Good and Bad Distractions

What draws your focus the most during the day?  For some, it could be their job.  For others, it could be their children.  For others, it could be some external form of stimulus, such as a cell phone, or social media, or something else entirely.  Some things that draw our focus are good.  Mihály Csikszentmihályi, a psychologist, came up with the idea of cognitive “flow”.  When one is in a state of flow, one becomes absorbed in an activity to the point of losing track of the passage of time.  For example, if you have ever read a really good book, and glanced at the clock to realize several hours had gone by and you hadn’t noticed, you might have been in a state of flow.

It’s great if you can achieve this state when you are working on a particularly important project, either for work or for pleasure.  It is less helpful if you happen to get into a state of flow with something which is a distraction from more important things you need to do.

At first glance, the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office, can seem to disrupt the “flow” of a day.  It can seem like a distraction to have to think about praying every few hours.  But, when viewed differently, the Liturgy of the Hours can be a necessary “reset button”.  When the day isn’t going quite how you expected for whatever reason, taking a few moments or minutes to re-center yourself with prayer can actually save you time in the long run.

The “Hours” of the Liturgy of the Hours are morning prayer (lauds), mid-morning prayer (terce), mid-day prayer (sext), mid-afternoon prayer (none), evening prayer (vespers), night prayer (compline), and the Office of Readings (which can be said at any time throughout the day).  For laity, joining in with praying the Liturgy of the Hours does not have to be an all or nothing venture.  The more principle of the hours are morning and evening prayer.  They are a good place to start. 

Priests and other religious men and women commit to praying the Liturgy of the Hours each day.  When we as the laity join our prayers with theirs, the Church as a whole is stronger.  Over time, you may start to feel as if you are missing something when you don’t get a chance to pray.  And, what may have seemed like a distraction at first can help you avoid other less helpful distractions in the future.

If you would like to start praying the Liturgy of the Hours, there are several options:  You could invest in a Breviary, if you prefer a physical book.  If you would prefer a website or an app for your phone there’s iBreviary (free app available) or Universalis (free on the web, or a one-time fee paid app).

God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

My Hungarian grandmother had an oft-used saying when she felt like someone was not doing all that they were able to do:  “Don’t be that helpless!”  She would say this in her thick Hungarian accent with an air of exasperation.  It has been almost nine years since my grandmother passed away, but I think of her saying often.  She never meant it in a bad way, but it usually made me stop and think, what else could I be doing right now to help myself?

You may have heard the saying, “God helps those who help themselves.”  What does that really mean?  Does God only help those who have done everything in their power and turn to Him as a last resort?  Does God look at someone and think, well, they could do X, Y, and Z still, and until they do, I don’t need to intervene?  That doesn’t fit with our belief in a loving God.

So, who does God help?  Whose prayers does He readily answer?  He answers all of our prayers, but it may not be the answer we want.  The answer may be “no” or “not right now.”  But, by the same token, God never gives us more than we can handle.  He helps us according to our abilities at the given moment.

So, yes, God helps those who help themselves, but if we turn to Him, He will not fail to answer our prayers.  In the Fatima Prayer, often added at the end of rosary decade, we pray “Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.”  Let us strive to do our best, live our best lives in accordance with God’s will, and to reach out to God when we are in most need of Him.

Marian Titles: Mirror of Justice, Seat of Wisdom, Cause of Our Joy

Traditionally, the month of May is celebrated as the month of Mary in the Catholic Church.  So, this month, this blog will be dedicated to various titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  These titles are found in the Litany of Loreto, which may be recited after the rosary.  You can find the full litany here.  Each week, I will delve a little deeper into three or four Marian titles from the middle section of the litany.

Mirror of Justice

According to Christopher Heffron, “Every title linked to Mary makes sense only in relation to how completely she cooperated with God’s grace and how perfectly she models being a disciple of Jesus” (source)  Mary’s life was far from fair, but she accepted God’s will for her.  From the beginning of her life, when she was immaculately conceived, she was prepared to be the mother of God.  And, when the angel Gabriel informed her of her divine “destiny”, she accepted selflessly:  “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).  Throughout Jesus’ life, when Mary would encounter a particularly trying time—giving birth in a stable, and losing Jesus in Jerusalem at twelve years old, for example—“Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Luke 2:19 NABRE translation). 

Mirrors reflect what is in front of them.  We hear very few of Mary’s actual words in the four Gospels, but her actions speak of wanting the best for those around her, as her son Jesus does.  So Mary, as the Mirror of Justice, presents to us a manner of living that advocates for fairness to all.

Seat of Wisdom

Picture an image of Mary with the Child Jesus, and what probably comes to mind is Mary with Jesus sitting in her lap.  Jesus is the second person of the Trinity.  He is God, three in one and one in three.  He has an intimate relationship with the other two persons of the Trinity:  the Father and the Holy Spirit.  And one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is wisdom.  In the Advent hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” we implore, “O Come, O Wisdom from on high.”  So, this particular title of Mary is more literal than it may appear at first.  She is literally a seat for Wisdom incarnate in the person of Jesus.

Cause of Our Joy

Mary models for us how to live life without complaint.  As I mentioned earlier while discussing Mary, Mirror of Justice, she faced life and took time to ponder her difficulties.  A different translation of Luke 2:19 states that Mary “treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (NRSV translation, emphasis added).  She shows us how to find joy in the mundane, everyday moments of life, as well as in the bigger events.  If Mary could find a reason to be happy during the “boring” parts of life, surely we can as well.

Next week:  Mary as Spiritual Vessel, Vessel of Honor, Singular Vessel of Devotion, and Mystical Rose

New Year's and the Te Deum

When I was in eighth grade, New Year’s meant not only a change of year, but a change of century and a change of millennium.  I was in the St. Cecilia choristers at the Madeleine Choir School, and we sang for a special Mass that started before midnight on December 31^st and ended in the early hours of January 1^st.  Many things were special about that Mass, but two stand out in my memory.

The first is how excited we all were.  For many of us this was one of the first times we had been allowed, or indeed, encouraged to stay up for midnight and see the New Year in.  Of course, those who are old enough to remember the uncertainties about the impending start of the 2000s will recall that there was a certain amount of nervousness and “doomsday” prophecy going around as well, so that added to the general sense that this was a special day.

The second thing I remember was the fact that we sang a specially commissioned setting of the Te Deum.  The Te Deum is a traditional prayer of the Catholic Church, which typically is recited during Compline, the prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours said before sleep.

The text should be somewhat familiar to those who know the hymn “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name,” which is based on the Te Deum:

You are God:  we praise you;
You are the Lord; we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you;
Father of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free
you did not shun the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

V:  Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance;
R:  govern and uphold them, now and always.
V:  Day by day we bless you;
R:  we praise your name for ever.
V:  Keep us today, Lord, from all sin;
R:  have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
V:  Lord, show us your love and mercy;
R:  for we put our trust in you.
V:  In you, Lord, is our hope;
R:  and we shall never hope in vain.

Imagine beginning a new year with this attitude of praise and thanksgiving for the greatness of God.  If you would like, make a resolution to include the Te Deum in your prayers more regularly.