509. Prayer leads deeper into reality.

 YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 509

Ave Maria series

Isn’t praying a flight from reality?

Someone who prays does not flee from reality: rather, he opens his eyes for reality as a whole.  From Almighty God himself he received the strength to cope with reality.

My great, great, grandniece Cassie  in Haiti fitting a pair of donated shoes  on a child. --Photo by her mother Stephanie  2016.

Prayer is like going to a gas station where we get free fuel for our long journeys and extreme challenges.  Praying does not lead out of reality but, rather, deeper into it.  Praying does not take time away from other things but, rather, doubles the remaining time and fills it with intrinsic meaning.  356

“Thus Christian spirituality…is not a…flight from or rejection of the world, nor can it be reduced to mere temporal activity.  Imbued by the Spirit…,it is a spirituality of the transfiguration of the world and of hope in the coming of God’s kingdom.” –Pope St. John Paul II (1920-2005), December 2, 1998

“The risen Jesus is present among his people and in the heart of human history. Through the Holy Spirit, he fills those who open themselves to him in faith and love; indeed, he gradually transfigures them, making them share in his own glorified life. They now live and act in the world with their gaze always focused on the final goal: ‘If then you have been raised with Christ’, St Paul urges, ‘seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God’ (Colossians 3:1-4)” –Pope St. John Paul II in a General Audience, December 2, 1998

People  Haiti  Cassie M