat, but Jesus tells the apostles to feed the multitude themselves. Now there were 5,000 men, not counting women or children, and they had only one loaf of bread and two fish. Yet when they fed all the people, there were 12 basketfuls left over. In breaking open the Word, one priest told his listeners to imagine that when the young boy brought his loaf of bread and fish to the apostles, other people who had brought a little food began sharing theirs until all were satisfied. It's still an amazing story. It's still a miracle. It exemplifies that Jesus can inspire people to give of themselves for others. (I'm still a little disturbed about the "not counting women and children," but that was another culture, another time.)  It made me think of how we can nourish one another today. We can offer a smile each time we meet another person. We can s...