LEADERS AND PRAYER

( I ) TALK 1 - Biblical Stories

A. Three Stories About Call of Disciples
- JOHN 1:35-51 = The Call of the Disciples... Acquaintaces and Referrals... Invitation to
“Come and See” and To Stay...
- MARK 1:16-20// MATT 4:18-22 = Getting to Know... the Demands of Discipleship... the
Art of Leaving, in order to Live for
- LUKE 5:1-11 = Ultimate Realization... My limitations and unworthiness... and the Divine
Grace and Election...
B. Called to Follow (Discipleship) and to Fish (Apostleship)
- “Come” and “Become”
C. Two Points from Jesus on Apostleship: Cast on The Right, and Come into the Deep
- Read: LUKE 5:4 & JOHN 21:6
- First= “Go into the Deep” — Out of Shore... into Trust and Faith and Prayer... the Deep
is Dangerous and Unknown...
- Second = “Cast on the Right” — Truth, the side of Truth... Righteousness...
D. Jesus, the Apostle of the Father, Has Two Passions
- Focal Point 1: Synagogue and Solitude= the Father
- Focal Point 2: The Crowd= Humanity
E. POWER OF PRAYER!!!
- Transfiguration = Grace of Affirmation: Shine... “You are my Beloved Son on Whom I
am Well Pleased”
- The Garden of Getsemani = Grace of Deliverance and Victory: “Not My Will, But Yours
Be Done.”

Share:
Your Experience of Growing Into Prayer

( II ) TALK 2 - The Prayer of Jesus (The “Our Father”)

A. Not Activity, But Relationship
GOD IS SECOND PERSON (ABBA), NOT THIRD
> A wonderful text in the Johannine text (Jn 1:18): “No one has ever seen God. It
is God the only Son... who has made him known (“exeghesato”).
> “Exeghesato” = to explain, to expound the exegesis, to narrate, to point out, to
illustrate... not in word alone, but through gestures....
> St Augustine of Hippo: “Jesus wanted us to address his own Father as our
Father also.” God is ABBA, daddy, dad, pop.
~ Extraordinary, but also scandalous!
 ~ It is easier to see God as distant — great, transcendent, powerful,
unmoved, unchanging
~ It is not merely a special kind of knowledge that Jesus gives us about
God. God is his “imago.” That is, Jesus’ intimate source that moods and
illuminates his activity. His sonship is his program. Everything in him (age
12; baptism; Transfiguration; Passion) was marked by this sonship.
> The Good News brought about by Jesus forbids us to persist in abstract and
intellectualised formulas. Hebrews 11:16= “God is not ashamed to be called our
God.”
~ Baptism does not make us followers, supporters, Servants, or soldiers
of Christ.
~ Hebrews 3:14= “For we have become partners of Christ.”
~ John 1:12= “But all who received him, who believed in his name, he
gave the power to become children of God.”
~ Romans 8:14-17= “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children
of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but
you received the spirit of adoption. When we cry ‘Abba! Father!’ It is that
very spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and
if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ — if, in fact,
we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
> The Mysteries of the life of Jesus (Incarnation, Ministry, Passion, Death and
Resurrection) enables us to move from “my father” to “our Father.”
> Jesus enables us to discover the Mystery of God’s Love. The keyword is
“relationship.” This is what prayer is... we are prayer... like language.
Theories for language=
(a) communicative > to transfer thought/ what we think
(b) cognitive > to articulate our thought
(c) But a third point...
= we use sound/ words and language just to be in touch with
those who are caring for us... like a child crying to a mother.
= human language is consequence of the need for a relationship.
= in the terms of Jesus: “Our Father” ... God moves from third to
second person. He is not He or It, but “Thou.” Prayer is a mother
tongue!
> “Lord, teach us to pray.” The disciples must have seen an extraordinary
spectacle of intimacy, life, trust...
JESUS SHOWED: A FATHER IS ESSENTIAL!
> A Father: real, a person of “flesh and blood”... but above all: an image within
each one of us! We imitate him, we have self-confidence, we seek to grow into
his stature.
> Jesus: “I and the Father are one.” “The hour is coming... when you will be
scattered... and will leave me alone; yet I am not alone, for the Father is with
me.” (John 16: 32).
 > The Father is an inner model... of stability, and we are always “arranging
various fathers for ourselves.”
> The memorable story of St Francis of Assisi baring himself and stripping off the
clothes from his earthly father... Our meeting with God as Father cannot come
about without our experiencing and accepting our nakedness, the stripping of
models that we have accumulated in time. We have to welcome God as the
“image and likeness”on whom we have to base our lives, our true inner skeleton.
Learn to unlearn... to have a new boundary with God and our humanity.
> Our time is characterised by the “evaporation of the Father”: a systematic
demolition of the father figure, and the father has ceased to be a value market...
hence, a state of symbolic orphanhood. But there is no Christian experience that
does not involve the Father. St Paul writes — “For you did not receive a spirit of
slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we
cry ‘Abba, Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are
children of God!” (Rom 8:15-16)
> There is therefore need to Purify the Father-Image***
~ vs a father who is unattainable and dissatisfied (hard to satisfy)
~ vs a father who is distant and arid

B. The Lord’s Prayer: Some Indications

SO WHAT IF GOD IS ABBA/ SECOND PERSON?
> “What father among you, if his son asks for fish, will instead of a fish give him a
serpent, or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If then you who are
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
heaven Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11: 11-13)<
(01) A DIFFERENT OUTLOOK OF LIFE-REALITY... “Our Father...”
> Our vision of life is a comfortable territory, free of surprises, without great
questioning or oscillations...
> We learn again to journey through life as pilgrims. We learn to make our way
through life with a great cycle of questioning and discovery.
> We learn to dance... and hear the remark of Jesus about our having grown rigid
and inflexible: “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed
and you did not weep” (Luke 7:32).
> Crises is seen in a different way... like the African saying: “We do not have
crises; we have initiations!” Let us not hurry to fill the cup, it is much valuable
when it is empty... there is no recipe for experiencing God... Each encounter is
unique... what matters is to feel ourselves as part of a great love story.
> Sirach 2:1= “My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself
for trials.” It is in trials and the tested dedication that intimacy calls for that
authentic spiritual life.
> An admonition from monks: “Choose your place in the middle of the forest
where you can withdraw everyday. And pray like this — ‘Lord, I am here waiting
for nothing.’” St Benedict uses the expression in his rule “Incline the ear of your
 heart” which means — listen not with the outer ear, but with attitude.
Concentrate your attention.
> Do not be afraid of questions, questioning, darkness... nights.
> We begin to see life, like the Mother Earth... with geological layers... not visible
on the surface.
(02) WE ARE ONE!... “Our Father”
> St Cyprian: “We do not say ‘My Father, who art in heaven,” nor ‘Give me this
day my bread.’ ... Our prayer is public and common... we pray not for one but for
the whole people, because we, the whole people, are one.
> We all be saved together, we all need to reach Paradise together; we must
arrive in heaven together. We must think of others.
> Perfectly Jesus! He did not wish to save himself on his own, but with others.
> Romans 8:29 = “He is the first-born among many brethren.”
(03) WE HAVE A GREAT COVER... OVER ALL! ... “Who Art in Heaven”
> “Our Father who art in heaven...” God is Transcendent... The Heavens indicate
his glory, his majesty, his ‘Kadosh.’... but he sees and listens, and has
compassion. Exodus 3:7-9= “I have observed the misery of my people who are in
Egypt, I have heard their cry... I know their sufferings...”
> But Heaven does not only indicate the Transcendence of God. Symbolically, the
Heavens are above us all, they cover all... they represent the roof that is above
all — sadness, sufferings, festive dances. The heavens have no frontiers: over all
creeds, cultures, languages. We do not have to do anything... The Heaven is over
us all, all the time!!!
> “Our Father who are in heaven” is to say= Our Father who is always, really,
truly always... who is everywhere, Whatever... who keep everything in your
heart.
(04) FATHER WITH A HEART... AND WILL... THEREFORE: DARKNESS... “Hallowed be Thy
Name”
> God cannot be manipulated, tamed by speeches... there is something
“unsayable” about God... sense of awe, “Name... Hallowed be thy name.” He is
near us, above us... but also beyond us.
> Hence, part of following God is “darkness.” St Teresa of Calcutta= “I want to
love God for what he takes. There is so much contradictions... deep longing, but
also pain... loving, but with emptiness... If I ever become a saint, I will surely be
one in darkness.”
> Jesus’ cry “My God, My God... Abba/ Father... if it is possible.”
> If God is Living Father= he cannot be tamed and boxed! I have always a space
for God to continue to say things, for God to continue to be, for God to go where
he wishes to go and not merely where I think He ought to go! New words... new
experiences of God in everyday language.
> May 2006/ Visit to Auschwitz: Benedict XVI said— “We cannot peer into God’s
mysterious plan... we can only see piecemeal... we could be wrong to set
 ourselves as judges. God is a God of reason — reason which is not cold
mathematics... Words fail... in the end there could only be silence...”
> The great danger of life is not to have waves, for things to be excessively
normal, linear, utilitarian, functional!
> Holiness is everyday opportunity... not abstract, not extraordinary... not just
the heroic... Vatican II teaches that Holiness is the most common and inclusive
vocation (LG Chapt 5). Everyday... Holiness is the normality of goodness... that
Everyday becomes the Feast of All Saints with halo, and saints who are not
canonised.
> Beatitudes= Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the merciful... Our very
fragility... becomes the material of Holiness. It is what we are, and what we do in
the ordinary map... monotonous map of following the Father’s will... making our
humanity and our human situation the dwelling place of God. Holiness is offered
anew to each one of us everyday...
> Our prayer= God, Father... teach me to be your disciple, faithful in listening to,
receptive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, apprenticeship of the Word.
> Words in a 12th Century Monastery in Toledo= “There are no paths, one must
just walk.” Pilgrims like Abraham.
(05) KINGDOM LIVING... BEGINS WITH DESIRE... “Thy Kingdom Come”
> “Thy Kingdom Come” — Christianity is a school of desire.
> What desire? See story of Jesus in Luke 4:16-21... where reading the scroll,
Jesus closed it and said: “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing...
Jesus shows that beyond the book, there is the Book of the Person. Luke 17:20-
21 = “the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
> We need to take the Kingdom in violence... meaning not being passive, but
have the energy, our entire lives and strength... our entire person.

C.

Share:
Your Image of God in Prayer

( III ) TALK 3 - Basic Prayer Pattern

A. A Simple Schema
EVERYDAY
- Daily Mass, “foundation of Christian marriage, sacrifice of Christ and of
the Church, of which He is the Head, and of us who are His people,
made ‘living offering’ and pleasing to the Father, and the Sacrament
of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the pledge of eternal glory is
given.”
 - Eucharistic Visit deepening in contemplation “the mystery of Christ of
which they are messengers and witnesses.” The “daily adoration of the
Eucharist is a vital sap that permeates everything by communicating
the Spirit even to the most ordinary things”
- Lead the Family in Daily Family Prayer, that, “by praying together with
the children, the father and the mother, while fulfilling their own royal
priesthood, go deep into the heart of their children”; (PC 60)
- Daily Scriptural Reading, “a very useful means to salvation and
necessary for sanctification.” This meditation shall be especially on
“the mystery of Christ celebrated in Liturgy (UPS 11, 57) (cf SC 102)
and on the Bible, particularly the Gospel, (cf Jn 1: 18) to learn the
secrets of God and to taste the word of life of the Master; (cf Jn 6:68)
- Marian Devotion, especially the Rosary. They shall entrust themselves to
Mary Queen of Apostles and Mother of the Church, by reciting the
Holy Rosary, (EI 91) which “the Popes unceasingly recommend as the
summary of the Gospel and therefore as a form of piety proper of the
Church.” Towards Mary we should have: enlightened and unlimited
trust and love; the most cordial, tender and effusive devotion; the
most common and constant practices: the Rosary and the Angelus; (cf
DFC 264)
- The Daily Examen, personal verification or examination of conscience,
the watch of the soul, “that should be preceded with prayer, followed
by sorrow, resolution, penance. like a confession of the soul to the
Lord.” (DFC 82,84)
REGULARLY...
- The Sunday Eucharist. Members shall sanctify Sunday by participating in the
Eucharist and in the catechetical instructions, if possible, together.
- Regular Confession. Members, willing to experience the mercy of the Lord, shall
frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation. (cf Lk 15)
“This frequent celebration is very useful:
 -- to remit venial sins which, though not breaking the communication of
love between God and the brethren since there is no formal opposition
to God in them, however, involve a certain inordinate love against God;
 -- to uproot the roots of sins and rectify disordinate affections;
 -- to pursue the path of conversion;
 -- to conform one's self more intensely with Christ, constantly bearing the
 mortification of Christ in our body, so that his life be ever more
manifested in us;
 -- to listen more attentively to the voice of the Holy Spirit and follow it
with
 more diligence and fidelity with the help also of the priest who acts in
Christ’s name as shepherd, teacher, and spiritual doctor;
 -- to serve God and the brethren with more constancy and love; (FC 58)
  -- to ask pardon also for the sins of one’s family and of all the families in
the world;
 -- to perfect the marital alliance and familial communion; and, lastly,
 -- to receive help through spiritual direction.” (cf OT 8)

B. The Eucharist as a Devotion

SIGNIFICANCE:
- SC#47, Vatican II= The institution of the Eucharist perpetuates not just the Last
Supper, but the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus, therefore a memorial of
his death and resurrection, a sacrament of love, a bond of charity, and the
pledge of future glory.
- There are 4 purposes for the Mass: (a) to adore, (b) to thank, (c) to satisfy, (d)
to supplicate before the Lord
- There are 4 fruits: (a) very general for all, both living and dead; (b) general for
all those who come to celebrate; (c) special for the person whose intention is
offered; (d) very special for the priest.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD, AND OF THE BREAD - JOINING JESUS TO THE FATHER
- In the Liturgy of the Word= we listen to the Father who revealed himself in
many way... and in our time, he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ (cf Heb 1:1).
We offer the Father the worship of the mind, giving him the full consent of our
intellect and will, and we are firmly convinced that “all the Scriptures is inspired
by God, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness that the man of God may be complete” (2 Tim 3:16-17).
- In the Liturgy of the Eucharist= In union with Christ the Way, who freely offered
himself to the Father as Victim of Praise, we offer ourselves, freely making the
commitment to follow Jesus — chaste, poor and obedient to the point of death.
- In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we also receive Christ as our Life, whom the
Father gives... the true Vine of which We are all branches... giving us the lasting
fruits of love of God, and of our brothers and sisters in the apostolate.
- Nourished in the same Table of Word and Bread, we become a community in
Christ of brothers and sisters as it is written: “That all may Be One, as you,
Father, are in me and I in you” (John 17:21).
EVER PRESENT MYSTERY
- The Eucharist is offered one and the same in substance, ever the same... but
always with new insights, new spiritual comfort.
- In the Cycle of Readings (A/ Matt; B/ Mark; C/ Luke; & the Weekday Readings I
& II On OT and the Letters of Paul) Jesus Master teaches us through the Church.
So, we are brought more and more in accord with Christ and The Church.
 HIGHEST FORM
- It is always the same Jesus who offers himself as Victim, and he shows his
wounds to the Father and adores, thanks, stones and prays not just with sighs
and words and tears... but with the fullness of his sacrifice.
- Jesus is always the way to God the Father.

C. The Eucharistic Visit: School of Jesus Master (John 14:6)

SIGNIFICANCE:
- The Eucharist is where Jesus wants to be with us until the end of time. (“Do this
is Memory of me...” “I will be with you always until the end of time...”)
- The Eucharistic visit is a prolongation of the Presence that we encounter in the
Eucharistic Celebration. We continue to commune with Jesus: Body, Blood, Soul
& Divinity. Fidelity to the Eucharistic Visit assures and completes the fruit of
Eucharistic Celebration. We approach Jesus as the Mediator between God and
humanity, the Priest of the Father, the Victim of Expiation, the Good Shepherd,
the Saviour of the World.
- Jesus says: “Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will
give you rest” (Matt 11:28).
> it is the creature meeting the Creator
> the disciple before the Teacher
> the patient with the Doctor of souls
> the poor appealing to the Rich one
> the thirsty coming to the Font
> the weak one with the Almighty
> the tempted one seeking the safe Refuge
> the blind searching the light
> the friend knocking on the True Friend
> the lost sheep coming to the Good Shepherd
> the foolish searching for Wisdom
> the bride coming to the Groom
> the nothing finding the All
> the afflicted finding the Consoler
- We find ourselves in the mold of the shepherds in the fields, Magdalene,
Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night.
FRUITS:
- Affects our entire life and apostolate
- Gathers together the fruits of all other practices of piety and brings them to
maturity
 - It is the secret of obtaining our transformation in Christ: “Christ lives in me.”
- It is the guarantee of perseverance. It is the lifeblood
THE MOMENTS OF THE “VISIT”
(01.) Opening to the Master’s Presence
We have to rediscover here the spirit of the words: “Go out and stand before me
on top of the mountain” (1 Kings 19:11). We put ourselves in the presence of
God, like Elijah on Mount Horeb, so as to feel the presence of God.
We expressed sentiments of Faith, Adoration and Humility.
To train us in feeling the presence of God, Blessed Alberione taught the following
prayer:
I believe, my God, that I am in your presence,
that you are looking at me
and listening to my prayers.
You are so great and so holy: I adore you.
You have given me all: I thank you.
You have been so offended by me:
I ask your pardon with all my heart.
You are so merciful:
I ask of you all the graces which you know
are beneficial to me.
(02.) Listening to Jesus, the Truth
Grace = To obtain an increase of spiritual knowledge and truth.
From being present, we move to listening: “Give me your attention, people of
Israel, and listen to Me” (Deut 27:9). The Pauline Visit is not principally vocal
prayers… but listening to God in Jesus. Listening to Gospel, to the Liturgical
Word of the Day.
We read the Sacred Scriptures, and let God address us personally with his Word.
The very person of Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. At this point, we also
pray the prologue of Saint John (Jn 1:1-8), and we our humanity to the Divine
Word as Mary did. Allow the Word, the Gospel, the Liturgical Lesson of the
Day to reveal something about Jesus.
The Scriptural Passage does not have to be long, but read - several times... asking
Jesus to reveal himself more and more.
(03.) Being in the Light of Jesus, the Way
Grace = To obtain help in the practice of virtue.
Here, we are guided by the words of Jesus Master who said: “I have set an
example for you so that you will do just what I have done for you” (Jn 13:15).
Through the Word of God that we read or heard, the Visit – at this moment –
becomes a stimulus. In the light of the Word, we compare our lives with that
of Jesus’ example.
We make the “Examination of Conscience” as regards our thoughts, words and
actions. We allow the Word to penetrate the secret places of our hearts, and
the choices we made.
 Blessed Alberione recommends here the meditative reading of the Beatitudes
(cf. Matt 5).
Allow Jesus to question you! “Lord, show me your way that I may walk in your
Truth. I give you thanks with all my heart” (Ps 86:11-12)
(04.) Empowerment of Jesus, the Life
Grace = To obtain graces necessary to spiritual work and practical needs.
Jesus promised: “Remain united in me and I will remain united in you” (Jn 15:4).
In another occasion he said: “Whoever loves me will obey my teaching. My
Father will love him and my Father and I will come to him and live with him”
(Jn 14:23).
Here, our prayer-aspirations lead us to enter into communion with the Triune
God, and we ask for the grace to be transformed into the image of Jesus,
who is the Apostle of the Father.
Still in the spirit of Jesus, we feel our relationship with the Father, and our heart
expands and enters into the great supplication of Jesus “who pleads with
God for all…” Then we pray here the “Priestly Prayer of Jesus” (cf. John 17).
At this moment, we can also enter into a meditative prayer with the Mysteries of
the Holy Rosary. We unite with the Mary who is ever one with Jesus, and we
ask for the empowerment of everyone in need… that we may all allow Jesus
to live in us.
We present to God= our needs, the needs of the Church, the needs of our
families. We offer him our joys, hopes and anxieties. We pray for our apostolate
and ministries.
We offer the desire to be Bread, like Jesus — broken and shared for all lives.

D. The Examen of Conscience

SIGNIFICANCE:
- An attentive gaze fixed on Jesus: to imitate his virtues, to conform ourselves to
him... to look, to listen, to understand, and to imitate Jesus.
- Grace = the ordinary and necessary way to knowing ourselves. Grounds us in
humility, to sorrow for sins, and to firm resolutions about the future.
- It is a kind of spiritual confession made directly to God.
KINDS OF EXAMEN:
- (A) PREVENTIVE = Done in the morning, when resolutions are renewed, and the
program for the day is planned.
- (B) GENERAL EXAMEN = On the commandments, the evangelical counsels, the
principal virtues, on one’s office and duties of state of life. On the degree of will
power and on the spirit of prayer.
- (C) PARTICULAR EXAMEN = On one’s resolution and program of spiritual life.
POINTERS:
 - (1) Place ourselves in the presence of the just and merciful Jesus, who takes
into account the good done, offers forgiveness for the evil committed, and
prepares graces for spiritual progress,
- (2) Searching for shortcomings and victories... progress, of backsliding:
involving (a) degree of will power, (b) principal resolutions, (c) virtues and duties.
- (3) Sorrow for sins and gratitude for graces received, progress made and merits
obtained,
- (4) Firm resolution and trust in the Divine Mercy, that grants pardon
- (5) Some mortification and prayers in satisfaction.

E.