“Prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus.” -St.Therese of Lisieux In the quote above, St. Therese very eloquently explains what prayer is to her. What strikes me the most about what she says is the last part: “(prayer) expands my soul and unites me to Jesus.” Whether you realize it or not, Jesus desires to have an intimate relationship with YOU. Let this sink in: the God of the universe wants to KNOW you. He doesn’t want to know about you, but he truly wants to know your heart. How else can Jesus lead us into deeper intimacy with Him other than through prayer? There are a lot of things I wish I could write about in this blog post, but I think the one thing that I want to emphasize is that it is through prayer that we become fully ourselves. It’s in prayer that we learn to receive grace; it’s how we come to know the Father’s love for us and accept his mercy. It’s taken me 4 years (and counting) to learn how to be disciplined in my prayer. At first, I would just wake up and make the sign of the cross—that was the entirety of my prayer life, along with the occasional prayer before meals or for a big test or volleyball game. But friends, if I could urge you to do one thing, it is simply to learn how to pray. It’s through prayer that I have come to know Christ, and therefore, come to know myself. I wish I could share the different moments in prayer where Jesus has lead me into intimacy because it has lead to so much FREEDOM. It’s through my relationship with Christ that I am able to know what it means to be Beloved. It’s through prayer, that I have been able to show up to work or class everyday and know exactly whose I am. I am a Beloved daughter of Christ, and I CANNOT be shaken—and I have come to believe this in the depths of my heart. Some days, I may not know exactly who I am, but I know WHOSE I am, and that makes all difference. I know Truth because I know Jesus. I live an abundant life (not an easy one), but an ABUNDANT one because I have come to know Christ through prayer. I am living in freedom because I am living in the presence of God. I wouldn’t have gotten here without a daily prayer life. Don’t get me wrong—there are days when I don’t want to pray. There are so many reasons I could skip prayer, being busy is always my first excuse. But when I skip prayer, I find myself more easily annoyed with the world, more stressed, more anxious. My heart longs to be in communion with God, and I don’t know how else to do this other than through prayer. Friends, I’m praying for you. I pray that you find the courage to be bold enough to be real with Jesus in prayer. I pray that you are disciplined in making time to talk to Him, especially when you have 100 reasons not to. Finally, I pray that you have the humility to accept your humanness and surrender to Christ through prayer. Our Catholic faith has so many tools for us to use to get to know Jesus, but it’s up to you to prioritize prayer and show up on a daily basis. I hope you give Jesus your daily yes, no matter how small you think it is-- I promise it will change your life. In Christ, Karen Leal
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AuthorYour confirmation teachers - Kathleen, Eric, Sophia, and Valerie, and with contributions from 410 alumni Archives
September 2021
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