How powerful is prayer? Father Joseph Bambenek, assistant director of the Archdiocesan Synod, said it’s safe to say that he wouldn’t be a priest if it weren’t for the time he spent in prayer and listening to God’s voice.
“It’s not something I would necessarily have chosen on my own,” he said, “but it’s by listening to God speaking to my heart, opening my eyes and my heart, ‘OK,’ this is kind of, Joe, how I made you, this is a combination of gifts I gave you and some of these other options look attractive and understandably so, but this is who you really are.
“I’m sure I wouldn’t figure out on my own if I hadn’t been asking God for the help in finding that,” he said.
Father Bambenek recently joined “Practicing Catholic” host Patrick Conley to discuss the power of prayer for individuals and groups, and what it has meant for the Synod.
Prayer is the opportunity to be in communication with God, the God who loves us and the God who made us, Father Bambenek said, and he wants to guide our life. “He’s a good Father who wants to give his children good things, but he also wants us to be grateful. And he wants us to ask.”
Asked by Conley about the uniqueness of communal prayer, Father Bambenek said “it’s not just us having a personal conversation, which is important, but it’s a reminder that we’re part of something bigger. When Jesus’ words that ‘when two or three are gathered in my name, there am I,’ and that’s a reminder that yes, it’s important to pray alone, but it’s also important to pray with people — that there is something that comes through that, when we’re uniting ourselves in prayer with others, rather than just being individualistic about it.”
When people ask God for something in concert with others, it creates unity, he said, a concept that can be applied to preparations for the Archdiocesan Synod.
A Synod prayer team had been formed and, last winter, it became clear that the group should invite others, Father Bambenek said. “So we’re going to 12 parishes throughout the course of the year, different parts of the archdiocese, where there’ll be a votive Mass of the Holy Spirit,” Father Bambenek said. Mass will be followed by an hour of adoration with lectio divina, praying with Scripture.
Asked about the role of prayer for parish-based, Synod small groups this fall, which will focus on three pastoral priorities for the immediate future in the archdiocese derived from earlier Prayer and Listening Events, he said the small groups will include prayer and a few minutes of reflection on a Scripture verse before entering the discussions.
To learn more about prayers hosted monthly by a designated parish to pray for the Synod, visit archspm.org and search for “pray for the Synod.”
To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It airs at 9 p.m. Aug. 20, 1 p.m. Aug. 21 and 2 p.m. Aug. 22 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who encourages archdiocesan faithful to participate in parish small groups this fall to discuss three pastoral priorities of the local Church as part of the Archdiocesan Synod process, and Allison Spies from the archdiocese’s Archives and Records Management, who describes some favorite items and what makes for a good archival donation.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
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