I have a book called I-Tunes for Dummy's if it would help you!!!

I would have already purchased an i-reader except that I am not working full time and I can't justify "luxury items". But, one other huge "Plus" would be the ease of having the Divine Office available. I have been thinking a lot about "prayer" and I have come up with some common sense approaches and practices for "Non-Monastic" individuals. 1. 2. 3. 4. First, there is never one answer fits all. Second, there is never a one-answer fit for an individual for the rest of their life! Third, beginning "poorly" is better than not beginning at all. Fourth, having a set time and place and a structured plan is the foundation of a genuine prayer life, with the understanding that on a day-to-day basis God may ask one to surrender one's own plans to His "greater plan".

In fact, the very word "surrender" which is so often used in the spiritual lingo implies that there is something to surrender. So, lack of a plan, lack of goals, lack of direction, lack of boundaries that define who an individual is do not lend themselves to a successful spiritual journey. One cannot surrender what one does not possess. Keep in mind that that when we read books such as St. John of the Cross, (which I have never read in total because it all sounded the same after about 20 pages) he is assuming that the reader is "advanced." Advanced simply means an individual who has made a deliberate decision for a set time of daily prayer, and how to spend that time in prayer as well as a deliberate decision to be aware of making choices through the day that are not full of self-focus and self-interest alone. Often St. John of the Cross advises that a person continue with "their structured plan" until it is "absolutely impossible" to do so for any number of reasons. Valid reasons would be severe illness such as a stroke, dementia, other health issues that could be short term such as being in severe pain such that one cannot really think or focus as they did before. And, there can be a valid reason where one feels mentally wore out by their own prayer approach. But "valid reasons" would be where a second opinion comes in handy, because this is where most people fail to advance. They simply become lukewarm and rationalize that "God understands." He does understand, but progress can halt! From my observation, it is a good idea to establish a 20-30 minute daily prayer time. Obviously, you already see how circumstances change things. If one is working, or has a family, then 15 - 20 minutes of quality time is better than 30-35 minutes of "I need to get through these prayers" type of time. The key when one has an active life is that one remains connected mentally by discipline through the entire day. Later, without effort the presence of God becomes tangible without effort. I believe that this approach is best done by using short "aspirations" throughout the day. At first, one may need to set a little timer on one's watch to go off every hour as a reminder in hectic cases to turn one's gaze towards God for about 5 seconds. These short gazes through the day are the only way to open the door for a more fruitful time of 15 minutes of uninterrupted prayer. It is similar to being married. A text message, a phone call through the day keeps the communication on-going so that after 12 hours one does not feel a complete stranger to the marriage partner. If you have sent text messages through-out the day to Chris, just one sentence thoughts, nothing more. When you finally sit down for dinner your conversation is going to be different than if you had no interaction at all through the day. What is the difference? One thing is that you don't need to spend all your time "catching up" because in "real-time" you stayed "caught up!" This means that perhaps you have worked out frustrations because by sharing you were able to "move on" with an issue. A few sentences of "getting it out" to someone who cares is extremely therapeutic! Thus, when you finally sit down, you can enjoy each other's presence in a different style. There would be a "quieter" time, more peace, more of being together without the need for a million words because you share the million words in brief statements through the day.

Prayer is the exact same thing. It is the discipline creating an inner dialogue with Jesus, Mary, the saints, whoever, that doesn't have long gaps in it such as 8 hours, or 4 hours, or 2 hours or 30 min. I believe choosing one or two short aspirations us best. I have found this the fastest way towards genuine prayer growth. This is where prayer growth is defined as conversation that allows for a deepening relationship with God. "Deepening" would be defined as growing in knowledge of oneself and God and a growth in trust. If you look at your own marriage, you can see that "trust" is the core component. Can you trust the other person always has your best interest in mind, that they are honest, that they are "transparent," that they are faithful and dependable in your worst moments, and that they will sacrifice their own short term interests for a greater long term gain. "Trust" means knowing they are "there" and will be "there" as your strongest advocate in every situation bringing all their talents and power to the table for your sake. Trust means knowing that if you are sick or mentally unable to make choices, they will make choices on your behalf that will be "right" because they know you so well and reflect your desires. Mercy, meaning forgiveness from the heart, and Trust are two of the most solid attributes we can acquire as humans towards each other. In the beginning, these "glances" to God are difficult because it requires "surrendering", letting go of how we prefer to occupy our mind. We like to think all sorts of things that are not "bad" or wrong. Yet, the mind is focused on "me", "my needs", "my plans", "my hopes", "my life". For the most part all these thoughts do not really further our agenda, and instead they wear us out. A vacation is not going someplace. A true vacation is when the mind can rest and renew. This is why I say that in the beginning a "discipline" is needed and a deliberate decision, because left to our own we don't function this way. The beauty of this approach is that it carries over into our ability to be attentive at mass, and during times of "set" prayer. We have trained our mind to "be quiet". Despite great effort, we can't train our mind to do this if we only work at it during a set prayer time of 20-30 minutes a day. Rather, the mind is like a wild horse that given space will run cover a lot of ground before we can get it back into the stable! Thus, the mind must be severely trained in the beginning, and this is done by the use of aspirations. An example of my own approach is that I chose a longer prayer because my horses had been out of the stable for a long time and were far from home. It took effort to lasso them and drag them back to the farm, let alone the barn! As a result, I chose 2 prayers that I said every time I became aware that I was "thinking of something else that was not immediately relevant". I chose the Hail Mary, and the Angel of God. I still use both prayers. After a while, I felt that I did not need something quiet as long to occupy my mind and train it from its random thought pattern. So, a shorter aspiration was substituted. Later, the shorter phrase was substituted by a few words or only one word such as: "Jesus" or "Mary" or "Mother" or "Save me!" Later, a word was not needed because the mind was so still it could glance towards God with great ease at any time. So the word was substituted by a glance. Later, the glance was substituted by an abiding presence of the Holy Spirit that one recognized when it was gone, rather than when it was there because, it had become "the new normal". For myself, I then found that I applied this entire pattern to each day depending on my mood and the circumstances. Some days was back to the Hail Mary, other days it is back to a word, other days, it is back to a glance. Later, this same pattern was applies to each hour of the day. You get the picture I am trying to describe. However, in the beginning a discipline of using the Hail Mary all day, every day, for a week, a month, a yearwhatever is needed is the approach to use. How do you know when to move to the shorter prayers.your mind lets you know because it starts to move that way on its own.

This is a practice, a discipline that unfolds into much more, but a start point is needed and a firm foundation allows for much deeper prayer growth when times get extremely difficult whether interiorly or exteriorly. Without building your prayer with the solid bricks I am describing, I don't see how it can maximize because the foundation is something that stands forever, and by that, I mean we return to it over and over. We surrender the structure when called. But, we never graduate 100% from the structure in my humble opinion! This seems tedious and extreme. But, it is the only way forward, assuming we are talking about the normal individual versus someone in special circumstances. The reason it is the only way is that dying to self for most of us means dying to our self-focus and internal dialogue that is all about "me and my life". In the beginning, one can use a timer and give themselves "10 solid minutes" to have what I call undisciplined thoughts. Think about whatever one likes. And then, it is back to the discipline. And later, another 10 minutes, etc... When you try this, you realize your attachment to your own choice of how to direct your mind and its thoughts. We enjoy "thinking". And this is what we must choose to "die to" if we ever really want intimacy with God. Down the road, which could be weeks, months or years depending on the person, and God's grace, one finds that this discipline of deliberate mental prayer expands the mind rather than closing it up. One finds that this practice done through the day affects greatly the way one spends the shorter 15 minutes of prayer time. And, this practice is only a means to an end. After a while, one no longer is aware of deliberate mental prayer, since it fades into the backdrop completely. As I said before, the inner glance replaces all the words, and later the inner glance is replaced by a perception of abiding in Christ, of His personal presence that is within. Therefore, in my opinion if a person is still saying the "Hail Mary" or "Our Father" with great effort a year later, something is probably wrong. The goal is that the mind is trained and then monitors itself without your awareness. I do not know your "prayer habits" or the way God calls you to pray. Every individual has a unique relationship with God unlike anyone else. So, we are always giving general guidelines. However, if you were to come to me for spiritual direction. I would begin with this method. I would check in with you in 3-4 weeks and ask how is going. What is like? What is working or not working? This allows for a true "diagnosis" of where you are at spiritually, and allows for specific help and suggestions to be given, if the director really understands prayer by reading or experience or both. The next step would be to take a look at how the designated "time of prayer" is being spent. A plan has to be developed. It must be structured, there is no other way to succeed. And, the problem is deciding how to use such a short space of time, most productively. And productive means how to draw closest to God and encounter Him in reality, not by our thoughts of who God is, or our reflections on who God is. And, we find that we cannot evaluate accurately on our own what is "productive" because feelings and perceptions are not the indicators used to judge this. We are used to looking for "feedback",.how am I doing. Spiritual feedback is not instantaneous. It differs, and it fools. A great sense of peace and consolation does not indicate what one might think. A spiritual director helps at this juncture. A spiritual director monitors "what is happening" during the prayer time. And like a good doctor knows how to interpret the results and can prescribe the accurate therapy or strong medicine. This is because growing in intimacy with God means growing in likeness to Jesus. It means that His supernatural, divine presence that dwells within begins to supervise the lower human nature of the flesh and its desires. St. Paul is always talking of living the life of the Spirit versus of the flesh. Just as Jesus had a divine and human nature, yet was one person. We also have a divine and human nature because of our Baptism. And, each encounter with the Sacraments assimilates us more and more into Jesus, which means into his Divine nature that dwells within us.

Since you are now off of work, God may call you to a different use of your time for prayer. In fact, I am sure that He is. There is no doubt in my mind about this. Believe it or not, I started this "short" discussion meaning to bring up the use of the Divine Liturgy on an e-reader! I was going to say that the e-reader gives you a wonderful tool to use the Divine Liturgy in the best way, which is in little pieces through the day rather than one huge chunk at the end of the day. The Divine Liturgy is a lot of prayers, a lot of words, a lot of thoughts. Ultimately, the goal in the beginning of using the Divine Liturgy is to think about what one is saying. One personalizes the words one is saying which turns it into a conversation rather than a recitation. A recitation of words is appropriate for a 4 or 5 year old. After that, recitation begins to backfire because we lose the essence of prayer entirely. Prayer is encountering someone, and that someone is God. Prayer is encountering God and from that encounter, we are changed. We may not know the change, but no genuine encounter with God leaves us "unchanged". To pray the Divine Liturgy well means that the moment one notices that the mind has drifted, one brings it back to thinking again about the words. After a while, one finds that certain phrases seem to pop out, mean more, apply with immediacy. When this happens, the best thing to do is to stop going forward. Take a few moments and taste the words, one doesn't have to write a meditation on the words. But pause and turn to God more directly and say things like, "Wow, that fits me right now." "I see how that applies to my life, and how I could have handled something better today" or "Wow, I never thought of that before, I hadn't realized that this is God, versus my American version of God that I have created." This should take about 20 seconds. Then one can move forward. At another point in the road, one may feel they don't want to move forward because the words seem to expand such that one feels the presence of God in the words. At that time, one is quiet because the presence of God, the encounter is the goal of all prayer. But, this encounter takes many different forms. To rush through the psalms and have an agenda of "saying the whole Divine Liturgy" everyday no matter what is destructive to nurturing a relationship. A director can help one know what this means. I will give you a brief example of how this applies to me right now. Yesterday, in the Divine Office the following Psalm was listed. In fact, I cut and copied it right off the site. I began to read the psalms and I made bold any that I particularly liked. (It can't be all of them!) Then I put in RED, any that I felt spoke to me the most in my situation right now. Next, after saying the psalms, I went back to the few sentences and reread them again. Maybe I would be silent for 4-5 minutes, not really thinking of anything and then close my prayer with an Our Father. Now, these psalms were from the Office of Readings in the Liturgy of the hours. I had not even begun the actual Liturgy of the Hours! This means I have five more "sets" in the Divine Office. Priests are to pray the Divine Office, every day. But, we are not priests. If I only have one prayer time for the day. I am only going to have to pick and choose SOME of the Divine Office, but not ALL of it. This is because I do not have the time because of work or other commitments. This is why the Aspirations come in handy. Now, we recall the Blessed Mother said to pray the rosary EVERY DAY. And, I am also supposed to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, go to mass, go to Adoration, say the Stations of Cross on Friday. What about my favorite prayers such as The Memorare, Prayer to St. Michael or a Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There is no way I can have quality conversation rushing through my list. I have to make choices about what I feel is best for me right now, or what I feel called to do. Also, if you are married, having shared prayer is important. Then, if you are in a prayer group, more prayer. And of course, we should read the Bible every day. Obviously, one also wants to talk to Jesus using one's own words. That takes time as well. And don't forget, divine reading about 10 minutes a day is very important as well. You can see that if I am not prudent, I will become a very unprayerful person saying all these prayers.

I am suggesting that instead of taking Fr. Guy's idea to say the entire Divine Office, you might want to break things down a little bit! You are actually in a position to say MUCH of the Divine Office if you break into the segments. But keep in mind, that if you were working, you would have to have a different approach. I am not sure what you prayer structure looks like at this moment. I think that praying the psalms from the Divine Office as a couple is a good plan. Since you are not working, you can pick one of the psalms from the Divine Office that you like. Then you read a paragraph, then have Chris. Don't share, just read. At the end take a few moments of complete silence. I would say 3 minutes. After that, if you have time and energy, each person can and share one SENTENCE that you really like. You don't have to explain why you like it, or go into detail. Just share the sentence and then say: Thank you Jesus for this Word, and your Presence. Be with us nowetc.etc.etc This should take no more than 10 minutes. And I feel that it is a quality 10 minutes as a couple. I would suggest praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day as a couple because it is the prayer of our day and age. If you want to add the rosary, that is fine. I will be making suggestions on how to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet when I have more time. Let me know what you think of these ideas or if you have found something that might help me. I read something interesting a few days ago, that said most Protestants view Jesus as "dying and saving me". However, the problem with this mindset is that it is very external. It is something "Jesus did", but it does not move to anything interior, such as what does that mean to me right now in my everyday life. Whereas, for Catholics the main focus of Jesus death was to open the possibility for us to grow into complete Union with Him and His will, here and now. How do we do that, through the Eucharist we receive His body, blood, soul and divinity. And then we are challenged to live our life differently than the world. But, the main difference in "theology" is the understanding that the divine nature, builds upon our human nature and transforms it. We take in the Eucharist and become like the Eucharist we eat. Most food we eat becomes like us, broken down into chemicals. But, the Divine food makes us like the Divine. Jesus "dying and saving" me creates an extremely passive, if not complete false understanding of what spirituality is all about, and that is that we are transformed by grace and effort into "another Christ" and that while on earth we can move towards the "Oneness", the Unity with Jesus which means Unity with the Trinity that will exist in its perfect form in heaven. What I have described below is not something to "write down" as I have done. It shows how the mind is working as it prays. Do you feel you have a prayer time that works for you? If not, we can look at it to see if there are possibilities to "rev it up a notch"! Also, if you pray with John, always ask Him"Are you speaking to someone, or simple saying words to the air!" Reinforce that although we do not see God because he is Spirit, He is still real and listening. Ask John "What is the definition of prayer?" Conversation with God. He should be thinking of the words as He says them, and soon he will be ready for simple reflections. Someday, have him say the Our Father sentence by sentence and listen to what it means. Then tell Him, every time He prays the Our Father, he should be thinking of what it means or else he is just babbling because he is now older and ready for a different kind of prayer than Jack or Kathryn.

Psalm 36 (37)
Commit your life to the Lord, and he will act on your behalf. Do not envy the wicked; do not be jealous of those that do evil. They will dry up as quickly as hay; they will wither like the grass. Put your trust in the Lord and do good, and your land and habitation will be secure. Take your delight in the Lord, and he will give you what your heart desires. Entrust your journey to the Lord, and hope in him: and he will act. He will make your uprightness shine like the light, your judgment like the sun at noon. Take your rest in the Lord, and hope in him: do not envy the one who thrives in his own way, the man who weaves plots. Abstain from wrath, abandon anger: do not envy him who turns to evil, for those who do evil will be destroyed, but those on the side of the Lord will inherit the earth. A moment yet and the sinner will be gone: you will look where he was and find nothing. But the needy will inherit the land and delight in abundant peace. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Commit your life to the Lord, and he will act on your behalf. Take your delight in the Lord, and he will give you what your heart desires. Take your rest in the Lord, and hope in him, do not envy the one who thrives in his own way,

Entrust your journey to the Lord, and hope in him: and he will act.

I had the interview with Wal-Mart so this applies to me more directly than other passages. And it is a good start point for a conversation with God. The words Entrust, Hope, Act stand out. And then I can narrow down to one word "hope" Sample Conversation: Jesus, all my hope is in you, I trust in you, my journey is your journey, your will is my will, I will allow you to act and lead me.

Psalm 36 (37)
Turn away from evil and do good: the Lord will support the just. The wicked will plot against the righteous and gnash his teeth at him; but the Lord will deride him in his turn, for the Lord has seen what awaits him. The wicked have pulled out their swords, the wicked have drawn their bows, to throw down the poor and the destitute, to murder whoever follows the straight path. But their swords will enter their own hearts, and their bows will splinter. For the righteous, the little they have is better than the abundant wealth of the wicked. The limbs of the wicked will be broken while the Lord gives his strength to the just. The Lord knows when the day of the perfect, will come; and their inheritance will be eternal. They will not be troubled in evil times, and in times of famine, they will have more than enough. For the wicked will perish: the enemies of the Lord will be like the flowers of the fields, and like smoke, they will vanish away. The wicked man borrows and does not return; but the righteous takes pity and gives. The blessed ones of the Lord will inherit the earth, but those whom he curses will be cut off. It is the Lord who strengthens the steps of man and chooses his path. Even if he trips, he will not fall flat, for the Lord is holding his hand. I was young and I have grown old, but I have not seen the righteous man abandoned nor his children seeking for bread. All day long he takes pity and lends, and his seed will be blessed. Shun evil and do good, and you will live forever. For the Lord loves right judgment, and will not abandon his chosen ones. The unjust will be destroyed forever, and the seed of the wicked will be cut off, but the righteous will inherit the earth and live there from age to age. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Sentences that seem to speak to me.

The wicked will plot against the righteous and gnash his teeth at him; but the Lord will deride him in his turn, For the righteous, the little they have is better than the abundant wealth of the wicked. The Lord knows when the day of the perfect,(end of time) will come; and their inheritance will be eternal. The wicked man borrows and does not return; but the righteous takes pity and gives.

The Lord will support the just. "Support"

My Prayer: Jesus, you will support me, you are my advocate, you will lead me.

Psalm 36 (37)
Wait for the Lord, keep to his way. The mouth of the righteous will speak wisdom, and his tongue will utter right judgment. The law of his God is in his heart and his steps will not stumble. The wicked man watches the just and seeks to kill him; but the Lord will rescue the just man from his hands and not condemn the just in the time of judgment. Put your hope in the Lord and follow his paths, and he will raise you up and make the land your inheritance, let you watch as the wicked are cut off. I have seen the sinner triumph, flourish like a green cedar, but he is gone, he is there no longer: I have looked for him but have not found him. Preserve innocence, follow uprightness: for the future belongs to the man of peace. The unrighteous will be destroyed altogether, their posterity will be cut off. The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, and their protection in time of trouble. The Lord will come to their help and free them, rescue them from the wicked and save them, because they have put their trust in him. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Wait for the Lord, keep to his way. The law of his God is in his heart The Lord will rescue the just man from his hands Put your hope in the Lord and follow his paths, Preserve innocence, follow uprightness: The unrighteous will be destroyed altogether, their posterity will be cut off. The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, and their protection in time of trouble. Teach me goodness and discernment and knowledge; for I trust in your commands.

The Lord will come to their help and free them, rescue them from the wicked and save them, because they have put their trust

in him.

Now, I break it down into a simple word. The Lord will come to their helpbecause they have put their trust in him The Lord will help because they trust "Trust" My Prayer: Jesus I know you will help me. Increase my trust in you.