Still Learning to Pray

As a Catholic, I have to do some things; and I'm not allowed to do others. For example, I'm:

• Required to
  • Love
    • God
    • My neighbor
    (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31)
  • See everybody as my neighbor
    (Matthew 5:43-44, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-30; Catechism, 1825)
  • Pray
    (Catechism, 2568-2589)
• Not allowed to
  • Worship anything that's not God
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2097, 2112-2114, 2534)
  • Practice divination
    (Catechism, 2116)
  • Be superstitious
    (Catechism, 2110-2111)

Being told to pray, but not be superstitious, isn't as contradictory as some folks may believe. (March 25, 2012)

If I thought I could make God do what I want by prayer - that would be a very bad idea, and that's another topic. I've written about prayer, Catholic style, before. (July 21, 2012)

Prayer and Me

I became a Catholic after growing up in a nice mainstream Protestant household. As I was learning about Catholicism, I discovered that I'm really bad at prayers like the Rosary.

I could make excuses, or pretend that I'm too spiritually mature to need formal prayer. The fact is, I've had a hard time learning how to stay focused during the prayers. I don't think it helps that I grew up without learning that sort of spiritual discipline.

That's why I'm mildly surprised that I remembered to pray a Lenten chaplet, and a Divine Mercy chaplet, each day since Ash Wednesday. Even more remarkable, staying 'on task' throughout the prayers seems to be easier now.

It's a long time before Easter, though: so getting complacent doesn't seem sensible. Not that it ever does, and that's another topic or two.

Related posts:

• Lenten chaplet
  • "Giving Up Skydiving for Lent"
    (February 13, 2013)
  • "Ash Wednesday, 2012: Another Lent, Another Chaplet"
    (February 22, 2012)
  • "Lenten Chaplet How-2"
    (March 25, 2011)
  • "Lenten Chaplet, and a How to Pray the Rosary Resource"
    (March 10, 2011)
  • "My Chaplet, Magic, Prayer and Catholic Beliefs"
    (March 4, 2010)
• Ideas, good and otherwise
  
  • "Colorado: Prayer Couldn't Hurt"
    (July 21, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Prayer, Catholic Style
    • What Prayer is; What Prayer isn't
  • "Faith and Obedience"
    (March 25, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Superstition?
  • "Skeletons in the Closet, Darkroom Ghosts, and Getting a Grip"
    (September 18, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Conjuring Up Ghosts and Other Bad Ideas
  • "Our Lady of Sorrows Crucifix, Art, and Being Catholic"
    (July 15, 2011)
    Particularly
    • 'Smashing Statues for God?'
    • Sacred Art, Yes: Worshiping Art, No
  • "If Catholics are Superstitious, How Come We're Not Allowed to be Superstitious?"
    (August 18, 2010)