Denver Catholic

14 FEBRUARY 24-MARCH 9, 2018 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese Lifetime is the top Infi nity dealer in the country! 2330 Broadway St., 110 Denver, CO 80205 info@lifetimewindowscolorado.com 303.934.4508 $ 300 off EACH Infi nity window * Infi nity from Marvin windows $ 500 off patio doors 25% off siding 18 months same as cash fi nancing! *minimum 3 window purchase, some credit restrictions apply, not valid with any other offer BY KARNA LOZOYA I t's Lent, which means it's time to intensify our prayer lives. As good Catholics, we know we should pray, yet we often find our- selves simply not praying. The Denver Catholic sta˜ came up with a few common reasons why we don't pray as much as we should, and then turned to Father Scott Bailey, priest-secretary for Archbishop Samuel Aquila, for advice on how to get beyond the excuses and get praying. DENVER CATHOLIC: We just don't get the whole idea of prayer, and why we should pray. FATHER BAILEY: God doesn't need our prayers – WE need them! The Christian life is about having a rela- tionship with the Holy Trinity and our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we can't have a relationship without con- versation and quality time together. That's what prayer is about. DENVER CATHOLIC: We can't sit still. It's boring. FATHER BAILEY: With our fast- paced lives, it is di¡cult to stop and make time for prayer. And even when we do stop, it's di¡cult to stay focused and sit still. If you are trying to pray and you can't stop thinking about something that happened at work, or a conver- sation you need to have tomorrow, or your to-do list, then bring those things to God. Tell him about the things on your mind – it gets them out of your head and into conversation with the Lord. Ask for his help with those things, and thank him for the blessings. Sometimes when I am in prayer, I find that I suddenly remember some- thing important I need to do later in the day. So I have found it helpful to bring a pad of paper to my prayer time, so that I can write down those things that I will need to do or think about later. If sitting still is a challenge for you, then don't sit for prayer. Stand, pace the room, go for a walk, or pray while driving. We don't need to sit still in order to talk with God. DENVER CATHOLIC: We don't know how. FATHER BAILEY: Keep it simple! Start by remembering that you are in the presence of God. Then take a few minutes to thank God for the abundant blessings in your life. Open up one of the Gospels or a letter of St. Paul – read until something stands out for you as an inter- esting point or challenge or consolation. Tell the Lord what is in your heart – your thoughts, emotions, worries, frus- trations, disappointments, questions, etc. Give God the chance to respond. Force yourself to be in silence and rest with him, knowing that he is with you always and that he loves you. Finish with gratitude! DENVER CATHOLIC: Nothing happens. It's a waste of time. FATHER BAILEY: The living God is never doing nothing! Being with God in prayer is like laying under the sun – we are soaking up the rays whether we know it or not. And if we lay in the sun long enough, we get a tan. Same thing with God – when we spend time with him in prayer, his Love changes us and makes us more like him. DENVER CATHOLIC: It doesn't work. FATHER BAILEY: We have to be careful to not treat prayer like it is a financial transaction, as if doing something in prayer earns us the thing that we want. The Lord wants us to ask for the things on our heart. And he even wants us to be persistent about it! But if the Lord does not answer our prayers the way that we want him to, we rest in the knowledge that he is our loving Father and knows what is best for us. He will not give us a stone if we ask him for bread. We can trust in his Providence and fatherly care. WHY WE DON'T PRAY ACROSS 1 OT book that pre- cedes Ruth 5 Landed 10 The Chosen People 14 Former overseer of the VOA 15 Cite Scripture 16 Vinegar (comb.) 17 Semi- monthly tide 18 Pope (II) who called for the Crusades 19 Relocate 20 Sideways 22 Spiritual program 23 Slave of Philemon (Philem 15–16) 26 Cargo 30 Popular Catholic TV sitcom actor Newhart 31 Lab animal 34 Evades 35 Jonah was thrown into this 36 Architect Saarinen 37 Personal interests 38 Tree under which Jesus saw Nathanael (Jn 1:47–48) 39 Equip 40 Gifts for dad 41 "Am ___ your way?" 42 Cut into 43 Corner piece 44 Mon. of St. Pat 45 Burn with- out flame 46 The ___ church (family) 48 AKA Sinai 51 Street problems 56 Stadiums 57 Saint Goretti 59 The Roman Ponti§ 60 Confined 61 College of Cardi- nals' task regarding the pope 62 Not odd 63 OT histor- ical book 64 Farm birds 65 Schol- arship criterion DOWN 1 Catholic actress Haver 2 Applied 3 Direction (abbr.) 4 Stare with open mouth 5 He was called the "Dumb Ox" 6 Damned 7 Garments 8 Airport letters 9 Daniel was in the lion's ___ 10 Brother of John 11 Coll. course 12 Contraction 13 Jacob made this dish for Isaac (Gen 25:34) 21 Tree cov- ered land 22 Chafe 24 "___ your pardon" 25 Flightless bird 26 Dough 27 Give the benefit of 28 Country bumpkin 29 Sins against the eighth Command- ment 31 Changed the décor of 32 Got up 33 The ___ of Babel 35 Original or actual, for example 36 Letter-bot- tom abbr. 38 The Lord appeared to Moses in this (Ex 3:2) 39 He walked with God (Gen 5:24) 41 ___ WHO AM (Yahweh) 42 Mimic 44 Crowd 45 Zeno's followers 46 ___ of the firstborn (plague) 47 Shopping fun 48 One of the three in 1 Cor 13:13 49 Lyric poems 50 Hire 52 Paul and Silas' prison doors after the earthquake (Acts 16:25–27) 53 Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22–23) 54 Fencing sword 55 Transmit 57 Tom's "You've Got Mail" co-star 58 Pub drink 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 7 1 8 1 9 1 0 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 5 2 6 2 7 2 8 2 9 2 0 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 4 3 5 3 6 3 7 3 8 3 9 3 0 4 1 4 2 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 6 4 7 4 8 4 9 4 0 5 1 5 2 5 3 5 4 5 5 5 6 5 7 5 8 5 9 5 0 6 1 6 2 6 3 6 4 6 5 6 m o c . s c i l o h t a c r o f s e m a g d r o w . w w w God doesn't need our prayers – WE need them! 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