The Radiating Power Of A Catholic Teacher’s Prayer

In today’s message I want to share with you a very special quote from Father Donald Haggerty. It’s a great reminder that the spiritual life and daily prayer of a Catholic teacher can and does have effects far beyond what they may realise. In our complex and challenging world there has rarely been a greater need for teachers to be people of deep prayer. Listen in and be encouraged in your special vocation.

Author

Jonathan Doyle is an international speaker, author, businessman and executive coach who has spoken around the world to more than 400,000 people on topics related to personal development, peak performance, leadership, Catholic school evangelisation, relationships and much more.

His recent keynote addresses include the NCEA National Convention in St. Louis Missouri to 10,000 delegates and he is a frequent keynote speaker in the US, Asia and Europe.

He is also the founder of an influential education and media business that delivers training content to hundreds of organisations and thousands of individuals around the world on a weekly basis.

Jonathan holds an undergraduate degree in education from the University of Canberra, a Masters Degree in Leadership and Management from the University of Newcastle and has also undertaken post-graduate study in philosophical anthropology.

He is the author of numerous books on relationships and peak performance and each day shares these same ideas with a large global audience via The Daily Podcast with Jonathan Doyle.

Make sure you grab a copy of my new book Finishing Strong. Just click the book image on the left and it will take you straight there.

Finishing Strong is a loud and clear call for every young person to make the very best of their final years of school. Based on hundreds of seminars around the world to a huge number of students Jonathan Doyle offers powerful, practical advice that can make a major difference.

Each chapter offers inspiring stories, clear principles and actionable steps for identifying and moving forward in study, life, friendships and each key area of life.

Jonathan also includes journal questions and guided reflections at the end of each chapter to maximise learning and ensure the ideas and principles can be made real, personal and achievable.

If you want to help your child or students make the very best of their final years of high school then it;s time to help them finish strong!

TRANSCRIPT

📍 Well, Hey everybody, Jonathan Doyle with you once again for the Catholic teacher daily podcast, greetings to you wherever you’re listening in the world. Thanks for tuning in. For this short daily message of encouragement. I always say that. Often, all we need is just to know that what we’re doing. Is important. It’s making a difference. So I’m just that voice.

I don’t want to say I’m the voice of God that’d be presumptuous, but I’m a, at least I’m trying to cooperate with what I think he’s doing. And, uh, I just want to be that voice of encouragement for you as a Catholic educator, challenging times. So much happening in the world. And I really believe that, uh, the Catholic teacher is just such an important.

Part of, uh, continuing to evangelize and transform our culture. So friends, what I want to share with you today is a beautiful quote from a new book that I’m reading it’s by father Donald Haggerty. And this was recommended to me. From a very good source. We had the great pleasure of speaking in Nashville.

Uh, about a year and a half ago before COVID really kicked off. We got to spend some time with the amazing Dominican sisters. At their mother house. And, uh, we’re very privileged to have some time. Uh, doing the divine office with them and sort of just seeing them at prayer, in their beautiful chapel and extraordinary experience, really beautiful for Karen and the kids and I, and, uh, one of the sisters is very close to Karen and, uh, sent her a recommendation that a long discussion and sent her a recommendation to read.

Some of the work of father, Donald Haggerty. Who is a real kind of, uh, I guess, what do you say? A real pioneer, a real great communicator in the area of contemplative prayer. So if you’re a regular listener, you know, that. I hop on relentlessly about the need for Catholic teachers to be people of prayer.

And of course the answer, the silent answer from many teachers is all, it’s a lovely idea, Jonathan, but you have no idea how busy I am now. I know you’re all in different situations, but for many of you listening, you’ve got your own families to deal with. You’ve got the morning craziness getting out the door.

And then you’ve got all this stuff that goes on each day in your ministry and vocation as a Catholic teacher. So it is easy for me to sit here behind the microphone and exhort us all to go deeper into a life of prayer. But, uh, for many of us, it’s like a bridge kind of too far. We say some. You know,

Crisis prayers in the car. Maybe we’re all different, but, uh, I’m just highlighting that it can be a real challenge. So. I guess I want to encourage you. Like I’ve got three young kids and a very busy life. Like no doubt. Most of us. But for many years, probably going back 25 years, plus now I’ve made.

You know, daily prayer. Uh, just kind of the linchpin of my day. At the moment, I’ve sort of got back to a place where I’m getting about, I get up and I, I always get up early and I pray the divine office and I pray a rosary here for people’s intentions. And then later in the day, I block out an hour and I get across to a local church for about an hour of.

Adoration and contemplation. Now I know some of you just choked on your cornflakes going really? You do that every day and I’m like, well, yeah, I do, because. Well, because I want to be closer to Christ and I want to be a better husband and father, and I want to do better podcasts. And I want to just cooperate with what God’s doing in the world.

Yeah, there’s a beautiful line in the, our father. It’s one of the cool things about praying the rosary is that. It immerses you in these, you know, the prayers of Jesus, you know, The prayer that he gave us. There’s that beautiful line. You know, the kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It’s a.

It’s a way of desiring that what God wills and wants is what will be happening here in the world. And we don’t have to look around too far to notice. That’s probably not happening. As much as we would wish. So all the more need to pray the will of the father into the temporal order. So that’s kind of.

Part of the reason that prayer is so central and, uh, yeah, I don’t want to over spiritualize it, I guess, but I just want to be close to Christ and, uh, don’t want to miss out on anything that God. Uh, wills for me in this life. Anyway, I digress. So I want to give you this beautiful quote from, uh,

From father Donald Haggar team. So I was reading this yesterday during adoration. And he says this people who acquire. A serious taste for prayer. Do not realize initially the wonderful and exacting journey, they have commenced in a commitment to prayer. Nor do they realize the effects and fruits? It is bound to bring in time, not only to themselves, but to many others.

It is the nature of prayer and deepest spiritual life that it radiates a light that stretches far. In unknown ways. Let me read you that last bit again, this is what really struck me cities. This is the nature of prayer. And deeper spiritual life that it radiates a light that stretches far in unknown ways.

I liked that because I have this. Strong belief that the more we turn to prayer and become people of prayer. Our prayer has impacts and effects as Donald Hagan. He says here it radiates far beyond us in unknown ways. Yes. Intercessory prayer does that, but also. It just sort of changes us and has impacts upon others. That can be quite profound. So what does this have to do with the Catholic teacher? It is my firm belief.

That if you really deepen a spiritual life, you really deepen your commitment to prayer. What you will find is that you get constant little insights, promptings directions, ideas. That otherwise would not have been there. So your prayer begins to radiate out into the world. It’s not instant. It’s not a magic formula. It’s not, you know, the Catholic version of the secret. It’s something very, very special and beautiful and different.

It’s uh, you know, it’s just, uh, it’s partnering with the action of the holy spirit in the world. It’s becoming a conduit as you become a person of prayer, the movement of the holy spirit through you. Becomes more fluid, more consistent. So think of those students you have that are challenging and difficult. And would it be helpful to you?

If you had some promptings from the holy spirit about how to navigate, or even just to enjoy the challenges of the teaching vocation at times. So. Friends. That’s all I wanted to say today. That is, I just want to encourage you to consider a deeper spiritual life, a deeper life of prayer. Because if you do that,

Then these promptings, this radiation of your spiritual life out into the world becomes something very real and very beautiful. Um, and of course the obvious question is, okay, Jonathan. Well, how do I do it? I’m still saying where I was like, you know, John’s saying that if, if everything Christ had done was written down, the books would fill the whole world. It’s like, how do you pray? Well, you know, if you were going to write books about it, those books would probably fill the whole world. I’ve always liked the quote.

From, uh, gosh. He was an Abbott. Uh, recently who famously said those bezel Pennington. Who said prayers, you can not, as you can’t. Pray as you can, not, as you can’t, you have to pray like somebody else, you just have to allow yourself to gravitate towards the forms of prayer. That the greatest kind of peace and blessing for you and bring you closer to 📍 Christ, right? That’s it for me today.

Uh, please make sure you’ve subscribed. If you haven’t, if you’re hearing this somewhere else, just jump across to your favorite podcast player. And, uh, just do a quick search for the Catholic teacher daily podcast with Jonathan Doyle, you’re going to find me there. Hit subscribe. Please share this with some other teachers.

And if you’d like to get the daily email or do a beautiful quote each day, just come across to being, uh, sorry to one Catholic teacher.com. One Catholic teacher.com and you’ll find tons of subscription boxes there. And it’d just be great to have you, uh, join the daily message so we can keep encouraging you. That’s it for me everything else is on the website one catholic teacher.com. my name’s jonathan doyle this has been the catholic teacher daily podcast got bless your friends i’ll have another message for you tomorrow