PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

The Morning Offering

by Gary Zimak

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, St. Paul instructs us to “Pray without ceasing”. Many people struggle with the meaning of his words, eventually dismissing them as nothing more than a figure of speech.

After all, how can anyone pray constantly? If we followed his advice it would be impossible to work at the office, do housework, go to school, tend to the needs of our family, or just about anything else. We would have to spend all of our time in prayer. This couldn’t possibly be Paul’s intent, could it?

Let me begin by saying that it is possible to follow St. Paul’s directions and still perform your daily work, provided that you know one well kept “secret”. While not actually a secret, the technique that I’m about to discuss is unknown to many Catholics.

It is a practice that has been around for years and provides a way for you to pray constantly while going about all of your normal duties. With this method, your work actually becomes a prayer! Even more incredible is that you can also turn all of your joys and sufferings into prayers as well.

I know it sounds hard to believe, but all of this can be accomplished by adding one simple step to your morning routine – the recitation of the Morning Offering. This traditional Catholic prayer has several variations, but the most common version reads as follows:

O Jesus,
through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer You my prayers, works,
joys and sufferings
of this day for all the intentions
of Your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world,
in thanksgiving for your favors,
in reparation for my sins,
for the intentions of all my relatives and friends,
and in particular
for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.

Let’s take a closer look at this prayer and see why it’s so powerful. The first thing to observe is that we are making our offering through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Why is this important? If you recall, Jesus performed His first miracle (changing water into wine) at the request of the Blessed Mother (Jn 2:1-11).

While attending a wedding at Cana with Jesus, Mary noticed that the supply of wine had run out. If not corrected, this situation would have greatly embarrassed the bride and groom. Realizing that something needed to be done, Mary brought it to the attention of her Son who remedied the problem by turning water into wine.

With this same loving concern, Mary will also present our Morning Offering to Jesus. Knowing the heart of her Son better than anyone else, she will first remove any impurities or selfishness from our prayer and personally deliver it to Jesus.

In addition to our prayers and works, we can also offer up all of our joys and sorrows. Everything that we do or feel throughout the day is offered as a prayer. We then take this offering and ask Jesus to use it for His intentions. Not only are we offering up our entire day, but we say to Christ, “take this offering and apply it where You see fit”.

Since Jesus’ intentions involve the salvation of all mankind, this selfless act will bear great fruit not only in our own lives, but in the lives of countless others. By making this presentation to Christ, we are essentially joining our lives to His mission.

When the sacrifice of Jesus to His Father is made present in each of the Holy Masses around the world, we are now hanging on the cross with Him. Everything that we do and experience becomes part of the offering of Christ. There can be no more powerful sacrifice and, by virtue of this simple prayer, we are a part of it.

We also offer our works in thanksgiving for our many blessings, in reparation for any of our sins, for the intentions of all of our relatives and friends and for the intentions of the pope. It is really incredible that something that takes no more than one or two minutes can have so much power.

Initially, you may forget that you offered up all of your works, but as time goes on, you will become more aware of this as you perform your duties. Because of this, you will have an even greater desire to perform your work to the best of your ability. When presented as an offering to God, no task can remain unimportant. Everything from scrubbing the floor to studying for an exam becomes meaningful, as it is a form of prayer.

How important is it that we offer our entire day to God? According to St. John Vianney, “All that we do without offering it to God is wasted.” Pope John Paul II observed that the Morning Offering is “of fundamental importance in the life of each and every one of the faithful.”

Endorsements like that help us to see the importance of this prayer, especially when one considers its simplicity. If we truly believe that each new day is a gift from God, it follows that we would want to show our gratitude by making the most of that gift. By starting our day with the Morning Offering, we are turning each moment of our lives into a prayer.

The Morning Offering provides a great foundation for building a solid prayer life. We can supplement our offering by speaking to Jesus throughout the day, reaffirming our desire to offer up all daily activities. When problems arise or we are faced with a mundane task, a quick “I offer this to you, Lord” helps us to focus on the prayerful nature of the activity.

On the other hand, saying “Thank you, Jesus” for a pleasant experience is a great way to express our appreciation for the many joys that we are granted. Such comments also allow our friendship with Christ to grow. As time goes on, you will find yourself becoming more aware of Our Lord’s presence in your daily activities.

Why not try the Morning Offering and see what a difference it makes in your life? An investment of a few minutes will pay infinite dividends. It won’t take long before tasks that previously seemed meaningless become much more tolerable and fulfilling.

There is no better way to start your day than by offering all of your daily activities to Christ and turning them into one powerful prayer. By doing so, you are fulfilling the instruction of St. Paul to “pray without ceasing” as

Gary Zimak is the founder of Following The Truth Ministries , a lay apostolate created to assist Catholics in learning more about their Faith. He is a regular guest on EWTN’s “Son Rise Morning Show” and appears frequently on numerous national and local Catholic radio programs.

In addition to writing for Catholic Exchange, Mr. Zimak speaks at various parishes and posts frequently on his blog, Facebook and Twitter. He is a member of Catholics United For The Faith and the Knights of Columbus and resides in New Jersey with his wife Eileen and twin daughters, Mary & Elizabeth. They are actively involved in Sacred Heart Parish in Riverton, NJ.

12 STEPS TO AVOID PURGATORY

1. In every prayer you say, every Mass you hear, every Communion you receive, every good work you perform have the express intention of imploring God to grant you a holy and happy death and no Purgatory. Surely God will hear a prayer said with such confidence and perseverance.

2. Always wish to do God’s will. It is in every sense the best for you. When you do or seek anything that is not God’s will, you are sure to suffer. Say, therefore, fervently each time you recite the Our Father: Thy will be done.

3. Accept all the sufferings, sorrows, pains and disappointments of life, be they great or small, ill health, loss of goods, the death of your dear ones, heat or cold, rain or sunshine as coming from God. Bear them calmly and patiently for love of Him and in penance for your sins. Of course, one may use all his efforts to ward off trouble and pain, but when one cannot avoid it let him bear it patiently. Impatience and revolt make sufferings vastly greater and more difficult to bear.

4. The greatest act in Christ’s life was His Passion. As He had a Passion so each one of us has a Passion. Our Passion consists in the sufferings and labors of every day. Therefore, let us do our work, accept its disappointments and hardships and bear our pains in union with the Passion of Christ. We gain more merit by a little pain than by years of pleasure.

5. Forgive all injuries and offences for in proportion, as we forgive others, God forgives us. Go to confession. This sacrament does more than “just” rid us of our sins; it gives us a tremendous increase in sanctifying grace. It wins for us a higher place in Heaven, with increased union with God. Each time we go to confession, we are preserved from many dangers and misfortunes which might otherwise have befallen us. A devout confession helps us to hear the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and to hear and follow the advice of our guardian angels.

6. Avoid mortal sins, deliberate venial sins and break off bad habits. Then it will be relatively easy to satisfy God’s justice for sins of frailty. Above all avoid sins against charity and chastity in thought, word and deed for these sins are the reason why many souls are detained in Purgatory for a long time.

7. If afraid of doing too much work, do many little things, acts of kindness and charity, give the alms you can, don’t grumble or complain when things are not as you please, don’t complain of others, never refuse to do a favor for others when possible. These and such acts are a splendid penance.

8. Do all in your power for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Pray for them constantly, get others to do so, join the Friends of the Poor Souls and ask all those you know to do likewise. The Holy Souls will repay you most generously.

9. There is no more powerful way of obtaining from God a most holy and happy death than by weekly confession, daily Mass and daily communion. Masses may be arranged after or before someone’s death to expedite their time in Purgatory.

10. A daily visit to the Blessed Sacrament – if only for three or four minutes – is an easy way of obtaining the same grace. Kneel in the presence of Jesus with eyes fixed on the Tabernacle or Monstrance, sure that He is looking at you, then repeat little prayers like these: My Jesus, Mercy. My Jesus, have pity on me a sinner. My Jesus, I love you. My Jesus, give me a happy death.

11. Enroll in and wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. “Whosoever dies clothed in this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” This is the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Promise, made July 16, 1251 to St. Simon Stock. The Sabbatine Privilege is Mary’s promise to release from Purgatory soon after death all those who: 1) wear the brown scapular 2) observe chastity according to their state in life and 3) say the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary every day. To be eligible for this scapular promise, one must be enrolled in the Family of Carmel. This is a simple ceremony which takes only a moment and may be done by any Carmelite or duly authorized priest. Mary’s motherhood is not limited to Catholics. It is extended to all men. Many miracles of conversion have been wrought in favor of non-Catholics who have practiced the scapular devotion.

12. Use holy water. Holy water is a sacramental that remits venial sin. Because of the blessing attached to it, Holy Church strongly encourages its use upon her children especially when danger threatens such as fire, storms, sickness and other calamities. Every Catholic home should have a supply of holy water. Keep your soul beautifully pure in God’s sight by making the Sign of the Cross carefully while saying: “By this holy water and by Thy Precious Blood, wash away all my sins and the sins of the Poor Souls in Purgatory, O Lord”.

ONE QUESTION

In the whole of life on this earth, there is only one question that you must be concerned about. Nothing else really matters - Not money, not sex, not drugs, not pleasure, not comfort, not vacation time, not power, not promotions at work, not anything else. If we can't answer yes to this question without hesitation and without doubt, then you and I MUST reorient our lives accordingly.

The penalty for not answering yes to this question is great; that is, being trapped forever in the fires of hell, along with the worst of the worst who ever lived. Everybody already in heaven answered yes to this question while they were alive on earth, albeit with different degrees of effort.

To answer yes to this question, we must carry on a daily conversation with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Creator. Conversation is not just asking Him for stuff. Conversation is a two way street. So how does Jesus talk to us? Through His Word in the Bible. Jesus IS the Word made flesh, after all. By reading and studying Him through His Word, we begin to see what He expects of us, and it is not fornication, lust, gluttony, greed, abortion, anger, etc.

Rather, it is humility, purity, meekness, love, kindness, etc., EVEN TO THOSE WE DON'T LIKE. He forgave His torturers and murderers from the cross; He expects no less of us. And after reading His Word, then we pray to Jesus about our life, about our needs, and always with thanksgiving, adoration, and contrition for our many sins, thus completing the conversation.

An Olympic athlete doesn't just show up at the Games and say "Here I am". Rather, he or she practices 8 or 9 hours a day to get a piece of gold, silver, or bronze. They deny themselves many pleasures of life for years in order to subdue their bodies and to polish their particular talent. We as followers of Jesus Christ should do no less in our pursuit of heaven, which is worth much more than gold, silver, or bronze. After all, EVERYONE in heaven is a saint. Do we really think that we can attain heaven if we "just show up" and say "Here I am"?

Jesus Christ Himself said that "not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father" (Matthew 7:21). Therefore, we MUST DO HIS WILL and not jut sit around and go with the flow of secular society. G.K Chesterton once said that only dead bodies float with the current; it takes live ones to swim upstream. So look alive already!! In Matthew 22:11-14, we learn that we can't get into heaven if we don't have the proper wedding garment (holiness):

"But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, `Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, `Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

St. John Vianney once said

"If people would do for God what they do for the world, what a great number of Christians would go to Heaven!"

And ain't it the truth! People in this world travel thousands of miles in numerous countries to attain personal wealth, attend sporting events, and for personal pleasure. People suffer mightily starting up new businesses. We, as adopted sons and daughters of the King of Kings, are royalty in Heaven, and we need to start acting like it NOW while we are alive on earth. After all, Jesus has already established His Kingdom here on earth in Matthew 16:19. Jesus said that whatever we do for the poor, we do to Him (Matthew 25:40). How many of us ignore the poor (and thus ignore Jesus) and hope that they just go away and leave us alone so that we can get back to our big screen TVs and the big game?

So what exactly is this one big question that we need to be concerned about?

IS JESUS REALLY YOUR LORD AND MASTER?

And if the answer is yes, do you act like it? Do you really know Jesus, or do you just know "about" Jesus? Are you really a Catholic and set apart from the world? John 14:30 talks about Satan being the ruler of this world. To overcome him, do you meditate on the Passion of Jesus daily, especially through the Holy Rosary? If Jesus is your Lord and Master, do you try to receive Him into your body by attending daily Mass and daily Communion as often as possible? Do you try to help the poor as much as possible? Do you pray for your enemies? What kind of books do you read, and what kind of movies do you watch? Do you subdue your body like Paul did (1 Corinthians 9:27) so that you can cut yourself loose from the weight of this world?

How often do you pray silently during the day, asking your Lord and Master to increase your faith and give you more grace to endure suffering? Do you TOTALLY trust Jesus to take care of you no matter what, or do you trust more in your pocketbook, your ingenuity, and your smarts? Do you realize that Jesus is sending you suffering to strengthen you and to test you to see if you really love him, or are you just going through the motions and paying Him lip service?

Matthew 15:8: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me"

Look, no one is perfect, and no one can do all of the above things at once, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that you are making an initial effort to disassociate ourselves from the things of this world, and are trying to move, however gradual, toward the things of the next world, our real home. The more you make the effort to do the above things through prayer and sacrifice, the easier it becomes to do them all.

In fact, Jesus will make them second nature to us if we only ask Him for that gift! Christians are like aliens in a strange land here on earth, because what we value is not valuable to the world. The world values riches, unlimited sex, pleasure, pride, etc., and those things are anathema to Christians who value the message of the cross - Our supreme sacrifice for the good of others. Jesus Himself in Revelation 3:16 warns us all about being lukewarm to him:

"So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth."

There are those people in The Church who dissent from the teachings of the Church, proudly proclaiming that "WE ARE CHURCH". They say that dissent is a healthy thing, and that what The Church really needs to do is to have women priests, make homosexuality OK and no longer sinful, and in general to become more like the Episcopal Church, with women Bishops. This just in.....The Church is not a democracy, nor is it a political party. And dissent is just a code word for disobedience. And who was the very first dissenter? Satan, who proudly told God - "I WILL NOT SERVE". A 50 year old person being disobedient to our 2000 year old Holy Mother Church is the equivalent of a 1 year old being disobedient to a 40 year old mother, and who in their right mind thinks that that is a wonderful thing?

It is recommended that you ask yourself this one question daily, especially during times of trouble, but also during the good times. The more you answer yes to this question, the more satan will flee from you, and the closer Mother Mary will get to you, and that is a very GREAT thing, because, as Gabriel said, "The Lord IS with thee"! Jesus told us all in John 15:9:

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love."

So that means that Jesus loves each and every one of us as much as His Father, Our Father, loved Him. So now that you know that, what will your response be? Business as usual with your life, or a renewed commitment to know God, love God, and serve God in this life, so that you can be happy with Him in the next life?