A Series of Talks on Prayer - Part I

The Verbum Dei-Tagaytay community freshly concluded its month-long series of Formation on various topics on Prayer. Those who attended were current missionary disciple of the community as well as newly invited/recruited adult individuals. The prayer topics served both as a refresher and a reminder course to all participants. The Formation was conducted online via Zoom every Friday evening, with attendees coming from different places in NCR, Cebu City and Cavite.

The Prayer topics included the following:

Talk 1 (September 4, 2020): An introduction on What is Prayer? It was conducted by Sr. Grace Gonzales, FMVD. Briefly, Prayer is described as both a relationship and a dialogue with God; and that human beings are unique because they are able to connect and relate with other humans. Communion is possible through prayer, where there is a conversation, a sharing and a dialogue with one another. Prayer becomes possible because God allows it and a relationship begins. 

Sr. Grace tells us that there could be three (3) kinds of relationships when we pray: (1) A relationship between father and child; (2) A relationship between friends and; (3) A spousal relationship, i.e., between husband and wife.

Talk 2 (September 11, 2020). Praying with the Word of God and was also facilitated by Sr. Grace. On Praying with the Word of God, one method of prayer being practiced by the Verbum Dei family is ‘praying with the Word of God’ which is very similar to Lectio Divina (Latin for Divine Reading), an ancient practice that teaches people how to read, meditate and live the Word of God. Three points about prayer were highlighted, (1) The Church insistence on the reading of Scriptures guided by several Church documents; (2) Relevance of the Word of God in our life and; (3) The Word of God is a gift and a treasure.
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A summary of talks 3-5 will appear in a subsequent article. Stay tuned …