Lovely Lady Dressed In Blue, Teach Me How To Pray

Lovely Lady, dressed in blue, teach me how to pray;
God was just your little boy, tell me what to say.

Did you lift him up sometimes gently on your knee?
Did you sing to him the way mother does to me?
Did you hold his hand at night? Did you ever try
Telling stories of the world? Oh, and did he cry?
 
Do you really think he cares if I tell him things?
Little things that happen? And do the angels' wings
make a noise? And can he hear me if I speak low?
Does he understand me now? Tell me, for you know.
 
Lovely Lady, dressed in blue, teach me how to pray;
God was just your little boy, and you know the way.

My orders arrived today. I can barely stand the excitement!  On my lunch hour I previewed the first 10 minutes of one of the DVD's and brought the two books with me back to work.  What could possibly have me so distracted today?

Our Lady, of course.

It started a couple of weeks ago after I spent the evening with my group reunion.  Anyone who has attended a Cursillo weekend should know what this is, and should be in one (it was, after all, the point of your weekend).  If you haven't attended a Cursillo weekend, basically a group reunion is a regular gathering of at least three people to discuss specific aspects of our faith.  I group with five women every few weeks (two of whom are out of town---MISS YOU, MARY AND ANGELA!), to talk about what's working for us and what's not in our prayer, formation and evangelization efforts.

The last time we met, we discussed how distracted we all were.  We each shared instances where something has grabbed our attention and effectively yanked us off the path.  Without getting into the gritty details (which I assure you are much more boring than they are gritty), we each realized that God must be first in all things, and that we were guilty of not putting God first.

Then the next morning, Magnificat's morning prayer contained the following: "O God of justice and of love, you care for your people in every time and place, despite our tendency to stray from you in our foolishness." I instantly thought back to some really great advice that my spiritual director gave me last month: "Learn to love those things that you must do, and you will understand the heart of Christ." Over the last few months, I've found focusing on prayer to be increasingly difficult. I've been ill lately, but I know that's no excuse. I decided that I needed some guidance, so I turned to the one person I know can help me:  Mary.

Earlier last week I finished reading Our Lady of Kibeho by Rwandan genocide survivor Immaculee Ilibagiza, a bittersweet account of the only approved apparitions of Our Lady in Africa. This prompted me to order two more books by Immaculee:  If Only We Had Listened and The Rosary of the 7 Sorrows.  I also purchased Guadalupe, a dramatization of Mary's appearance to Juan Diego, and The 13th Day, the newest production about Fatima.

Allow me to share with you page 1 of If Only We Had Listened:

Our Lady of Kebeho invites you to strengthen and deepen your prayer life.

"My Children, there are many who want to pray, who try to pray, but do not know how to pray.  You must ask for the strength and knowledge to understand what is expected of you.  My ove goes out to all of you, for there are many here who want to reach the road to heaven, but do not have the strength or knowledge to ask for God's help.  My children, listen to my words, for I will teach you how to pray from the bottom of your hearts."

I'm listening, mother.  Show me the way.