We sometimes think of coloring as “child’s play,” and while children especially enjoy coloring, today we know that coloring is being enjoyed by people of all ages. They recognize that it can help to reduce stress, spark creativity, stimulate the brain, promote mindfulness, and just be fun! We can add to that list that people are discovering that coloring can be a form of prayer. Sometimes, when it comes to teaching others to pray, they […]
For many people, journaling is a key component of their prayer lives. I journaled on and off for more than 30 years (until, like Forrest Gump’s cross-country running, one day I just stopped). Journaling can help a person express feelings more concretely and also provides an archive of prayer that can be returned to from time to time. In today’s episode of Pop-Up Prayer, my guest is Jude Huntz, a chaplain at the University of […]
Welcome to Week 4 of Faith Refreshed, an online retreat to help us “hit the refresh button” in our spiritual lives so that we might better see things we weren’t previously seeing and return to our lives and ministry with a new outlook! Throughout this retreat, I am drawing from my best-selling book, A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe, as we re-visit the four pillars of our Catholic […]
In this episode of Pop-Up Prayer, our guest is Fr. Brice Higginbotham, a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana who is currently pursuing a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He is also the author of Remaining with Jesus: Discipleship in the Gospel of John. Fr. Brice shares his thoughts about listening for God’s voice in the silence and pre-disposing ourselves to prayer.
This Christmas presents an opportunity to introduce young people to the prayerful practice of visio divina in conjunction with one of the most beloved Christmas songs of all time: “Silent Night.” First, let’s talk about visio divina. For some people, visuals can be very helpful for prayer experiences. For this reason, the Church has a tradition that parallels lectio divina (“divine reading” or reflection on the Word of God in Scripture), known as visio divina […]
In this episode of Pop-Up Prayer, Eric Clayton talks about the role of writing in the spiritual life and prayer. Eric Clayton is the deputy director of communications for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States and author of Cannonball Moments: Telling Your Story, Deepening Your Faith.
We continue our series, Pop-Up Prayer—brief interviews on the topic of prayer with prominent people in pastoral ministry and spiritual authors. In this episode, Gary Jansen talks about praying to heal past wounds—our own and those of others. Gary Jansen, Executive Editor of Acquisitions at Loyola Press, is a popular speaker and the author of several books, including The 15-Minute Prayer Solution, Station to Station, Microshifts: Transforming Your Life One Step at a Time, and his most […]
We continue our series, Pop-Up Prayer—brief interviews on the topic of prayer with prominent people in pastoral ministry and spiritual authors from all over the country (and the world)! In this episode, Fr. Michael Rossmann, SJ, talks about how to avoid getting into a rut in our prayer lives. Fr. Rossmann is a Jesuit priest and doctoral student at the Gregorian University in Rome. He previously served as the editor-in-chief of The Jesuit Post and […]
We live in a fast-paced and increasingly anxious world that is clearly affecting the social, emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual health of children. Studies published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics and based on data collected from the National Survey of Children’s Health indicate significantly increased rates of anxiety among children, youth, and young adults. Researchers found a 20 percent increase in diagnoses of anxiety for children ages 6–17 between 2007 and 2012. […]
My students are a little different each year. Several years ago, my first graders all had something to say in our prayer circle. The next year’s class was much quieter (except for a fidgety few). When I saw a variation of a pick-up sticks game on social media in which players named things they were grateful for, my creative wheels started turning! I quickly had an idea to get my quieter-than-normal group to speak up […]
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