Bits and pieces

I have referred many times to the practice of prayer according to Lectio Divina.  Here is the name of a wonderful book (easy to follow and easy to read) on the topic.  It would be special guide to your Lenten prayer.  The title is:  Meditation and Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Praying with Scripture published by Crossroad Publishing Company.  The author is Father Timothy Gallagher, OMV who has conducted one of our annual retreats and who has given our Sisters a workshop on this topic.  The cost is $12.95.  

In preparation for Ash Wednesday, as I was sorting through written notes stuck into the current volume of my Liturgy of the Hours, I found these little gems that I would like to share with you.  I never make note of the author, unfortunately; however I think the thoughts they contain could be helpful to you:

• Prayer exists when God, not self, is the sole point of reference.
• Prayer is not a practice but a life.
• Prayer is our opening up to God to receive from Him the wonder of a transforming love.  
• If you want to find God in prayer, strive to have the heart of a poor person, of one who claims no rights for himself and marvels at the gifts he receives.
• Attach myself to the life of prayer rather than the act of prayer.
• There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future! 
• Our memory becomes healthy to the extent that we surrender our past to God and know that it is more his past than mine.