2018 Archdiocesan Men's Conference - Talk on Prayer

Father Brian Park's Podcast

Father Brian Park's Top 15 Favorite Quotes about Prayer:
1. "The greatest deception, and deepest source of unhappiness, is the illusion of finding life by excluding God" -St. John Paul II
2. "Great is the mystery of the faith!" The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles' Creed and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy, so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father. This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer. (CCC 2558)
3. "Prayer is a vital necessity." "Prayer and Christian life are inseparable." (CCC 2744 & 2745)
4. "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." (CCC 2559)
5. "The air which we breathe, the bread which we eat, the heart which throbs in our bosoms, are not more necessary for man that he may live as a human being, than is prayer for the Christian that he may live as a Christian." -St. John Eudes
6. "The sole cause of man's unhappiness is his inability to stay quiet in his room."
-Blaise Pascal
7. "If you want to stop sinning, commit yourself to never stop praying."
-St. Teresa of Avila
8. "Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned."
-St. Alphonsus Liguori
9. "The glorious duty of man: to pray and to love…I often think that when we come to adore the Lord, we would receive everything we ask for, if we would ask with living faith and with a pure heart." -St. John Vianney
10. "Prayer makes your heart bigger until it is capable of holding the gift of God Himself." -St. Teresa of Calcutta
11. "The more you pray, the more you want to pray.... It's like a fish that starts by swimming near the surface of the water, then plunges and goes on swimming deeper and deeper. The soul plunges, is swallowed up, loses itself in the delights of conversation with God." -St. John Vianney
12. "Lord, teach me to love prayer, teach me to love what will occupy my mind for all eternity." -Blessed John Henry Newman
13. "Never cease praying." 1 Thess. 5:17
14. "We must remember God more often than we draw breath." (CCC 2697)
15. He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer, only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God." (CCC 2559)