A Position for Prayer

Howard spends a good deal of time speaking about the proper position for prayer. He describes his journey to understanding the value of kneeling for prayer. As a Catholic growing up in the South I have always had to field questions about why we are constantly in motion during our celebrations of worship. We sit, stand, kneel…..sit, stand, kneel….genuflect, make processions, cross ourselves, etc. Our worship is a very physical act which again harkens back to the Incarnation of Christ. Christ did not come only to bring salvation to our spirits, or to our minds, but to our entire being. This includes the physical and so our prayer mirrors that. It is impossible to get around the fact that we are physical beings. We need to eat, sleep, exercise and do many other physical tasks in order to live. Our prayer mirrors this.

Posture in prayer is a powerful tool. Traditionally I can think of three primary postures that can aid us in prayer. The first posture is the most ancient which is standing. Standing with arms outstretched is the oldest posture of Christian prayer. It physically mirrors the image of Christ crucified. We use this posture today to communicate praise and thanksgiving. In our Catholic liturgy we see it most often used when we are singing, when we are addressing a prayer directly to God the Father, when the Gospel is proclaimed and in many countries for the praying of the Eucharistic Prayer. It makes sense to me that we would choose to stand upright when giving praise and thanksgiving to God. The second posture for prayer we often see is sitting. Sitting is a posture of reception, one that indicates a willingness to listen to God and to receive what he offers to us. In the liturgy we see this posture most readily in the proclamation of the readings from Scripture. We sit in order to receive the Word of God. The third posture is kneeling. Kneeling has long been seen as a gesture of penitence but also in our country has come to symbolize reverence, which is why in the United States we kneel during the Eucharistic Prayer.

From Attitude to Act

Howard notes also that,

Worship, in the ancient tradition, was not thought of as an experience at all, it was an act.

This past December our parish took on the challenge of what is being promoted by a group of Christians as the Advent Conspiracy. One of the four tenants of the Advent Conspiracy is the challenge to “Worship Fully”. This past year I have spent a good amount of time reflecting upon what it means to worship fully and my conclusion is that it involves offering our entire life fully to God. We gather each Sunday to give thanks to God for all he has given to us and we offer Him our lives. We place our triumphs and our failures upon the altar of sacrifice. Doing this each week should draw us each week closer to the God who gave Himself completely to us in His life, death and resurrection.

In Spirit and In Truth

One of the things that certainly tends to be a sticking point between the Evangelical churches and the more Liturgical ones is the use or non use of set prayers. We as Catholics use many set prayers, but not to the exclusion of spontaneous prayer. Our prayers used for worship follow a set pattern. We pray to God the Father, through God the Son, in God the Holy Spirit. There are many different words that we use throughout the liturgy and throughout the liturgical year, but they all come back to this set structure that the Church has followed from the early centuries of Christianity. Probably the most important reason we do this is to protect those of us who have received the faith from error. When looking at the history of the early Church it is easy to see that words matter. Changing one or two words like changing one degree of the compass when setting a direction can lead to disastrous results. This seems to be one area, in my opinion, where Evangelicals seem to follow a similar course. At least when it comes to the Bible, all Christians–Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants–would agree that we cannot change the words of the Scripture.

It also seems from my own observations that most Evangelicals do follow a pattern in prayer. Usually the prayer begins by addressing God the Father, it then moves into a section of prayer of thanksgiving or praise (we just praise you for your care for us), there is a petition (we ask you to watch over us with your care) and the prayer ends with the phrase, “in Jesus’ name we pray”. This doesn’t seem at all that different from the Catholic pattern that is described above.

Howard also notes something that he noticed with regards to repeated or memorized prayer by pointing out the beautiful tradition of hymns that have developed over the centuries in the protestant church. Hymns composed by the likes of John Wesley and learned by countless Christians have helped us to pray and to maintain our faith through repetition and song.

Attire

As a priest who often is seen wearing vestments while leading prayer, Howard’s comments on attire seemed right on target. It has often suggested to me that perhaps we Catholics have it wrong in dressing our clergy in special attire that is meant to draw more attention to them. It has always been my understanding that the vestments are meant to draw our attention away from the person wearing them. Catholic clergy first put on the white garment of baptism to remind us of the common call we share with all Christians. Then we wear vestments as a sign that it should be Christ who is speaking through us. This, in fact, is another reason for having set prayers for the Eucharist. In these most significant prayers it is the words of Christ that matter most, not my words or the words of any of my brother priests. We are, in a sense, to become invisible through the wearing of vestments so that that Christ can be made more visible.

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Thanks again to Elizabeth for beginning this book discussion. It has been very enjoyable and engaging so far and I hope many of you will continue the respectful dialogue which she has begun.

The photo above captures a favorite memory from our recent trip to NPH in El Salvador. We were able to take several of the kids out for lunch and fun at a volcanic lake in El Salvador. This is a picture of Edgar in midair, leaping with no fear into the beautiful waters below. It took me about an hour of watching the kids leap from the high railing of the dock before I was willing to do so myself. Sometimes this is how many of us approach the Christian life as well. We want desperately to give ourselves totally to God, but we are afraid of what that might mean in reality. The desire to do good is present, but there is also the lingering fear of what that might ultimately mean for our life.

One of the challenges I have proposed for St. Thomas Parish as we enter together into an Advent Conspiracy is to worship fully, not by the volume of prayer, not by the length of prayer, but by offering our life itself as a prayer each week. The challenge, and it is a difficult one, is to come each Sunday ready to place our lives on the altar as an offering to God.

In his book, Of Water and the Spirit, Fr. Alexander Schmemann puts it this way,

The calling is to sanctify and to transform ourselves and our lives, as well as the world given to each of us as our kingdom: Ourselves–by constantly offering our life, our work, our joys as well as our sufferings to God; by making them always open to God’s will and grace; by being that which we have become in Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit; by transforming our life inot that which the Holy Spirit has made it: a “liturgy,” a service to God and communion with Him. The World–by being truly “men for the others,” not in the sense of constant involvement in social or political affairs, to which one so often reduces Christianity today, but by being always, everywhere and in all things witnesses to Christ’s Truth, which is the only true life, and bearers of the sacrificial love which is the ultimate essence and content of man’s priesthood.

Let us strive always to be people of true sacrifice, living as people who are intent on living the Gospel without fear. Let us give ourselves away in the same way that Christ gave Himself away for us.

Yesterday the St. Thomas team of co-conspirators unveiled our idea of preparing for Christmas through a fourfold plan:

Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More and Love All.

Are you ready to enter the story?

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It seems appropriate that this edition of 7 quick takes will focus on life and death. I began the week by celebrating the Feast of All Saints followed shortly by my first funeral of the week, for a man who always showed myself and others how to live the Christian life with his generosity. The week has continued with yet another funeral this Wednesday morning, followed by a death on Wednesday night. Perhaps the deaths are appropriate in this month of November, when we take time to remember all those who have died.

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Our recent priest retreat has started me down the path to a series of posts on the center of our Christian life, the Eucharist. I hope that readers will find them helpful for their own spiritual life. Taking the time to reflect even beyond our retreat has helped me in entering more deeply into prayer during my own recent celebrations of this sacrament. You can find the first post by clicking on the link below.

Offering A Perpetual Sacrifice

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This past week I have begun to re-watch the new Battlestar Galactica series. While it was airing, it was the only television show I made time for regularly. It is one of the best recent dramas on television that I can think of and  always has something to say about issues of life and death, especially on the dignity of the human person. An example from the mini-series that launched the show is the president’s decision, even in a situation where supplies are limited, to continue treating prisoners with the same respect as everyone else. She recognizes their humanity and worth despite their criminal behavior. I look forward to revisiting the many episodes as time permits.

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My fellow co-conspirators and I continue to make plans for Advent. We hope to embrace the  calling to worship fully, spend less, give more and love all so as to better enter the story of Christmas. For more info on how you can participate check out the link below.

Advent Conspiracy

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I am excited to know that Dave Rawlings Machine is set to release their first album this month and even more excited to be able to see them again with friends soon. The current blog song was written by David Rawlings. Knoxville continues to be a great music town!

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Prayers have recently been answered as our youth minister and her husband have been able to reconcile some differences that I am certain many believed out of reach of God’s healing. A week from today we will gather to renew their wedding vows and celebrate in true St. Thomas fashion. Glad to see you all looking happy again!

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Prayers are still needed for our DRE and her family. Jill’s husband suffered a stroke last weekend and is still recovering in the hospital. Things continue to change day by day and Jill continues to send her thanks to the parish for prayers and says, “Keep them coming!”

Last year on the First Sunday of Advent , I discovered something I had not been aware of…..the Advent Conspiracy.

The Advent Conspiracy is the brainchild of several friends who were pastors, who wanted to remind others of the power Christmas has to change the world. They suggested that Christians can still harness the power that came to earth as a result of the birth of Christ both in how we prepare for and celebrate Christmas.

The Advent Conspiracy has four main elements: Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More and Love All.

My hope is that my own parish of St. Thomas will consider rejecting consumerism this Advent Season in order to more fully embrace Christ. The first Christmas began with worship. The Shepherds, Angels and Magi gathered to worship the Incarnate God on the first Christmas and we as Christians are challenged today to do the same.

Most of us, if we admit it, will spend more every year at Christmas than we would like. We also spend more time than we would like fighting lines in parking lots and at mall counters buying gifts that many times others do not actually want. What if we were to intentionally spend less money on gifts this Advent?

What if instead of spending more money, we gave more to others? This does not simply mean giving more money away, though it might certainly include using some of the money we save to those in need. It also means giving more of our time to those we care about, to give more presence and less presents. The proponents of the Advent Conspiracy rightfully point out that it might actually be harder to give less expensive gifts that are more meaningful.

Last on the conspirators’ list is to love all. That means finding ways to pray for one another, to share our time and energy with those we love and to do what we can to help those in need. The Advent Conspiracy is not an easy thing to accomplish, but in my mind well worth the effort.

You can find out more about it by clicking here.