“Spiritual Formation Reflections”

            I had often wondered when the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours found in the opening to the Gathering songbook we used during the Sunday liturgy were used. When is the Liturgy of the Hours? How come I never see it offered at church?

            This course has answered those questions. It is up to me as a mature adult Christian to exercise the discipline to find and learn the format of the Liturgy of the Hours and take the time to pray that liturgy.  I still question why churches, parish or small faith communities, don’t introduce this beautiful public prayer, the “rest of the Mass” in many ways to its parishioners. Maybe now it is up to me to do so?

            It is wonderful that “there is an App for that.” Sockey’s book is an excellent introduction to the Liturgy of the Hours. While I have not maintained a daily practice of the Liturgy of the Hours, I am inspired to read the Psalms and reflect on their meaning for me. As I have grown older, I have developed a love for poetry. The words, their rhythm and symbolism wash over me and provide a source of connection, intimacy at times, with the poet and all others who have captured the history, emotion, and community of the events presented. As a poetic devise (Sockey, 111), the Psalms are a primary source of humanity’s relatedness and expression of all events in a life. I very much appreciated coming to learn of the value of their daily practice in my Judeo-Christian family. It is very comforting to know that every hour around the world, God is being exalted with the morning, daytime, evening, and night prayers; because of the time zones, I imagine the prayers sung as rounds around the world.

            I believe that the Liturgy of the Hours echoes Sabbath; a gift from God of rest from the ordinary in a day. Even if we are not totally relaxed and focused, the act of intention and attention to God, particularly praising Him, pleases God. I appreciated Sockey’s sensible approach to incorporating the Hours into our lives; “to begin with one liturgical Hour at a time” (108) and her passage on “Finding the Minutes for the Hours” (108-110). It is a welcoming way to say, “the time to start is now; the place to start is where you are.”