Benedict XVI Catecheses on Prayer

I will try to put links of Benedict XVI new catecheses on prayer:

1. Virtually Always and Everywhere, People Have Turned to God (4th May 2011)
2. Man Bears Within Himself the Desire for God (11th May 2011)
3. On Abraham’s Prayer (18th May 2011)
4. On Jacob’s Wrestling with God (25th May 2011)
5. On Moses’ Intercessory Prayer (1st June 2011)
6. On Elijah’s Lessons in Prayer (15th June 2011)
7. On Learning to Pray With the Psalms (22nd June 2011)
8. Keep the bible near in times of vacation (3rd August 2011)
9. Oasis of the spirit (10th August 2011)
10. Meditation (17th August 2011)
11. Art and Prayer (31st August 2011)
12. He Listens, He Responds and He Saves According to His Ways (7th Sept 2011)
13. On the prayer of Psalm 22 (14th Sept 2011)
14. On the prayer of Psalm 23 (5th Oct 2011)
15. On the prayer of Psalm 126 (12th Oct 2011)
16. On the prayer of Psalm 136 (19th October 2011)
17. On the prayer of Psalm 119 (10th November 2011)
18. On the prayer of Psalm 110 (16th November 2011)
19. On the prayer of Jesus (30th November 2011)
20. On Jesus Cry of Exultation (7th December 2011)
21. On Jesus’ Prayer as Love for God and Neighbor (14th December 2011)
22. On the Holy Family’s Prayer (28th December 2011)
23. On Our Lord Prayer at the Last Supper (11th January 2012)
24. On the Priestly Prayer of Jesus (25th January 2012)
25. On the Prayer of Jesus in Gathsemane (1st February 2012)
26. On the Prayer of Jesus on the Cross (8th February 2012)
27. On the last 3 words of Jesus Dying on the Cross (15th February 2012)
28. On the silence of Jesus (7th March 2012)
29. On the praying presence of Mary (14th march 2012)
30. On the Apostles’ Response to Persecution (19th April 2012)
31. On Prayer and Ministry (25th April 2012)
32. On the Prayer of the first Christian Martyr (2nd May 2012)
33. On St. Peter Imprisonment and Miraculous Release (9th May 2012)
34. On Prayer in the Spirit (16th May 2012)
35. On the Holy Spirit Prayer in us: Abba! Father! (23rd May 2012)
36. On Prayer in St. Paul’s Letter (30th May 2012)
37. On St. Paul experience of contemplative prayer (13th June 2012)
38. On Prayer of Praise and Thanks (20th June 2012)
39. On Prayer of St. Paul in the Letter to the Phillipians (27 th June 2012)
40. On Prayer according to St. Alphonsus Liguori (1st Aug 2012)
41. On the Prayer of St. Dominic (8th Aug 2012)
42. On the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist (29th Aug 2012)
43. On Prayer in Part 1 Revelation (5th Sept 2012)
44. On Prayer in Part 2 Revelation (12th Sept 2012)
45. On the Sacred Liturgy as a School of Prayer (26th Sept 2012)
46. On the Ecclesial Nature of Liturgical Prayer (3rd Oct 2012)

What should I do in the adoration room?

Since I am a bit free today ( I just finished my oral exam PhD, praise the Lord), I decided to write something which I shared with a friend of mine, a youth worker in one parish here.

I was sharing with him of God’s calling in my life to come regularly to spend a holy hour before the blessed sacrament. I guess it all started when I read the book written by Bishop Fulton Sheen. He promised the Lord that he would spend an hour a day before the blessed sacrament when he became a priest. And he did it! Then one day a friend of mine gave a book on the life of Sr. Briege McKenna “Miracles do Happen”. There Sr. Briege shared that she tried to spend time two hours daily before the blessed sacrament.

Well I love all those story but nothing happen until about two or three years ago. I started to have a desire to spend time with the Lord in the adoration room. So I told the Lord, “Lord I want to, but I don’t think I have the time. So help me Lord.” Well, the desire was there, but I didn’t go to the adoration room, because I didn’t have time.

One day, I went to a healing rally where a priest from India gave a talk. After the talk they invited us to come forward if we want to be prayed over. So I came forward, well, nothing to lose, don’t waste the grace that God wants to give to his people. So I came forward and the leader prayed for me. And after she finished the prayer and I was leaving, she tapped me, and said, “I felt the Lord wants you to go to the adoration room more often.” … I was startled, I couldn’t believe it. After a few seconds of looking at her, I just smile and left.

Well, I left the church that day saying to myself, “Oka, you better do it.” So I started to find time, and surprisingly, there is time! So every Sunday morning I came to the adoration room and spend my time with the Lord there.

To be frank, there are difficult moments, sometimes I skip the holy hour because of laziness of waking up in the morning. But the Lord help me to be faithful, the desire was still there. That is His voice that kept on inviting me to come.

One difficulties that I experience was that I kept on thinking what I should do during the one hour there in the adoration room. I tried rosary, the longest prayer I knew :p, I tried books on eucharistic adoration. I tried to praise and worship him, I tried reading the scripture, etc, etc. The point is, I was clueless what I should do for one hour in the adoration room.

One day I realize, maybe from the book of Sr. Briege, that I have a wrong conception. When I came to the adoration room to spend a time with the Lord, it’s not about what I should do for the Lord. Rather, it’s about what the Lord is doing to me.

So I still prayed, sometimes I meditate the scriptures, and other things. But I am not worried anymore. Most of the time, I sat and looked at the Lord. I tried to be still, and say, “Here I am Lord”.