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Prayer
Dear Families,
I have had the Hallow App on my phone now for several years. I love it, enough to pay for the monthly subscription, which basically winds up being less than the cost of ordering a dessert while out to eat. For me, it’s an investment in prayer. A daily reminder, that even if I’m tired, or exhausted, or just not in the mood, I am paying for this; therefore, I should not waste it.
Lately they just started a series on how to pray. Their founder, a guy whose Twitter/X handle is simply “Alex at Hallow,” kicked off the series by sharing a little bit of his faith journey during the first segment. Here is some of it:
“I fell away from my faith. But I’d gotten pretty into meditation.
The weirdest thing kept happening though…every time I’d meditate - every time I’d stop distracting myself with social media or Netflix or work or worry - every time I’d just sit for a bit in silence…
My mind kept feeling pulled to God...
An image of the cross, the name Jesus, the words Holy Spirit.
I thought this was all very strange so I reached out to some priests I knew and asked them what I thought was a really interesting question.
“Hey is there any way there’s some sort of intersection here between faith and meditation?”
And…They all laughed at me
“Yeah we’ve been doing it for 2,000 years. You probably should’ve heard about it by now. It’s called prayer.”
There is so much here that spoke to me-the temptation to fall away, especially in a world past saturation point with distraction and tasks and worry. Yet despite this, when we find silence, when our thoughts turn heavenward, He is always there calling us.
One of the things I love about St. Mary’s is the commitment to prayer. We pray daily, both at the beginning and end of the day. We pray before we eat. I will always remember how during Father Philip’s first school mass, he started praying the St. Michael Prayer, a tradition he brought from his old parish. Though it was fresh here, everyone picked it right up, for they already just knew it.
A major challenge in the Church today is how do we take all of these young children in our care, and teach them to persevere in the faith when they grow up and move out. There are many answers, though I would contend that one of them is through prayer. A strong prayer habit early in life lasts, and even through the distraction, the worry, the hectic nature of modern life, he who talks to God daily keeps Him close, and also has the chance to listen to God speak back.
So, let this be a reminder this week to find silence, to turn your thoughts heavenward, to speak to God, and give a listen to what He has to say in response. And know that we here at SMV are striving to teach your children to do the same.
God Bless,
Siggy Spelter
Principal
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