Praying

When your mind is full of Many Things, it helps to do cardio. And pray.

Cardio?

Yes, simple, mindless jogging and walking, so that as you move, as you develop a rhythm, you get an endorphin high ( that woo hoo feeling....would that all of life was lived on that high)....and you have time to pray.

I prayed my rosary each day this week while doing walking and jogging workouts.

Prayer without ceasing.

At the RCIA group , we talked about the Catholic Church, the faithful, the role of the laity. And thus of prayer.

The New Testament leaves us in no doubt that we should pray regularly. Our Lord taught, by word and example, that we should pray continually and never lose heart ( Luke 18:1). St Paul and other writers of the New Testament re-echo Our Lord's teaching that we must "pray constantly" (Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:16)

For this reason, the public and communal prayer of the faithful has always been considered among the first duties of the Church. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that from the very beginning the baptised " remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers." ( Acts 2:42)

One thing I have learned is that prayer throughout the day sanctifies my day, makes me aware of God and helps me to worship Him throughout the day.

And so I pray the Divine Office, in the morning and in the evening. I pray at Mass. We pray the Angelus, and grace before meals as a family.

But more than this, I find that I can pray throughout my day, while involved in otherwise mindless tasks. That jogging and walking or junk mail delivery walking, for example.

We shared at the RCIA programme how to make a simple prayer part of our day, part of our activity.

A morning offering perhaps.

Joy..

Yes, joy for me in spending that time in a fitness walk or jog, with Our Lord. Sometimes, I am passionate. I pour my thoughts and concerns for others into my rosary and into my walk/jog. Sometimes, I am dry and dusty. I meditate on the rosary in an almost mechanical rhythm , attuned to my feet jogging and or pattering in sequenced unison.

Regardless of feeling, I pray.

I join in with the centuries of Christians who have prayed the rosary and meditated on the mysteries of Christ's life. I pray because Our Lord, and the Church, has asked us to pray. I pray for others; I pray for joy, to be almost surprised by joy, as C. S. Lewis described. A sometimes uncetain joy, a joy not always felt, a joy that comes, sometimes, in the midst of pain or discomfort or sacrifice for others ( pain and sorrow in life, discomfort and sacrifice in the discipline of making myself get up early and workout and walk and jog and not think of Other Things, physical pain in that sometimes aching heel).

Joy and pain and prayer.

"If you are joyful, it will shine in your eyes and in your look, in your conversation and in your countenance. You will not be able to hide it because joy overflows.

Joy must be one of the pivots of our life. It is the token of a generous personality. Sometimes it is also a mantle that clothes a life of sacrifice and self-giving. A person who has this gift often reaches high summits. He or she is like a sun in a community.” ~ Mother Teresa