Fr. Josh on Daily Prayer

Why Daily Prayer in the Parish?
“At dusk, dawn, and noon…my prayer will be heard.” -Psalm 55:18
           
Christians pray, as Paul wrote, “without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). In Christ, by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, we can cry out in prayer, in intimate union with God, “Abba” (Rom. 8:15). When Christians talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus, this is what’s meant—that in Christ are in union with God the Father by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Such is how we are in relationship with God.
           
Which means prayer. That’s the reason Paul said Christians should pray “without ceasing,” because we are always in Christ, every moment of every day. Always conscious of him, always offering God our best, we live in Christ always in some state of prayer, a “living sacrifice,” Paul called it (Rom. 12:1). God who is always present to us in Christ, we strive to make ourselves always present to him in all we say and do. Like two people in love, always aware of each other, we want always to be aware of God and his love and his presence, at every moment.
           
Which means daily prayer. We can only accomplish this by incorporating moments of actual prayer into our lives by daily prayer. Which is what the Bible teaches, look it up: Daniel, the Psalmist, the apostles, all of them prayed every day at certain times of the day (Dan. 6:11; Psalm 55:18; 119:64; Acts 2:42; 3:1; 10:9; 10:30). The faithful punctuated each day with moments of prayer. It’s how they kept themselves present to God; it kept them holy. Again, like two people in love: they often give each other a little peck on the cheek every day, small signs of affection, don’t they? It’s how they keep their love warm. That’s what daily prayer does to our life with God. It helps keep our love for him alive.
           
But it’s a spiritual tradition, spiritual power, we’ve largely lost—at least among the laity. The biblical tradition of daily prayer continues, always has, as the Liturgy of the Hours. The practice of daily prayer in the Church, however, has largely become something only clergy do. Bishops, priests, deacons, and religious are bound to pray daily the Liturgy of the Hours, but it’s a way of prayer open to everyone. In fact, Vatican II clearly hoped to restore this biblical practice of daily prayer to the whole Church, laity included; it’s one of the Council’s yet unrealized visions.

The hope was that as many people as possible would take up the ancient, biblical practice of daily prayer by praying the Liturgy of the Hours publicly in parishes. In the contemporary Church, we celebrate the Eucharist daily, sharing in the sacrifice of Christ every single day, offering ourselves to the Father in the Body and Blood of his Son. This has undoubtedly been a blessing for Church. However, still there’s something missing, and that’s the biblical way of daily prayer, the tradition of the Liturgy of the Hours.

In the Eucharist we receive Christ; we’re offered with Christ to the Father. In the Liturgy of the Hours, we praise the Father in Christ, praising him in the voice of Christ as we praise God with the Psalms and words of God. These two ways of prayer belong together; together, they make for a healthier Church, a healthier parish. As with Daniel and the apostles who prayed every day, it’s how we keep ourselves present to God. It’s one of the ways we strive for holiness—by praying every day.

Which is why we’re trying to revive daily prayer at Saint Rita. We want to reintroduce this ancient, biblical form of prayer, opening it up to everyone. Our hope is to pray publicly the Liturgy of the Hours almost every day at St. Rita. Precisely, we will pray Morning Prayer at 7:30am in the Eucharistic Chapel, Monday through Friday. At 5:00pm, Monday through Friday, we’ll pray Evening Prayer (Vespers) in the Eucharistic Chapel just before the 5:30pm Mass. Our hope is that this becomes part of the rhythm of our common prayer life, something ordinary.

Again, the purpose of the Liturgy of the Hours is to gather us together in prayer, praying in this ancient, biblical way, which has proven throughout the millennia to be a way a community is sanctified, binding us closer together and closer to God, keeping us in his presence. It’s how we can better live out what Paul wrote about, a life of prayer without end.

But where do you come in? Well, you’re invited to pray with us! If you’d like to experience this prayer, just show up. Come see if this is something that can help you reignite or deepen your prayer life. If you can come just once or a few times a week, if you just want to drop in from time to time, still, you can take part in this project of prayer with us. And even if you can’t join us, know that every day, twice a day, someone is praying for you—because you are one with us, in Christ by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

In the world today, in the Church today, we often ask ourselves what we can do to help. In an unstable society and struggling Church, what can we do that does anything? Often, we answer this question with gimmicks and slogans, with books you can buy and videos you can watch, all of which does little, to be honest. All of it’s just sales.

But really, what can we do? The answer is simple, ancient, and biblical. It’s to restore the way of daily prayer at St. Rita. No gimmick, nothing fancy, just daily prayer, ancient and alive. But, be assured, simple though it is, daily prayer has the power to change things—to change you and even the Church. Which is why we’re going to do this at St. Rita; because it’s what we need to do.

pax,
Fr. Joshua