A Little Soap, A Little Prayer

As a practicing Catholic, I'm expected to pray. A lot.

That doesn't sound practical: and it wouldn't be, if that meant I had to spend the bulk of my time on my knees in a special place, hands clasped in a particular way.

Some folks have found ways to spend substantial fractions of their waking hours in formal prayer. I'm not one of them.

I mentioned, yesterday, that the Catholic Church is practical. I think dealing with human beings for going on two millennia has something to do with that.

What we're told about praying includes this excerpt:

" 'Pray constantly . . . always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.'³³ St. Paul adds, 'Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the saints.'³⁴ For 'we have not been commanded to work, to keep watch and to fast constantly, but it has been laid down that we are to pray without ceasing.'³⁵ This tireless fervor can come only from love. Against our dullness and laziness, the battle of prayer is that of humble, trusting, and persevering love. This love opens our hearts to three enlightening and life-giving facts of faith about prayer.

"It is always possible to pray: The time of the Christian is that of the risen Christ who is with us always, no matter what tempests may arise.³⁶ Our time is in the hands of God:

It is possible to offer fervent prayer even while walking in public or strolling alone, or seated in your shop, . . . while buying or selling, . . . or even while cooking.³⁷"

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2742-2743)

I'm not sure why St. John Chrysostom wrote "or even while cooking." [emphasis mine] I don't see cooking as an activity that's less suitable for prayer than "walking in public ..., or seated in your shop...." But Minnesota isn't anywhere near Antioch and Commana, where the "golden-mouthed" saint lived: and 16 centuries have passed since he died. Not all cultures see things quite the same way - much less all people.

I've made the point before, that the Catholic Church really is universal, and that we're expected to be different. (August 26, 2010, April 19, 2010) And that's another topic.

What got me thinking about prayer and some other topics was my dropping the soap while taking a shower. Bending over to retrieve it, I stretched my ribs - nothing major, but in hurt for a few minutes. So, following a custom or habit some folks have in my part of the world, I 'offered it up to the Lord.'

It's a little like putting two cents in the collection plate: but I figured the sensations might as well do some good. Besides reminding me that I really ought to exercise more, of course.

Related posts:

• "Prayer, Rules, a Saint, and Lent"
  (February 25, 2011)
• "Prayers Over the Kitchen Sink"
  (August 27, 2010)
• "A Chaplet for America"
  (June 15, 2010)
• "A Prayer for the Dead"
  (June 25, 2009)
• "Happy Lent?! What Kind of a Nut am I?"
  (March 3, 2009)