Today's post will be the last one for a week because I will be on retreat.  I ask for your prayers and be assured of my prayers while I am on retreat.
God Bless.
Deacon George

In the Gospels we read – Jesus rose early and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed.

Prayer was vital for the Son of God (our Savior Jesus Christ) – so how much more important/vital is it for us!

A father took his small son with him to town one day to run some errands.   When lunchtime arrived, the two of them went to a familiar diner for a sandwich.

The father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy up to the seat beside him.

They ordered lunch and when the waiter brought the food, the father said, "Son, we'll just have a silent prayer."

Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish his prayer, but he just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long time.

When he finally looked up, his father asked him, "What in the world were you praying about all that time?"

With the innocence and honesty of a child, he replied, "How do I know? It was a silent prayer."   {Solitude and Silence Sermons (02/05/12) Our Daily Bread, Adapted}

Many of our prayers are silent, but whether our prayers are silent or spoken – God already knows our hearts.

So why pray?  One reason to prayer and to work diligently at our prayer life is to prepare our hearts for God’s answer.

You and I are called like St. Paul, who tells the Corinthians & us, “All this I do for the sake of the Gospel, so that I too may share in it.”

So we are to go into the world and announce the Gospel, announce the Good News, primarily by the way we live.

What is that Good News?   That God:

1.    Created you

2.    Loves you

3.    Redeemed you

4.    Chose you as a disciple

5.    Called to share His Gospel in deed & in word.

May God Be Praised!