Praying – One Line at at Time

 July 12, 2017

Ordinary Time – Season of Stability

As a cradle Catholic, I’ve been reciting the same prayers for sixty years. Of course I have them memorized, er, actually, I do and I don’t. Sometimes the lines are so familiar that I forget them. The words role off of my tongue as long as I don’t stop. If I stop, I lose my place and quickly forget the words, forcing me to start again.

For example, the words of the Creed, both the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed, have been engrained in my memory since childhood, and yet when asked to lead the rosary and recite the first half of the Apostle’s Creed solo, I’m at a loss. The words fail me until someone takes pity on me and helps me out.

But, if I go one line at a time and there are others around me reciting the same words, as there are at church services, I’m able to get through them. Not only that–the words come easily when surrounded by a community of like believers.

Like life. We get through it one line at a time with a little help from friends.

O garden-dweller, my friends are listening for your voice, let me hear it!  Song of Songs 8:13

 

This post is part of a series of reflections on the Church year.   click here to follow blog

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