By Brother Craig Rippens

I am grateful to have to have a consistent and joyous prayer practice. The writings and presentations of Padre Ron Roth were my inspiration to earnestly engage the path of prayer. In early 2016, I was admitted to the CLM student program and immersed myself in the study of spiritual practice and traditions. In Padre Ron’s book Prayer and the Five Stages of Healing he stresses that spiritual progress cannot be made unless prayer is intimately integrated into life. It is a relief to embrace his simple definition of prayer: “Prayer is a way of invoking the sacred in your life, and once you acquire the habit of prayer, you can make all of your actions sacred acts.” Prayer is bringing the awareness of God into daily life. Holy Spirit is not outside of us, it is our very essence.

Padre Ron offers many exercises for the beginner to engage prayer. These exercises have been, and still are, an immense help in leading me into that divine communion state of prayer. As a ten-year-old Catholic boy, I entered a confessional and asked the priest a question that was troubling me. The repetitive prayer forms were not engaging me. “How can I pray?” I timidly asked, bracing myself for a stern reply. I lucked out with a compassionate confessor. “Just try talking to God,” was his advice. This calmed my spirit, but did not provide a lasting solution. I grew accustomed to talking to an imagined deity, but I never heard a reply. Ron’s instructions are the perfect response to that young boy. Welcome God into your heart. The Holy Spirit already fills you. A prayer exercise in Ron’s book The Healing Path of Prayer is simple but direct. Breathe and envision and sense God’s merciful and loving light moving through every part of your body. Ron also invites us to silently contemplate an attribute of God, such as mercy, love, or omniscience.

In the Hebrew Testament, the Lord is often referred to as the ultimate refuge for the faithful. Recently, I began to contemplate this divine attribute after being struck by this lyrical passage in Psalm 91:
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (91-4)

The narrative of the Hebrew Testament is packed with depictions of the faithful suffering desperately at the hands of their adversaries. Thus, it is understandable why the Creator is characterized as a spiritual protector for these believers. However, I found praising the Lord as refuge is a song of love rather than a fearful reaction:
But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble. (Psalm 59-16)

Recognition of God’s presence as a compassionate refuge continues to ripen in my prayer life. Profound spiritual healing is possible when embracing the Lord as the source of unconditional love. Pleading for protection during “times of trouble” is a paradox. I have seen that my times of trouble are self-created. The distracting turmoil that seems to threaten me is caused by my own reaction – my own lack of reliance on the divine. Loving refuge and healing are enjoyed when I yield to the Presence which is already my essence. To find refuge in the Lord is to celebrate Oneness with the creator.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8)