Becoming an Apostle - tips for prayer before, during, and after mass
by Br. Leven Harton
In the Mass, the Church offers us the height of prayer – the ability to truly live the Last Supper with Christ each day, to encounter him in the Eucharist. In the Mass we become the apostles: sitting at the feet of Christ, listening to him in the Gospel, breaking bread with him in communion, experiencing his true presence in the Eucharist, and praying with him after receiving this great sacrament. However, these remarkable experiences can fall flat for us. Our engagement with the prayer of the liturgy, it must be admitted, can sometimes falter, and distraction or boredom can dominate our minds. How do we enter into liturgical prayer well ?
liturgical REMEMBER what prayer is The Church enjoys two great traditions for encountering God: private, devotional prayer, and public, liturgical prayer. While these two modes of approaching our Father are intertwined and feed off of one another, they do present different experiences. Private prayer allows us freedom to set our own pace, choose our own considerations, tailor the time of prayer to fit our preferences, inclinations, and inspirations. The liturgy, however, is very different: it is given. We don’t select the details of prayer when we go to Mass, we just follow and receive what is set before us. Liturgical prayer, in this regard, is ascetical, it represents an offering we make by training our attention not on what we fancy, but on what is provided. Entering into liturgical prayer, we should prepare ourselves for receiving what comes and exercising our will to stay attuned to the prayer offered by the church. It will certainly be work.
PRACTICE
private prayer on a regular basis Our readiness to enter into the liturgy can be taken to a new level if we have a daily relationship with Christ outside of the Mass. The intimacy and familiarity of simple conversation with the Lord prepares us to make offerings and receive from the Liturgy. Consistency in cultivating our interior life during the freedom of daily meditation fosters an awareness of the Lord’s presence, near to us at all times. With this habit of extra-liturgical prayer, we will begin to find his voice within the structures of the Mass, speaking through them.
Br. Leven Harton has been a Benedictine Monk since 2006. He currently serves the community as the prior and vocations director – are you interested in learning more about becoming a monk? Visit our vocations website: MONKVOCATIONS.ORG 8
Kansas Monks
