Meeting 4. - Glorified or What? ******************************* .. tags:: content|spirituality|Spirituality, content|prayer|Prayer, content|maturity|Maturity, method|text-work|Text work, type|formative|Formative Introduction for the animator and goals ======================================= Almost the entire retreat is already behind us. During the Sunday group meeting, it is worth placing strong emphasis on sharing one's own view of and experience in prayer (not only prayer of praise). During the retreat, we have also heard testimonies -- we can refer back to them, and we can also testify ourselves to what we have already received. This is an important part of this meeting, which is why it can be extended even at the expense of, for example, the activation element. It is also important that each participant leave the retreat with an application chosen and written down by themselves. The questions in this outline are only meant to guide; not all of them need to be asked. Time of the meeting: **1h 20min** **Goals of the meeting:** - Discovering the "fullness" and "coherence" of all the attitudes of prayer - Emphasizing the role of praise in prayer - The new person -- praise as the whole of life Prayer and introduction ======================= Spontaneous prayer summing up the forms of prayer we have come to know and discuss so far. Briefly: - Thanksgiving - Petition - Asking forgiveness End with "Glory be to the Father." Yesterday we took part in prayer workshops. We can refer to them in our opening questions. Let us remember not to put pressure on people with regard to the answer we expect. For not everyone did this moment of the retreat have to be a breakthrough or especially significant one. At the same time, however, we want to underline the role of this method of working with the Word -- the imagery and vividness of biblical texts allow us to discover nuances contained in the scenes of Scripture that had previously remained unnoticed. We can ask about the reflections that appeared in participants during yesterday's workshops. - Which place in the analyzed passage allowed me to see the images of Scripture in a new light? - Did this workshop bring me joy? Did its artistic quality remind me of childhood and of playing with words and associations? - Was it helpful for me, intriguing? Why? - In what way is God also present in such a form of working with the Word? The role of praise in prayer ============================ For many of us, praise still remains something unknown, or at best not yet fully discovered. In this part, we will try to say a little more about this kind of prayer. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that: "Praise is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds him for his own sake and gives him glory, quite beyond what he does, but simply because HE IS. It shares in the blessed happiness of the pure of heart who love God in faith before seeing him in glory. Through praise, the Spirit is joined to our spirits to bear witness that we are children of God, bearing witness to the only Son in whom we are adopted and by whom we glorify the Father. Praise embraces the other forms of prayer and carries them toward him who is its source and goal: 'the one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist' (1 Cor 8:6)." (CCC 2639) Praise allows us to abandon worn-out patterns, because after all that is what we were created for -- to worship and praise God with every breath we take! Praise is a very good lesson for us; it frees us from thinking in terms of "give me." Too often we need God to give us his gifts, to support us, while we do not come simply to be for Him Himself! PRAISE -- IT IS "I AM" FOR YOU, GOD! It is worth discovering the power and character of this prayer... When we praise God, we become "available" to him, "accessible" to him. We are ready for everything that God wants to reveal to us. .. centered:: **"Praise is that moment when, at last, I stop telling God how big my problems are, and start telling my problems how great God is."** Praising God allows us to be freed from many things and to see our whole life somewhat differently. After praise we are different people, more joyful. Pope Francis says it directly: "It is easy to pray for certain graces. Harder is the prayer of praise, and yet it is the prayer of true joy. It brings us the joy of being happy before the Lord." Prayer of praise is a prayer of remembering what the Lord has done for us. Then the whole history of salvation passes before our eyes. Another fruit visible after praise is freedom from worries. I come in heavy, I leave light. The worries do not cease to exist, but now we have immersed them in praise. That is not the same as solving the problem, but I now perceive the problem in a completely different light. It is a chance for God's action. My hope is placed in God -- I stop worrying. Praise means that I look at what God does, not only at what I do. Sharing questions ----------------- - What do I associate with prayer of praise? - For me, how does praise differ from thanksgiving? - Is it easier for me to ask God for things or to praise him? Why? - What changes in me when, instead of focusing on my problems, I look to God? Praise in the Eucharist ======================= - "*Glory to God in the highest* is a most ancient and venerable hymn by which the Church, gathered in the Holy Spirit, glorifies and entreats God the Father and the Lamb." /GIRM 53/ - Silence after Communion - "When the distribution of Holy Communion is over, as circumstances suggest, the priest and the faithful spend some time praying in silence. If appropriate, the whole congregation may also sing a psalm, another song of praise, or a hymn." /GIRM 88/ - "After Holy Communion, as circumstances suggest, there follows an act of praise. No other actions should be carried out at this time. The congregation may sing a psalm, another song of praise, or a hymn. Instrumental music or an appropriate piece performed by a choir is also permitted." Expressions of praise in Scripture ================================== In Scripture we can find many passages that refer to praise. Let us mention some of them here: - We can praise God with our tongue. In his letter (Jas 3:3-12), St. James emphasizes that we cannot both bless and curse with the same tongue, since we have one tongue. "Can a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?" - We can praise God by fulfilling his will. Jesus underlines this in his own mission, saying: "I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do" (Jn 17:4). - We can also praise God through a pure body: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit... Glorify God in your body" (1 Cor 6:19-20). - We can praise God through persevering prayer. The call to "pray without ceasing" shows that praise need not be only a passing surge of feeling; it can become an enduring stance of the heart. - In the Magnificat, Mary is a model of praise: she turns fully toward God, recalls his deeds, and lets him stand at the center. Sharing questions ----------------- - Which of these biblical images of praise speaks to me most today? - In what situations do I find it easiest to praise God? - What most gets in my way when I want to praise God: distraction, fear, haste, self-focus? The New Person -- praise as the whole of life ============================================= In Scripture, praise is at once foreshadowed -- in the Psalms, embodied -- in the life of Jesus, and brought to completion -- in Revelation and the final praise of God. It is not an add-on to the life of faith but its heart. This is the place to speak of the integrity and coherence of prayer and life, and of the retreat theme that joins light and life. Faith is not a separate compartment of life, a counterpoint to the everyday, but permeates the whole of life. Because praise belongs to life as a whole, we can learn to live key moments in that key: baptism, marriage, ordained ministry, work, school, relationships, contact with the natural world, and the way we live suffering and death. Praise is not only a certain kind of singing or a passing emotion; it is giving God glory more and more fully with our whole life. "If you have come to know God and have been captivated by him, do not sigh 'ah, ah, ah' -- choose." "The goal of the human person is the glory of God." "The human person is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save their soul." Sharing questions ----------------- - Where in my life do I most split prayer off from daily living? - In which concrete areas of my life could praise become more integral? - What one choice, after the retreat, would help me give God glory more fully? Summary and application ======================= The goal of each of the attitudes of prayer that we encounter during this retreat is ultimately praise -- directing the heart to the One Who Is, focusing on his person, and giving him glory. Praise in everyday life consists in the integrity of the Word we have received and in living it out. It is nothing other than *phos-zoe* (light-and-life): the light that permeates life and every attitude within it. It is not simply being good; it is growing in love for God, a love that leads to wonder at his presence, at the fact that he simply IS. The application should arise from the meeting itself: you know the group by now and can sense what will help them, or participants can name for themselves what they want to take home. You might suggest a review of attitudes: what in my life sits uneasily with praise of the Creator? Each participant should identify one attitude to work on, name it clearly, and commit to a concrete change. (*Example:* After a meal, I will put the dishes into the dishwasher instead of leaving them on the counter, which really annoys the other members of the household.) The group might also agree to read the Letter of James in this spirit. The letter has five chapters -- for example, one per week -- and after each week's reading to choose one concrete behavior to change. The Letter of St. James shows very well what human integrity is: "From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this ought not to be so! Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can a salt spring yield fresh water." -- Jas 3:10-12 Closing prayer ============== Pray in praise of God for what he has already done on this retreat, for his presence, and for the community you are building together.