Prayer Resources

Prayer.

Prayer is about a love relationship with God.

We’ve created a few resources to help you enjoy the journey of prayer. You can start the journey wherever you find helpful.

We’ve also created a prayer booklet to help you. Contact us and we’ll send you a copy.

Download Prayer: Reflective Practices

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Prayer - Getting Started

Sometimes we just need a little help to get started. Check out a little reflection to help you begin the journey of PRAYER
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Catholics have used a way of praying with scripture called ‘lectio divina’ (divine reading - or spiritual reading) for ages. It is an easy way to help pray with scripture involving 4 R’s: Reading, Reflecting, Responding, Resting.
Begin SPIRITUAL READING
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Learning how to keep a spiritual journal and do ‘journaling’ is a helpful practice that many people use to become more spiritually aware of listening to God in the journey of life. Try JOURNALING
[Download]

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Prayer - Going Deeper

Imaginative Prayer is a way of praying with scripture that uses your senses and helps you get more fully into the scriptures. Try IMAGINATIVE PRAYER
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Centering Prayer is a practice and prayer seeking to become still, quiet and resting with God. Try CENTERING PRAYER
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Sometimes we don’t have words for prayer, so we borrow words from the 150 psalms that help us speak heart to heart with God. Try PRAYING WITH A PSALM
[Download]
Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is a special prayer experience building a relationship with Jesus truly present in the consecrated host from the celebration of Mass. Try Adoration
Download [Adoration]

Discernment Resources

Discernment.

Discernment means ‘sifting’ or ‘separating’.

Learning the art of discernment is helpful because it can help us when we are trying to make good and big life decisions.

We’ve created a few resources to help you. We’ve also made a Discernment Booklet with seven steps of discernment.

Download Discernment: Listening For God’s Call.

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Discernment - Getting Started

Discernment is a process to help you make good choices and decisions. Learning the art of ‘discernment’ is a helpful tool especially when we are trying to make big life decisions.
Listening to Your Heart is the starting point to paying attention to your deepest desires - where God speaks to us.
St Ignatius of Loyola was famous for creating rules for discernment. But to begin he advises growing in spiritual awareness - waking up to the movements of consolation and desolation in our everyday life.
Begin: Discernment Practice 1: Spiritual Awareness

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Discernment - Going Deeper

Sometimes it takes time to become clear on what the real issue or decision is. There are too many good options.
This practice helps you recognise discernment practice leads toward two good choices.
Begin Discernment Practice 2: Framing Your Discernment Question
A good decision is based on both facts and feelings. To do this we need to gather good quality data.
Begin Discernment Practice 3: Gathering Relevant Data
The practice of weighing up the options pros (for) and cons (against) and bringing this to prayer is a good start but is not the end.
Begin Discernment Practice 4: Discerning Using Reason
This practice invites you to pay attention to your emotional responses and noticing feelings of consolation or desolation.
Begin Discernment Practice 5: Discernment Using Feelings
As St Ignatius of Loyola teaches us: “God writes his hopes and plans for us into our deepest desires.”
This practice focusses on the important place desires in your heart have in the discernment process.
Begin Discernment Practice 6: Discernment using your Hearts Desire

Spiritual Direction Resources

Spiritual Direction.

Spiritual Direction - or Spiritual Companion - is having someone alongside your journey to encourage and help you listen to God’s inspiration and direction in your life.

We’ve created some resources to help you. We’ve also made 6 Reflection Cards to help you to prepare for and reflect on a spiritual direction session.

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Spiritual Direction - Getting Started

Spiritual Direction is an opportunity to talk about your life and prayer with a spiritual companion.
It often involves a commitment to meet monthly. The directee brings their life, prayer experiences, ups and downs to a spiritual direction session.
Together, the directee and director listen gently with the help of the Holy Spirit and reflect upon the signs of God at work in your life.
People who seek spiritual direction are often experiencing the desire for something ‘more’.
They want to draw closer to God, find wholeness and a sense of purpose.
Spiritual direction is different from a coffee chat conversation. The focus of a spiritual direction session is on the directee and their relationship with God.
The director is helping the directee to slow down, pause, reflect, listen attentively to God and sense the next steps of faithful response to God.
There are two well known spiritual direction questions that can help a person prepare for spiritual direction.
1. What do you want?
2. Where are you hurting?
Both of these questions will lead us to God.
A beginning point can be starting the reflective practice of ‘journaling’.
People often bring something from their practice of journaling to their spiritual direction session for reflection.
Reflective Exercises for Journaling.
Sometimes we just need a little journaling prompt to get us started. There are some quick prompts in Journaling Practice. Here are some more
- Each evening, recall two moments: What today brought me life or joy? What today drained me or felt heavy?
- Journaling with a Question: Once a week, write for ten minutes beginning with one question: “Where have I felt most alive this week?” or “What am I resisting?”
- Letter to God: Write a letter beginning, “Dear God, this is what my heart holds today…” Do not worry about theology — write as you would to a friend who listens deeply with love.
- My Week: Draw a quick time-line of your week. Notice where grace, struggle, and God’s presence were felt — or hidden. What wisdom comes from the week?

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Spiritual Direction - Going Deeper

Prayer is the food we bring to the spiritual direction session to share.
A daily practice of prayer and reflection is a great way to draw closer to God and experience.
Many people think about the idea of having a regular prayer life, but to move from an idea to a reality requires a practiced pattern and habit.
Consider what type of prayer and reflective practice you enjoy the most. Try and create a daily routine 10-15-20 minutes of an enjoyable prayer - reflection practice. Try some of the reflective practices for Prayer on this site and see what works best for you.
St Ignatius of Loyola was famous for his guidance about discernment and spiritual direction.
He shares a helpful question for those beginning the spiritual direction experience: what is your deepest desire? This is also the same question that Jesus shared with his disciples in the Gospel of John 1,38. Let it kick start your reflective journey with spiritual direction. You can also try Discernment Practice about Desire from the website.
Sometimes we feel prayer is getting dry or boring and we don’t feel like it anymore.
This becomes a helpful time to reflect if there are any resistances in my life that are causing me to slow down, turn away, avoid looking at my real and true self.
People often begin a journey of discovery reflecting on what they deeply desire, what they are passionate and excited about. This is positive.
As the journey unfolds, the Holy Spirit seeks to uncover our wounds and hurts - not to hurt us but to heal us.
This journey often meets resistance. Don’t be afraid. Be gentle and curious about it and enter real and honest - and even painful prayer time with God.

Vocational Accompaniment Resources

Vocational Accompaniment

Everyone eventually reflects on the question who am I and what am I going to do with my life.

It is natural to reflect on a vocational pathway, not just a career pathway.

For those feeling the call to consecrated single life, religious life in a particular religious family, and priesthood, there can be a real need to find someone to share questions, learn about next steps, and how to apply to a religious community or seminary.

Marist Vocations Ministry has a short “Seeds Programme”, and a longer “Vocational Discernment Programme” to help you on this journey.

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Seeds Programme - Getting Started

Vocational Accompaniment is a decision to see someone regularly to talk about where you feel God is calling you and preparing for the next step.
Don’t be afraid. God really wants you to walk this journey.
If you are feeling called to marriage, you can share these feelings and desires with a spiritual director and be encouraged to find a married person you feel comfortable to share your questions with.
If you are feeling called to Single Life, Religious Life and / or Priesthood, search the internet for Vocations Directors in your Diocese or ask your Parish Priest for contact details.
Click on CONTACT and we can support you.
The Seeds Programme is a 5 session (5 month) reflection experience about Baptism, Prayer - Discernment, Consecrated Life - Religious Life, Priesthood, and Marriage.
This program involves a journey with specific questions, reflective activities and conversations to guide your vocation discovery. Contact for details.
This session reflects on the significance of Baptism, the call to holiness, and the christian mission in daily life.
This session focusses on the importance of growing in a deeper loving relationship with God and how to discern - make decisions.
This session reflects on the call to Religious Life, its connection with Baptism, and the joy of living a life of love and service as a brother or sister to everyone.
This session reflects on the call to Priesthood, its meaning and significance in the church, and exploring questions and fears young men may have with this calling in life.
This session reflects on Marriage, its witness and mission in the world today.

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Vocational Accompaniment Programme - The Journey

This session welcomes candidates and shares with them the different steps of the discernment journey.
This session focusses on the baptismal call and the call to holiness
This session focusses on prayer, how to establish a daily prayer practice, and resources to support the practice of prayer.
This session reflects on the various stories in scripture when God calls. And we reflect with Pope Francis’ letter not only about Who am I, but For whom am I?
This session reflects on the important topic of discernment and we learn about Ignatian Discernment by exploring seven steps.
This session focusses on writing a reflective autobiography and noticing how God has been at work in your life
This session reflects on the call to Priesthood, reflection on Pastores Dabo Vobis, and sharing of questions.
This session focusses on the call to Religious Life - Consecrated Life. Reflect on Vita Consecrata, and the distinctive feature of a charism which belongs to each different religious congregation.
This session focusses particularly on the vows taken by those in religious - consecrated life; poverty, chastity, and obedience.
This session reflects on the Marist Story - Society of Mary. Its early origins in New Zealand and France and its mission today in New Zealand and the world.
This session focuses on Marist Mission today and how Marists look at the world and serve the church
This session reflects on the past 10 months of the journey and the experience of serving and ministry in the church family.
This session reflects on the whole journey, and helps guide the candidate toward their decision to choose a particular vocation call and the next steps.