Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2010 / Nigerian cardinal visits to discuss personal prayer, celebrate Mass
Nigerian cardinal visits to discuss personal prayer, celebrate Mass
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published March 12, 2010
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Photo by Larry A. Peplin
Cardinal Francis Arinze (left) stands at the back of Blessed Sacrament Cathedral alongside Archbishop Vigneron prior to Mass on Sunday. The cardinal, a former high-ranking official in the Vatican, was in the Detroit area at the invitation of the Holy Trinity Apostolate. |
Sterling Heights — Personal prayer "is the prayer of an individual, from the heart of a person," Cardinal Francis Arinze told a group of several hundred people last weekend.
"Personal prayer makes our religion more personal," he said. "Every Catholic needs to pray from the heart."
The cardinal, presenting the topic "Pray always without becoming weary (Luke 18:1): The Importance of Personal Prayer in our Lives," talked about how the key to praying always is to live in the spirit of prayer all the time. "Your whole day is an offering to God out of love," he said. "As Christians, it is important that we keep in mind that prayer is a gift from the Holy Spirit."
Cardinal Arinze, a native of Nigeria, spoke at the 13th annual Lenten symposium of the Holy Trinity Apostolate, held at SS. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Catholic Church, Sterling Heights on Saturday, and also celebrated Mass at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit, on Sunday.
The retired head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments discussed what prayer is, and how the saints have called lifting your heart toward God, or being in communion with God. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church -- at 750 pages, you can read two pages every day for a year, he suggested, to laughter -- we learn that the prayer is a vital and personal relationship with God.
There are three types of prayer: liturgical, what happens at Mass, and the official prayer of the Church; community, prayers of groups; and our own personal prayer, which should come from our own heart. "Your personal prayer is going to be like you, and my personal prayer is going to be like me," he said. "A life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of Christ, Holy God, and in communion with them."
If our heart and mind are properly engaged in liturgical and community prayer, then that helps us to internalize and make our own personal prayer, he said, instead of just reciting existing prayers. "Do we really need a book to speak to Him?" he asked.
He compared lack of personal prayer to a student who comes home from college, but doesn't know what to say to his parents without asking his English professor first. "You don't need a professor to tell you what to say to your mother you haven't seen in three months," he said. Also, when a child leaves home, a parent can simply ask for God's blessing on them, and give thanks to God when they return home safely. "Do you need St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Bonaventure to write that for you?" he asked, to laughter.
Cardinal Arinze also asked attendees to examine their own personal prayer, to look if their prayers were only asking for things and not giving any praise to God. He then prayed the Gloria: "Glory to God in the highest, peace to his people on earth…" waving his arms and raising his voice. "If that's how your personal prayer is, give me your name, because I'm a member of the Cause for the Canonization of Saints," he said, to more laughter.
He advised people to pray a half hour every day, although minutes are not as important as being in God's presence. "There is time for whatever you consider important," he said.
After the cardinal spoke, attendees agreed that they learned from his message. "What better way to prepare yourself for Lent than to listen to Cardinal Arinze?" said Michael Wright, who attends SS. Cyril and Methodius as well as other parishes.
Mary Miller, a member of St. Josephat Parish, Detroit, liked the cardinal's topic. "You don't get to hear about it often," she said.
Others saw themselves in the "I, I, I" part of personal prayer. "I was thinking, 'I do that,'" said Donna Westfall, a member of St. Peter Parish, Mount Clemens. "Oh -- I'm doing it wrong." Bryan Kassa, of St George Chaldean Parish in Shelby Township, said he realized he could give more credit to God in his personal prayer. "It was a nice reminder," he said. "I'll adjust how I would approach Him, and give Him the reverence He deserves."
Also at this year's Lenten symposium were Msgr. Anthony Figueirido, Vatican Official for the Pontifical Council Cor Unum; Doug Keck, from Eternal Word Television Network in Alabama; and other local religious figures and lay leaders. The day also featured a screening of the movie "Leonie!," produced by Holy Trinity Productions of Shelby Township, about a sister of St. Therese of Lisieux.
In his homily on Sunday, Cardinal Arinze talked about the nature, and the seriousness, of sin, citing cited St. Augustine in saying that sin is "love of oneself, even to contempt of God." He urged people to take responsibility for their own sins, recognizing their own "grievous fault" instead of making excuses or blaming others, or the situations that they're in – regardless of whether their vocation is in priestly or religious life, or married life. He told those gathered to take on a "spirit of repentance and confession," and to embrace through the sacrament of Penance the liberty which only God can give.
"God calls us to repent and return to him," the cardinal said. "He is bountiful in his mercy." Hundreds showed up at the Cathedral for the Mass, including a large showing from Detroit's Igbo community. Archbishop Allen Vigneron concelebrated the Mass and thanked Cardinal Arinze for celebrating the Eucharist for the people of Detroit.
Cardinal Arinze was ordained in 1958, and elevated to cardinal in 1985. He has also served on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, as the Secretariat for Non-Christians, as vice-president for Africa of the United Bible Society, and President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
— Joe Kohn contributed to this story.
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