GOD, CAN YOU HEAR ME? EVEN WHEN I GET DISTRACTED?

You open the Gospel. Two lines later, your mind is on an unanswered message. It happens! The Catechism recognises how difficult concentration can be: you do not need perfect attention before beginning to pray.

When words lend a hand

Vocal prayer uses words, aloud or in your heart. A familiar prayer can support you when your own words will not come. Jesus teaches the Lord’s Prayer after criticising prayer performed for show or multiplied words used to secure a hearing. Repeating a prayer can still mean living it sincerely.

Meditation involves understanding, imagination, emotions and desires. Contemplation is attention towards God, including in silence. These different ways of praying promise no extraordinary feeling every time.

Try a passage

Read the whole Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9–13. Notice its requests: bread, forgiveness and deliverance from evil. Notice the plural, too: “our” makes room for others.

Pause over a word. The bread is “daily”: what do you need today? Reread the sentence and its neighbours without hunting for secret messages. Then answer in your own words—a request, thanks, something difficult. You can sit quietly, too. This is a way to begin rather than a procedure guaranteeing an answer.

An appointment within reach

In his catechesis of 28 April 2021, Pope Francis recalls that a method serves the encounter with Christ. Choose a realistic moment: morning, evening, before a meal. It can be short, as long as it is yours. You need neither the perfect notebook nor someone else’s rhythm.

Distracted? Return to the passage without starting everything again. A Bible with commentary or a knowledgeable person can help with a puzzling text. A question is a good starting point, too!