Our relationship with God is more personal and more intimate and much more real than any other relationship we can think of . . . (Oct. 4, 1970 Homily)
Our purpose in life, for which we were created, for which we were redeemed by the Cross, and for which the teaching of the Church and the sacraments are given us . . . is to be united to God. (Oct. 4, 1970 Conference)
The basis of union with any other person is obviously love, and since God already loves us, if we are not united with Him, it is because we do not love Him enough in return. (Oct. 4, 1970 Conference)
God is found in the very quiet depth of yourself, your hidden self. So, in order to find God in a real deep awareness of Him, we have, at least from time to time, to peal off all those outer layers of superficial self . . . and simply be quietly, thoughtfully alone with our deepest self in the presence of the God of peace . . . (Oct. 4, 1970 Conference)
. . . mental prayer, which is the prayer of love, is the only religious activity that is incompatible with a state of sin. (Oct. 4, 1970 Conference)
Mental prayer begins at the level of what I called friendly conversation or colloquy with God and may develop to the heights of loving union . . . (Nov. 1, 1970 Conference)
Mental prayer is the one activity in which we do directly and almost exclusively seek God’s face. (Nov. 1, 1970 Homily)
. . . if we wonder whether we should really seek the face of God, seeing how unsatisfactory our lives are, we cannot do better than be reminded of a few prayers from
. . . the Book of Psalms [see, e.g., Psalm 27, Psalm 42, Psalm 105]. (Nov. 1, 1970 Homily)
If you read all the things our Lord said about prayer, it is surprising to find that although He did not say very much about how to make prayer, apart from the model of all prayer, the Our Father, He said a good deal about persevering in prayer . . . (Nov. 1, 1970 Conference)
I think it is true to say that if anyone really wants to pray well the only thing needed for success is the one thing within our own capability. All that is needed is that we should keep trying. Trying to pray is praying . . . (Nov. 1, 1970 Conference)
However bad or frustrating or inadequate our prayer may seem, it is never a failure if we keep it up. (Nov. 1, 1970 Conference)
Make no mistake about it, the Devil hates prayer above all else, and he can find a thousand plausible reasons for making even good people give up prayer and substitute something else for it. (Nov. 1, 1970 Conference)
Our efforts to deepen our prayer life will not be very successful if we are not ready to see more and more clearly what we let ourselves in for when we invite and receive Our Lord. (Dec. 6, 1970 Homily)
We have to grow in love for the things He [i.e. Jesus] loves, to see things His way, to choose the same path He chose. (Dec. 6, 1970 Homily)
The path of prayer is not so much a movement towards someone outside ourselves as the opening of our awareness to see someone who is living within us. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
The development of prayer from a very primitive one to a very deep one is not so much a journey somewhere as a process of spiritual interiorization. (Dec. 6, 1970)
However poor your prayer may be . . . it is always a fact that God loves you personally much, much more than you love Him. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
However poor your prayer may be, God wants to lead you to the prayer of love . . . (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
God always answers [prayer] as one who loves you, even if the answer is “No.” (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
Because God is love, prayer is always worthwhile. . . It always links us with God who loves us. It always opens us to His influence. It always takes us a step closer to Him . . . (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
. . . in prayer we do not always or necessarily get the same help from our emotions and feelings as we should in talking to someone we can see and hear. For this reason we must not judge our prayer and be disappointed if it sometimes or even often lacks the feeling of warmth . . . that we might get from contact with our friends on earth. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
. . . the great difference between prayer and human communication is the fact that God always loves us, always wants us to pray, and always brings good out of it. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
The great secret of prayer is to see everything by faith, to see the real truth, and if our feelings do not correspond with it, never mind. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
We cannot advance along the road of prayer . . . unless at the same time our whole life reflects it. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
If we love God in prayer we love Him in our life, and if we love Him in our life we love Him in our prayer. And both aspects of our love for God depend on one another and support one another. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
There is a sense in which we are praying continually, and there is a sense in which we are working for God continually, whether the preoccupation of each moment is prayer as such or the ordinary duties of life as such. Union with God is not intermittent. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
The presence of God is sometimes used to frighten naughty children by telling them that He sees whatever they do. But God is not a policeman and He is not a critic and He is not an examiner. He is a Father who loves us. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
Reverence, a holy surprise at the wonder of God who is present, is the beginning of wisdom. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
The concentrated attention of God is on you and me now at this moment as if no one else existed. He never leaves us for a second. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
All prayer should begin by an act of the presence of God, that is to say by trying to realize vividly that He is there, that He is everything and we are nothing, and yet He loves us. (Dec. 6, 1970 Conference)
