With the beginning of the month of October, the Church invites us to the devotion of the Holy Rosary. As beautiful as this devotion is, I personally find it difficult to recite the Hail Maries and keep my mind focused on the mysteries rather than battling distracting thoughts. After all, the rosary is a summary of the principal mysteries of our Christian faith. A method I use when saying the rosary privately, which can also be used in communal recitation, is to interrupt each Hail Mary with a phrase that reminds us of the mystery we should be reflecting on. For instance for the first joyful mystery after saying “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus” add a phrase like “who was conceived by the Holy Spirit”, and finish the hail Mary as usual. Similarly during the second decade ad something like “who visited Elizabeth”, etc. We thus connect the mystery by focusing each Hail Mary on that event in the life of Jesus or Mary.
I am sure you all know the importance of daily reflection and contemplation of the scriptures, called Lectio Divina, especially the readings that are used in the Mass each day. I know many of you use the “Magnificat” for that purpose, or for the technically advanced, the smart phone or iPad can be used to locate the assigned readings. Again we all face the problem of distractions when we are trying to concentrate on the meaning of a Scripture passage, or when we are trying to pray over a verse, or even trying to be quiet and listen to the still voice of the Lord.
May I suggest a method I am sure many of you are familiar with, called “centering prayer”. This method, even though used by many spiritual writers in the past, has been taught extensively by Fr. Thomas Keating. His method is quite simple. When a thought comes to mind that is distracting and does not belong in prayer, or when we are trying to focus contemplatively on the presence of the Lord, and our mind wanders all over the place, he suggests using a “sacred word” like Jesus or Abba in order to interfere and derail the thought and refocus on the original subject matter. He suggests doing this very gently, because the tendency is to be annoyed with ourselves when we find ourselves wrestling with distraction. He reminds us that we are doing two things when we engage in this practice. We are refocusing and renewing our “attention”, and also renewing our “intention” to pray. No matter how many times in prayer we do this, the Lord is always pleased with our efforts, and prayer has accomplished its goal, a deeper union with the Lord.
May I suggest a method I am sure many of you are familiar with, called “centering prayer”. This method, even though used by many spiritual writers in the past, has been taught extensively by Fr. Thomas Keating. His method is quite simple. When a thought comes to mind that is distracting and does not belong in prayer, or when we are trying to focus contemplatively on the presence of the Lord, and our mind wanders all over the place, he suggests using a “sacred word” like Jesus or Abba in order to interfere and derail the thought and refocus on the original subject matter. He suggests doing this very gently, because the tendency is to be annoyed with ourselves when we find ourselves wrestling with distraction. He reminds us that we are doing two things when we engage in this practice. We are refocusing and renewing our “attention”, and also renewing our “intention” to pray. No matter how many times in prayer we do this, the Lord is always pleased with our efforts, and prayer has accomplished its goal, a deeper union with the Lord.