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"It's like being handed a cup of cold water...and suddenly realizing just how thirsty you are; how very much you needed a drink."
That's one way I've described the recently released Pocket Guide to Prayer by Edward and Beth Sri.
And when I handed a copy to my sister who's going through the OCIA and is new to the Catholic faith, I compared it to "noticing how stuffy the living room is after someone opens the window ... and you finally catch a breath of fresh air."
A trove of wisdom and prayer
I have also raved about this unassuming prayer guide to my parish priest, who teaches Latin and likes to quote the Early Church Fathers. I've even found myself reading passages from the Pocket Guide to Prayer to my kids and my armchair philosopher husband.
No matter where you are in your walk with Christ, this book has timeless wisdom, practical tools, and a trove of modern and classic prayers to help you on your way.
In describing just how much this small prayer guide has impacted my own relationship with God, I think Julie Andrews summed it up best when she aptly acknowledged that we humans, whether we're reading, singing -- or praying – very often need to get back to the basics. We need to reexamine what prayer is; how, where and why we do it. And above all we need to identify whom we hope to encounter in the process.
Feeling dry or distracted in your prayers?
The well-known theologian Dr. Edward Sri and his wife Beth Sri, both authors, parents of eight, and founding members of the campus ministry FOCUS, shared their goals for this prayer guide that they wrote along with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR.
"Do you ever experience dryness or distraction in your prayer life?" Dr. Sri poses the question in a video put out by Ascension Press. "Or sometimes you just don't feel close to God and unable to develop the daily habit of a regular prayer life?"
The husband-and-wife team go on to explain why they wrote the Pocket Guide to Prayer: to help people understand prayer, set routines for encountering God more deeply as individuals and within the family, as well as to provide many popular devotions of the Church, such as the Litany of Humility, a Prayer to St. Joseph, and the Angelus (to name a few).
The Angelus: a supreme moment
Speaking of the Angelus, the Pocket Guide's description of this ancient prayer is so compelling, I decided to set an alarm on my phone for noon and 6 p.m. to say the 1-minute prayer with my kids.
"As we stop in the middle of our busy days," the book explains, "this prayer helps us reflect on that supreme moment God entered our world and became man. We invite God to enter our daily lives and reflect on Mary's yes to bring forth the Christ child. At the same time, we reflect on how we can say yes to whatever God might be calling us to each day so that we can bear Christ into the world through his grace."
Thanks to this book, my phone alarm now dings for the Angelus, and my family suddenly has to stop bickering, or setting the table, or doing dishes and homework to pause and ask Jesus to fill our lives more fully in that very moment. And it works!
The experience is, as I mentioned at the top of the page, like a drink of cold water or a breath of fresh air. So, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of the Pocket Guide to Prayer for yourself and those you love. With its beautiful leather binding, the book is also a perfect gift for the upcoming Christmas season.
