From our earliest days we learned about “prayer.” When we were younger, we were taught to memorize prayers like the Sign of the Cross, the Our Father, the Hail Mary. I remember that coming quite easily actually. My mother made sure that I knew those prayers by heart at an early age. As we get older, however, we learn that “prayer” is more than “reciting what we have memorized!” Prayer is communication between ourselves and the God in whom we believe. Think about it. When we first get to know another human being, our conversations can be somewhat stilted. We tend to use all the trite phrases that merely fill in the spaces of time…things like...“hey, how have you been///what’s going on?///etc. We ask a question but we’re not really looking for an answer! As we get to know that person, our words and conversations take on a whole new look. The words we choose to use are very important to us and we take the time necessary to build that relationship. The same should be happening with our relationship with our Savior!!! Reciting prayers is not a bad thing, but as adults…believing adults…we should be advancing in our communication with the Lord. We should be spending the time necessary to develop our relationship with God AND using heartfelt words that express the “condition of our hearts.” If we don’t see this, then our faith-life will be stagnant. Jesus knew the importance of prayer. He spent an enormous amount of time “taking Himself away to speak with His Father.” In today’s passage of the Holy Gospel, Jesus spends 40 days in the desert speaking with His Father. I doubt that He was reciting prayers that He had memorized as a young child! On the contrary, He was pouring out His heart to His Father and asking for His help. Can you imagine...40 days??? Lent is a perfect time for us to better realize the importance of consistent communication with God. It’s up to each of us to make Lent a time of renewal of life by penance and prayer: Lent should be a time for personal reflection on where we stand as Christians accepting the Gospel challenges to love one another. A married couple had lived together for twenty-five years in what outwardly seemed like a reasonably good union. The husband was a good provider. The wife was a good housekeeper. They went to Church together every Sunday and prayed together every night before they retired. But they did have one problem that seemed insurmountable. They could not have a conversation that didn't end up in an argument. Finally, the wife decided she'd had enough, but because of her religious scruples, divorce was out of the question. She had a better idea, however. One night as the couple settled down for their nightly prayers, she said to her husband, "We must put an end to this terrible situation we're in. We can't go on like this anymore. Since today is the first day of Lent, why don't we pray that things will change. Let's pray that the Lord will call one of us home to Him. Then I can go live with my sister." GOSPEL QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Are you up to joining me (Sister Kate) at the next Damien Dinner to sit and eat with the guests???