Art as a Springboard to Prayer

Long ago illiterate people relied on art to learn the faith. Churches were filled with sacred stained-glass windows and statues meant to convey truths and religious stories visually. Their beauty also lifted minds to God. As a child, I had a holy card collection, many of them with sacred art. Did you?                   Viewing art […]

Have You Made a New Year’s Resolution?

Here’s a suggestion to improve your life this year: Revitalize your prayer. This month I’ve been writing a book about praying. I offer you one chapter today that might prompt an idea of how you can enrich your relationship with God by dispelling a misconception you might have about prayer. •  Prayer should be long. […]

Down with Distractions During Prayer

Apparently our brains have more than one track. Maybe as you’re praying the rosary, you’re planning what you’ll have for dinner and before you know it, you’ve prayed the closing prayer. Maybe you’re reading a prayer, like the Divine Office, and your eyes are following the words, but when you’re finished, you don’t know what […]

Jumpstarting Your Prayer Life

This chapter (abridged) called “Priming the Pump” from my book “Praying on Empty” was reprinted in a daily devotional . . .  Grant, O our God, that we may know you, love you, and rejoice in you; and if in this life we cannot do these things fully, grant that we may at the least […]

Pray Always and Pray All Ways

At first glance St. Paul’s exhortation to pray always (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18) seems to be a mistranslation. Maybe what he really said was, “Pray a lot.” Praying ALWAYS is a mental impossibility. When I’m writing a book, for instance, my mind is 100% focused on the ideas I’m typing, not on God. The only way […]

Prayer Problems

Prayer is as essential to our spiritual life as breathing is to our physical life. It is getting in touch with God, our Creator, and communicating with him. This deepens our relationship with God. We wouldn’t want to arrive at the pearly gates of heaven and have God say to us, “And who are you?” […]

Gospel-Based Prayer

You could say that The Fisherman’s Wife, my first novel, was a novel experience for me. I became so engrossed in the people and happenings in Capernaum that when I left the computer, I didn’t know if it was morning, noon, or night!  That never happened when I wrote other books. My heroine, Peter’s wife, […]

Let a Picture Shape Your Prayer

St. Teresa of Avila, an expert on prayer, knew the power of a picture. Looking at an image of the wounded Christ changed her life. She taught that visuals can “awaken love.” Using the photo at the top of this blog, here’s an example of how prayer can flow from a picture. Some background: The […]