Leveling Up isn't just for Video Games.

At my parish we have been very blessed with having 2 of the Apostles of the Interior Life* with us a majority of the year. They host a Lenten series each year and this year the focus was prayer. Yep, that’s right, that wonderful thing that we all struggle with so much. So basically once a week I was able to go and listen to how awesome my prayer life could be and get excited to start on the journey.

Did you know there are 9 different levels of prayer? I definitely didn’t. I think this was the night that thet talk hit me the hardest. Basically the levels range from vocal prayer (your basic Our Father, Hail Mary, etc.) to what is called the transforming union where literally every thought and action is completely united to God and his will. As you grow naturally, through these stages you start to be less active in prayer and more receptive to what the Holy Spirit is giving you. It is estimated that over 99% of people in history have stayed in the first 5 levels of prayer. Wanna join me in trying to change that STAT?

These talks got me super excited because I have always struggled with prayer. I am very much an intellectual person and have always struggled with the emotional side of prayer. The apostles kept hitting the point that prayer is all about love and that the key to prayer is desire (definitely a kick in the butt for me). Even in the lowest level of prayer, we are called to pray with attention and devotion, which for me, meant slowing down when I was praying and really focusing on what I was saying. I’ve noticed that I get a lot more out of even simple prayers like the Our Father or a Glory Be, and Mass is an entirely new experience now.

St. Therese was one of the few that is believed to have reached the ninth level. She would say the Our Father with such devotion that it could take her hours just to get through one recitation of it. How cool is that?! Can you imagine saying a rosary with her? There are a lot of other cool stories about these saints that we look up to when it comes to prayer. I invite all of you to check them out.

These talks gave me the opportunity to refocus my prayer life and also gave me some good practical things to meditate on and practical ways to do that. I have included some links here for everyone to check out. Fr. Vince put all the talks on his website and I highly recommend that everyone at least take a look at these. I also included some information about both branches of the Apostles of the Interior Life. The priestly branch of the apostles was founded in Rome in 2007 with a ministry plan dedicated to spiritual formation and evangelization. ____________________________________________________________

Lenten Series and other good homilies

Brother’s website Sister’s website ____________________________________________________________

I ask that you pray for me while I continue on this journey towards union with our Father, know of my prayers for you as well.

Peace out. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Zak with his lovely wife, Anna. Zak is a recent graduate of Benedictine College and a Minnesota native, residing in Kansas City. I met Zak at Benedictine College and have the honor of serving with him on core team for youth group. He walked in one Sunday night, PUMPED about how mind-blowing prayer could actually be and was psyched to tell the kids about it in the coming weeks. I was on pins and needles and could hardly wait to hear his talk. I had to wait 2 entire weeks. It was rough, let me tell ya! But, after his talk melted everyone's faces off, we were excited to discuss unique forms of prayer and striving for a deeper relationship with Christ. Zak has a heart built for others and continually strives to serve in the name of Christ while bringing a smile and a laugh to about any room he is in.