Day 346: Meditation and Vocal Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)

What this episode is about

In this discussion, the focus is on the importance of meditation and vocal prayer within the context of Catholic faith. It emphasizes that prayer is essential for spiritual life, highlighting traditional practices such as daily and weekly prayers while recognizing the personal nature of individual expressions of prayer.

Key takeaways

• Vocal prayer: where words become the heartbeat of collective faith and individual expression.
• Meditation transforms noise into understanding, bridging the gap between divine desires and our daily lives.
• Our prayers, whether vocal or silent, resonate not in volume but in the fervor of our souls.
• The rhythm of prayer—daily practices like Mass—anchors us in a faith that forgets not its roots.
• In a world of distractions, carving out time for prayer is our most radical act of devotion.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Father Mike Schmitz (Host) · 16 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Catechism of the Catholic Church, Ascension, Liturgy of the Hours
2. 3:00 – 6:00: The Our Father, Liturgy of the Hours
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Lexio Divina, The Rosary
4. 9:00 – 12:00: The Rosary, Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Bible, The Our Father
5. 12:00 – 15:00: The Bible, The Parable of the Sower

Notable quotes from "Day 346: Meditation and Vocal Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)"

• Hi my name is father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the catechism in the year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith the.

  about Catechism of the Catholic Church · at 0:00

• Yesterday the tradition of the church proposes to us certain rhythms of prayer and some like daily rhythms of prayer like morning and evening prayer like grace before and after…

  about Liturgy of the Hours · at 1:11

• Words and let those words be an expression of the depth of your heart and so if you're praying something like the rosary if you're praying you know holy cards if you're praying…

  about The Rosary · at 9:54

• Sustain it's one of the reasons why this is very parag highlights the fact that we typically use sacred books whether it be the gospels themselves or the whole Bible itself or even images we'll use to help us meditate or lurgical texts or.

  about The Bible · at 10:56

• On rocky soil or shallow soil some seed Falls among thorns and some seed falls on good ground we can meditate on that we can just hear that and say oh that's neat or we can…

  about The Parable of the Sower · at 13:06

• That's just one form but it's a great form that any of us can do and we can actually do it at any point we could you could do this as you're driving to be talking to the Lord…

  about Lexio Divina · at 16:06

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

Books & papers

• Catechism of the Catholic Church — Book · Primary recommendation · 2 mentions · first at 0:18
  Central text discussed throughout the podcast, providing the foundation for the daily readings and reflections.
• The Bible — Book · Referenced work · 2 mentions · first at 11:04
  Cited as a primary source for meditation and prayer, alongside the catechism.

Products & tech

• The Rosary — Product · Referenced work · 4 mentions · first at 6:47
  Mentioned as a form of vocal and meditative prayer combining repetition with reflection.
• The Our Father — Product · Referenced work · 2 mentions · first at 4:00
  Mentioned as an example of vocal prayer taught by Jesus.
  Holy cards if you're praying the Chaplet any kind of vocal prayer that you're praying again the Lord's prayer that Jesus himself taught us all of those are incredibly good be…
• Liturgy of the Hours — Product · Referenced work · 3 mentions · first at 1:20
  Mentioned as a form of daily prayer rhythm in the Christian tradition.

Concepts & topics

• Lexio Divina — Concept · Key argument · 1 mention · first at 6:47
  Highlighted as a method of meditative prayer, connecting scripture reading with personal reflection.
• The Parable of the Sower — Concept · Key argument · 1 mention · first at 13:02
  Used as an example for meditative prayer, encouraging listeners to reflect on their own spiritual condition.

Sponsors

• Ascension — Company · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at 0:15
  Sponsor of the podcast, providing the platform and resources for the catechism readings.
  Can follow along with any recent version of the catechism of the Catholic church you can also download your own catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:05 hi my name is father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the catechism in the year podcast where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith the catechism in the year is brought to you by Ascension in 365 days we'll read through the catechism of the Catholic Church discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our Heavenly home this is day 346 we're reading paragraphs 2700 to 2708 as always I'm using the Ascension edition of the catechism which includes the foundations of Faith approach but you can follow along with any recent version of the catechism of the Catholic church you can also download your own catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com Cy lastly you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications today is day

0:48 346 as I said we're reading paragraphs 2700 to 278 yesterday we started chapter three the life of prayer remember we talked about this that prayer is the life of the new heart it ought to animate us at every moment but we tend to forget him who is our life and our all we have to remember again one of the things we have to do always always always remember so the tradition of the church we were we were reminded of yesterday the tradition of the church proposes to us certain rhythms of prayer and some like daily rhythms of prayer like morning and evening prayer like grace before and after meals the Liturgy of the Hours having you know weekly prayer Sunday mass being so critical right today we're talking about expressions of prayer if you're remember yesterday in paragraph 2699 it said that although we have a lot of diversity in prayer I love the even the line it says the Lord leads all persons by paths and

1:39 in ways pleasing to him and each believer responds according to his heart's resolve and the Personal Expressions of his prayer so prayer is very very personal very individual however the Christian tradition has three major expressions of prayer vocal meditative and contemplative today we're looking at those first two vocal prayer and meditative prayer meditation so we will look at those two vocal prayer and meditative prayer but before that let's actually actually pray let's do that right now as we pray in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen Father in heaven give you praise and glory thank you for bringing us to this day thank you for bringing us to day 346 for bringing us to this place where where we can hear the teaching of your church in such a brief way on what it is to express vocal prayer what it is to have meditative prayer and you invite us into this Lord you invite us into

2:29 this expression of our love for you of our our pleading with you your expression of praising and glorifying you through vocal prayer and we ask that you help us to enter more deeply into meditative prayer into that silent prayer that quiet prayer in the depths of our hearts Lord God in this day we ask you to help help us make us prayers make us people who pray people who talk to you and seek you at all times and Lord as we heard yesterday we can't pray at all times unless we pray at certain times so we ask you please help us to make the decision help us to to make the choice to spend time just with you to spend time just with you in prayer today bless this time help us to learn more about you and how we can talk to you in Jesus name we pray Amen in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen it is day 346 we're reading paragraphs 2700 to 2708 Article 1 expressions of prayer

3:35 vocal prayer through his word God speaks to Man by words mental or vocal our prayer takes flesh yet it is most important that the heart should be present to him to whom we are speaking in prayer whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words but on the fervor of our souls vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian Life to his disciple IPL Les drawn by their Master's silent prayer Jesus teaches a vocal prayer the Our father he not only prayed aloud the liturgical prayers of the synagogue but as the gospels show he raised his voice to express his personal prayer from exultant blessing of the father to the agony of Gethsemane the need to involve the senses in interior prayer corresponds to a requirement of our human nature we are body and spirit and we experience the need to translate our feelings externally we must pray with our whole being to give all power

4:30 possible to our supplication this need also corresponds to a Divine requirement God seeks worshippers in spirit and in truth and consequently Living Prayer that rises from the depths of the Soul he also wants the external expression that Associates the body with interior prayer for it renders him that perfect homage which is his due because it is external and so thoroughly human vocal prayer is the form of prayer most readily accessible to groups even interior prayer however cannot neglect vocal prayer prayer is internalized to the extent that we become aware of him to whom we speak thus vocal prayer becomes an initial form of contemplative prayer meditation meditation is above all a quest the Mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking the required attentiveness is difficult to sustain we are usually helped by books and

5:26 Christians do not want for them the Sacred Scriptures particularly the gospels holy icons lurgical texts of the day or season writings of the spiritual fathers works of spirituality the great book of creation and that of History the page on which the today of God is written to meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves here another book is opened the book of life we pass from thoughts to reality to the extent that we are humble and faithful we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them it is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light Lord what do you want me to do there are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual Masters Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable

6:19 of the sewer but a method is only a guide the important thing is to advance with the Holy Spirit along the one way of prayer Christ Jesus meditation engages thought imagination emotion and desire this mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of Faith prompt the conversion of our heart and strengthen our will to follow Christ Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ as in lexio deina or the rosary this form of prayerful reflection is of Great Value but Christian prayer should go further to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus Jesus to Union with him all right there we have it paragraphs 2700 to 278 this is just beautiful and it's just a incredible reminder I mean okay let's back up these are two of the three major expressions of prayer tomorrow we'll talk about contemplative prayer but today we have this as you as you heard a couple times

7:18 already vocal prayer and meditative prayer I think this is remarkable just to realize in paragraph 2700 it says of course we're reminded that through his word God speaks to man yes so every time we pick up the scriptures and read God speaks to us in that next line says by words Mentor mental or vocal our prayer takes flesh and this is so critical I mean when it comes to vocal prayer and and meditative prayer the reality is we are body and spirit right that's what a human being is we give expression to what's in our heart right we give expression to what's in our mind we get give expression to what's in our soul and we do this through vocal prayer through words and so it's it's important I think I the reason I'm emphasizing this is because there are some people who might like really dismiss vocal prayer and and I don't know if I've ever come across as being someone who dismissed vocal prayer like saying your

8:09 quote unquote saying your prayers I know I have that quote from my friend Mike orlyy who had said you know we're not taught to pray we're taught to repeat at the same time the catechism says that that yes we need to have those words we need to learn how to repeat those words but the depth of it even paragraph 2700 says so importantly it's important that the heart should be present to him to to him to whom we are speaking in prayer and so it's not a matter of just merely repeating it's a matter of okay these are the words that are an expression of what's in my heart remember we talked about so many times but it's so essential in fact paragraph 2701 says vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian Life that we recognize that even the disciples in the gospels they saw their Master's silent prayer they actually even heard Jesus praying out loud in the gospels raising his voice to express his personal prayer

8:59 prayer from exalted blessing of the father to the agony in in Gethsemane so vocal prayer is a good thing it is something that Jesus himself did and we need to do this we must pray with our whole being to give all power possible to our supplication and so that doesn't mean just our voices it doesn't mean just our hearts it means our heart and our voice voices United to to each other which is remarkable I think this is so so cool goes on to say 2703 this need that we have to pray with our whole self seems to correspond to a Divine requirement that God seeks worshippers in spirit and in truth and so we have a living prayer that comes from the depths of our soul but he also wants the external expression that Associates the body with interior prayer because you know God calls us to active and external worship not merely interior conversion and so this is so good this is so good the church here in the catechism is

9:52 reminding us okay yes pray with your words and let those words be an expression of the depth of your heart and so if you're praying something like the rosary if you're praying you know holy cards if you're praying the Chaplet any kind of vocal prayer that you're praying again the Lord's prayer that Jesus himself taught us all of those are incredibly good be attentive though of course we have to be attentive to make sure that those words are connected to our heart now the next step is meditation I love this is so powerful paragraph 2705 says meditation what is that what is meditation just thinking well it says this meditation is above all a quest it's above all a quest it's a search the Mind seeks to understand the why and how of Christian life in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking and and it's difficult the next line says the required attentiveness is difficult to sustain

10:45 and this is this is so true if you've ever tried just not just kind of going through your prayers you know praying the Liturgy of the Hours or praying the rosary or something like this the attentiveness of trying to have this meditative prayer is difficult to sustain it's one of the reasons why this is very parag highlights the fact that we typically use sacred books whether it be the gospels themselves or the whole Bible itself or even images we'll use to to help us meditate or lurgical texts or writings of spiritual fathers or books of spirituality even I love how it says the last two things we could look at the book of creation or the book of history and that's just so remarkable to be able to say oh I can reflect on this I can seek out the Lord in all of these books but also so in creation and in history I can actually bring my own personal history to my to prayer and meditate on that and just really remarkable and

11:39 what's the goal here of course the goal is ultimately going to be Jesus keep that in mind the goal is ultimately going to be Jesus but paragraph 2706 gives us another Target and another kind of another goal here and I love this it says to meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves and this is this is so good right that that how many times have you and I ever read a book maybe even the catechism maybe even the Bible and okay that's great that's great that's great but we haven't meditated on what we read we haven't we haven't reflected deeply on what we read and so we just kind of think oh that was a nice Insight or that was a nice piece of information or I don't even remember what I read and yet to meditate on what we read helps us to interiorize it right helps us to assimilate it helps us to make it our own by doing what by confront in it with ourselves and

12:30 there's something so powerful about that if you've ever prayed the scriptures lexina is mentioned in paragraph 2708 if you ever prayed the scriptures where you just have this kind of slow reading of say we'll say the gospels and you take a a say a parable of Jesus and you want to apply it to yourself and you think just for example the exact same way that in paragraph 2707 it references the parable of the swer we know the parable of the sewer that Jesus tells that Seer goes out to sew and as he sews he scatters the seed everywhere right the seed some seed falls on the path some seed falls on rocky soil or or shallow soil some some seed Falls among thorns and some seed falls falls on good ground we can meditate on that we can just hear that and say oh that's neat or we can confront it with ourselves and ask that question okay is is my my heart like that first soil the the path where it doesn't get in there so hears God's word

13:29 and oh yeah there are some things God teaches that I just man I I don't I don't let them penetrate I just the enemy can come by and he can steal them anytime because I have a hardened heart to this teaching of the Lord or this teaching of the church or you could say the shallow soil and recognize yeah that's my heart sometimes too I get really excited and I have these big plans but I don't follow through I don't allow the Lord to take root or his word to take root deeply in my life to really make a change or you have the the seed that falls among the Thorns the thistles right and it gets choked and and Jesus goes on to describe those Thorns as the cares of the world anxieties of the world and you might meditate on that yourself and say in my life are there cares that and anxieties that seem to choke out the life of God In My Soul see I love this to meditate on what we read help us to make it our

14:18 own by confronting it with ourselves and there's something so powerful about taking what I've just heard God's word or writings of the spiritual father's Insight or even the catechism and reflecting and saying where is this true in my life I love it goes on to say we pass from thoughts to reality how many times are you ever in a place like again a place of prayer we just start dreaming and just think like oh yeah this is great that's great this other thing here's my big plans for life as opposed to okay let's really confront this let's let's confront this these plans these these hopes with myself with my own heart with reality and all that we pass from Thoughts From Reality to the extent that we're humble and faithful we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them and it's a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light asking Lord what do you

15:11 want me to do now as we conclude this day one of the things we just want to highlight I just want to highlight is to take the time today in some way to have some expression of vocal prayer and some attempt even at meditative prayer and all that is is any there's so many different ways of doing this I mentioned lexio deina where you a couple days ago right where you read that scripture slowly then you go again and you just like take a little nugget out like a little bite-sized piece out of that scripture like something you can kind of chew on meditate on then talk to God about it and then have some kind of resolution what am I going to do with this now again four four little simple steps read through take a little take a little bite chew on it meditate on this think about it apply it to yourself confront it with yourself talk to God about this and then make some kind of resolution how will I move forward with

16:02 this information in my heart and in my life very very simple that's just one that's just one form but it's a great form that any of us can do and we can actually do it at any point we could you could do this as you're driving to be talking to the Lord and just like be able to say okay today Lord I listened to the catechism in here that talked about the fact that I can meditate on the great book of creation or the book Great Book of History the page of which today is written and then just talk to God take a little bite out of History take a little bite out of this book of creation chew on it meditate on it talk to God about it and make some resolution God what do you want me to do with this how can I carry this piece into the future there's just one way just one way to do meditative prayer but it's a way that I invite all of us to do today I'm praying for you please pray for me my name is father Mike I cannot wait to see

16:53 you tomorrow God bless

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Day 346: Meditation and Vocal Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)"?

Father Mike Schmitz (Host).

What is "Day 346: Meditation and Vocal Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)" about?

In this discussion, the focus is on the importance of meditation and vocal prayer within the context of Catholic faith. It emphasizes that prayer is essential for spiritual life, highlighting traditional practices such as daily and weekly prayers while recognizing the personal nature of individual expressions of prayer.

What is mentioned in this The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) episode?

8 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Bible, Lexio Divina, The Rosary, The Our Father, The Parable of the Sower. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Day 346: Meditation and Vocal Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)"?

The episode runs 17 min; the transcript is about 3,331 words in 20 timestamped sections.

More from The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)

• All analyzed episodes
• Books mentioned on The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
• People mentioned on The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
• Topics mentioned on The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)