Lenten Prayer Takes Many Forms

Silhouettes as prayer? Families leading our prayers in church? Walking in the woods with God? Prayer is one of the three pillars of the Lenten season (along with fasting and almsgiving/charity). Refocusing our prayer life can take many forms. Maybe our morning schedule can afford us the luxury of attending daily Mass one or more times a week, or perhaps we renew old efforts to carve out a time for quiet reflection each morning or evening. Some people work their way through reading one of the Gospels or an-
other book of the Bible, and others find a small booklet of daily prayers and medications. Walking in nature, in prayer or in silence, can be another way to be closer to God this
Lent.

Jesus taught us it is important to find ways to pray together as well, in our families and church communities:

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Much like it’s easier to start an exercise routine with someone else than it is by yourself,
praying together strengthens each other’s faith and helps us remain committed to these good habits. This Lent in our parishes, times of prayer are a special focus. For starters,there are the treasures of Catholic prayer traditions: the Rosary, Adoration, and Stations of the Cross. People pray The Rosary together at 8:30am in St. Mary church (Mon-Fri). Why not try out our collaborative’s Weekly Adoration Hour in front of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist? This takes place each Friday 6:15-7:15, currently at St. Martha Residence (the house to the right of the entrance driveway). This time of Adoration can make His presence more visible in a powerful way for teens and adults alike, and the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet prayers said together can help guide your use of the time. For quiet personal prayer time in Adoration, see the First Friday and Saturday times on pwc.church or in the bulletin header page.

We are adding to our various forms of the Stations of the Cross, a Catholic prayer devotion that is most popular in the season of Lent. As described in our newsletter, Cath-
olic Community News, we celebrated Mary’s Way of the Cross again last Friday evening, and this year we are adding two new formats. On Tuesday, March 26 at 7:30pm, Stations in Silhouette promises to be a moving experience presented for all by our collaborative youth group, Catholics in Action. On Friday, April 12 at 7pm, we are planning a Family-led Way of the Cross, especially appropriate for children and meaningful for all ages. All three of these innovative formats, as well as Good Friday Stations, are held at St. Martha church. Of course, we will continue to offer the Weekly Friday Afternoon Stations (thru 4/12) in St. Mary church at 4pm, which allows teens and children to join with the adults after school.

However you focus on prayer this Lent, I encourage you to tell someone about it. Not only does it help us follow through on our plan, but it is another way of sharing the Good News of what Jesus is doing in our lives and our parishes!