Distractions are often a part of our daily lives. You are listening to someone when suddenly you receive a text message on your cell phone? The messages app beeps when you have a new message. In modern times, the world often seems like a spiritual desert. But the Psalms are a stream of God’s wisdom in this arid landscape.
Distractions are often a part of our daily lives, especially in these days of social media, cell phones, computers, and laptops.
It can be hard to stay focused, even when looking at a beautiful sunset, or watching an exciting movie.
Prayer can be a valuable tool that helps us concentrate on important aspects in our lives. Guided by the Holy Spirit, prayer can help us stay centered to what is or should be important to us, especially our relationship with God.
Online shopping, commercials enticing us to purchase things we may or may not need, fast food restaurants taking the place of a leisurely conversation over dinner. Consider how few spiritual experiences we have each day.
However, there is a wonderful resource available to us, namely the book of psalms. These prayers are like a stream of God’s wisdom present to us for centuries. There are 150 psalms in the Bible divided into five books, and the last Psalm serves as a doxology for the whole collection.
“Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy sanctuary, give praise in the mighty dome of heaven. “Give praise with blasts upon the horn, praise God with harp and lyre…”
The last psalm ends with the words “let everything that has breath give praise to the Lord. Hallelujah”
We can drink from this stream each day, by reading the psalms in the Bible, and by attending daily Mass, where the responsorial psalm is part of each Mass.
At Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, PA the Norbertine priests are members of a roman catholic religious order, the Norbertine order. They follow the Rule of St. Augustine, chanting the psalms several times a day in their daily prayer.
As part of their Norbertine community life, they chant the psalms in praying the Liturgy of the Hours, and one psalm is included in each daily Mass. These psalms help them stay connected to God, to experience God’s wisdom, to be nourished in our modern hectic world.
People at home can also experience God’s wisdom through the psalms. Click here to listen to the priests chanting the psalms as they pray the Divine Office.
You can even visit Daylesford Abbey in person to hear the priests chanting the psalms.
Morning Prayer Saturday & Sunday’s – 8:30 am Monday thru Friday – 8:00 am
Evening Prayer Monday thru Sunday – 4:30 pm
You can share in this dream of God’s wisdom in person at the abbey or at home while reading and praying over the psalms.
The psalms can help all of us connect to God daily, even for a brief time.
This connection can be transformative and life-giving, something you would not want to give up.
To help you grow in this experience copy and paste this link to watch a brief video by clicking here.
The Norbertine priests at Daylesford abbey can help you grow in this experience on a visit, a retreat or even exploring a Norbertine vocation. Copy and paste this link www.daylesfordabbey.org to read and learn more. The next step is yours.
