Ways of Praying

Collatio
"Collatio" (coh lah' tsee oh) is a Latin word for a shared meal to which everyone contributes and in which we all share. Here the feast is God's word in the Scriptures.

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Reviewing my day
The unexamined life is not worth living.
                                            Socrates, in Plato, Dialogues, Apology
                                            Greek philosopher in Athens (469 BC - 399 BC)

O God you search me and you know me…… Ps 139:1

Ignatius of Loyola told his companions and those he guided that they could leave out every time of prayer, but not to omit the review of the day......

Jesus of Nazareth took time with his disciples to explore the meaning of what was happening in their lives.....remember when they didn’t understand the parable of the sower.....and how he asked them to reflect back on what had happened during their day, a particular conversation.....

At the end of the day, this prayer offers a chance to look back over the day in the presence of God and become more conscious of how God was caring for me, enjoying me, working with and in me throughout the day…..it also offers me the chance to become more aware of how I am allowing God to work in me, how I am opening myself to the opportunities that have come…..finally it offers me the chance to ask God to help me see the day with God’s eyes and to grow in awareness that each day is a journey with God, if I will become conscious of God’s presence….

There are 5 actions
• Presence
• Gratitude
• Awareness
• Acceptance
• Freedom

Presence
• I am aware of coming into God’s presence……I take a moment just to notice God gazing at me…..I ask God for what I most want and need…..

Gratitude
• I take time to thank God for the good things that came into my day. I work in considerable detail here, almost like a little child. For instance, I thank God for sunshine or rain, for getting a chair fixed, for a phone call from a friend, for feeling good all day long, for having the energy to get a job done late in the evening. …….. Take time here to name the gifts of your day….be aware of your own well-being, your health, the people you encountered, the events of the day, nature and the environment in which you spent your day

I take time to say thanks for the day that has been…….. Like any relationship, my relationship with God is gift, a gift that shows itself in many and various ways. As I grow in gratitude for my relationship with God, I become aware that all I have is gift from God and I begin to notice the subtle ways in which God gifts me this day – the sunshine or the rain, a phonecall from a friend, a surprise visitor, health, energy, the gifts I have ….. – rarely have we the experience that there is nothing we can find to give thanks for and even when nothing stands out for us from this particular day, we can always give thanks for longstanding gifts, the gift of life itself, my family, my friends, job, colleagues, where I live………. I let the day I have had spill over in my heart, aware that God has been with me in it, labouring and struggling with me….

Awareness
• I become conscious of the ‘bits and pieces’ that made up my day, conscious of my real experience of this day, the shade and hue of the experience, the feelings and thoughts that accompanied me, the sense I have as I let the day unfold like a video before me.....the feelings I experienced today…become conscious of how I felt as I awoke this morning…..as I set off for the day….notice if my mood changed at any stage…and what triggered the change of mood….be aware of all the feelings that I had today…don’t judge them, just notice and acknowledge them….notice the variety and intensity of my feelings…notice them but don’t get lost in them….God’s invitation to me.....what was the Lord inviting me to, calling me to?….where did I notice your invitation?…what was my response to you….how did I respond to you….where did I respond to you

Acceptance
• God accepts who I am – can I offer myself the same acceptance before God? Can I acknowledge, in all honesty, what has been my experience of myself, of this day? Can I hear it for what it was – a flash of impatience, a desire to help another, an image/face of my fear or insecurity, a way I have adopted to curb my temper…. can I recognise my experience, my reality whether or not I approve of it, or feel God approves or disapproves of it? ....here name what is uppermost in your heart and mind….it may be your response to someone….it may be how someone hurt you…..hand over your pain, sorrow, hurt to God…...

Each of us finds a good way to do this. Sometimes, a single event stands out dramatically; for instance: I lost my temper badly; I felt very great joy at a piece of news; I resisted making a decision someone asked me to make. Patiently, I ask myself what my action or my attitude meant? Did it embody love of God, or fear or distrust? At other times, no event stands out, but we might find a pattern emerging in the day; for instance: all day long I felt anxious and worried; every time I saw a certain person, I wanted to have his or her attention; I erupted in anger over little things. Patiently, I ask myself what a pattern means about my belief in God, and my trust of and love for God.

Freedom
• I surrender my experience to God, asking God to enable me to become free, to open out to Him and in Him, to others in the experiences of my day.

• Finally, I hold my day in my hands before my God. I ask God to help me to change an attitude, shake off a fear, or grow in some special way. I finish this time of prayer with a Glory be to the Father, and to the Son ……..