In this episode, Fr. James Brent, O.P., gives an example of how javelin prayers can be helpful in the spiritual life as he recounts a story about someone he knew who was a high-powered lawyer in New York. She barely had any time for extended daily prayer but could see the people around her were looking very lost and empty. She saw in them a real desire for God and wanted to find a way to slake their thirst somehow. By praying these short, frequent, “javelin” prayers, she led a life of serious prayer in the midst of a very busy life in New York City. Her life and her heart became a point of entry for God to enter into this world.

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As we’ve discussed for a few episodes now, one of the principal pathways to metanoia is prayer. And one of the principal challenges to prayer is distraction. Aside from external distractions which many of us suffer from, we have interior distractions. Even the Desert Fathers, who committed their entire lives to prayer, faced interior distractions from prayer. But they found a solution—short, frequent prayers—or “javelin prayers” as they called them.

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People—especially busy people—forget we can ask God for help with everything. No matter how busy we are, all of us are able to make frequent short prayers throughout the day. “Lord, help me with this situation at work. Lord, help me prepare the meal, etc.” Proud human beings don’t ask for help, but humble human beings live from one petition to the next. If we season the day with little short prayers, that’s a way to always have, or to develop, a life of prayer.

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When people hear the word prayer, they think about the various prayers that we say—the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Anima Christi. That’s one sense of the word prayer. We’re called to not only say acts of prayer, but to live the life of prayer. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives this definition: the life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice holy God and in communion with him. Fr. James Brent, O.P., begins to unpack what the life of prayer looks like in this episode.

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The purpose of our lives is to enter into the life of the Holy Trinity, and come to know something of the holy, awesome, and awe-inspiring life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The question is, “How?” The Lord Jesus tells us the answer very clearly. In the Gospel of Mark, the first thing the Lord says is this: “the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” The Greek word for repent is metanoiete and it comes from metanoia. Metanoia means the transformation of the mind. Learn more about the pathways of metanoia in this episode of Contemplata.

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The purpose of our life is to know, love, and enjoy God. More specifically, the purpose of our life is to know, love, and enjoy the Holy Trinity. In this episode, Fr. James Brent, O.P., meditates on the sign of the cross, a simple gesture that contains two great truths of our faith – that the purpose of our life is to participate in the life of the Trinity and the way is to follow Jesus Christ and him crucified.

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In previous episodes, we learned about the Eucharistic sacrifice and about the qualities of heart we need when we go to Mass. One of these qualities is thanksgiving. We need to take time to count our blessings. And two of the best ways we can prepare for Mass is to count our blessings and pray the Rosary. We can combine these two. Learn how in this bonus episode of Contemplata.

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“You become what you eat,” they say. If you eat the body and drink the blood of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, who do you become? You become him. You become Jesus. You become another Christ in this world. You learn to live his life – his supernatural and divine Life. You come to know his Father. You begin to breathe his Spirit. You learn to walk as he walked. You learn to pray. You learn to listen to God. You learn to lay down your life in humble service of other people. In short, you and I learn to live in a personal friendship with God.

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