Looking down at the baby in my arms, I imagined, for a moment, that he was a toddler, and instead of vivacious and bursting into Christmas, he was fighting for his life in the hospital.
What would it be like to see the light of your life, your child, battling to remain alive? How would my Christmas perspective be different if the stress was life and death instead of cards and wrapping?
After hearing that a distant cousin of mine is fighting leukemia, and after seeing the outpouring of prayers, I have been unable to get this intention out of my mind. Maybe it’s that I have a new baby; maybe it’s that I have two little girls of my own; maybe it’s just empathy from one parent to another.
They came home the week before Christmas, full of hope. They rushed back to the hospital the next day, six days before Christmas, with a host of prayers surrounding them and continuing to shower down on them.
I haven’t heard the status, but I have been keeping little Kaidence close to my conversations with God. I’ve pictured the Holy Family reaching out their arms and embracing her. I’ve imagined her guardian angel cradling her. I can’t help but think of Kaidence’s parents, too, and the extended family she has cheering for her, pleading with God for her, offering their tears for His will.
My Christmas prayer, this year, is for that far-off family, people who will be very much a part of our happy season as we lift them to the Baby bringing us the eternal message of hope.
—
Speaking of prayer, my prayer this Advent has been much enriched by my “borrowing” of my husband’s iPod Touch and the subsequent download of the Divine Office app.
There’s really nothing like a major life change (i.e. birth of a baby) to throw my prayer life into a tailspin. Thanks to this app, though (and the iRosary app, which I’ve used to get my rosary in), I have been able to keep some semblance of a prayer routine.
I have long enjoyed praying aspects of the Office, whether Morning or Evening Prayer or, for a stretch of Lent, Night Prayer. There seems to be something for every season of my life, for the times that can best expand to hold prayer.
With Divine Office, I can either read or listen…or both, at the same time. For a mom-weary brain, this is gold.
Then there’s the content, which the Divine Office folks don’t control, but they do enrich with the loveliness of their production. I have the book of Christian Prayer, which is the shorter form of the liturgy of the hours, and I have enjoyed using it. Right now, in this nursing/hands-full-with-other-children/pray-as-I-go season of my life, though, the Divine Office app meets me where I am.
The beauty of praying the ancient prayer of the Church from the middle of my life is made possible — and even more relevant — thanks to the fine folks at Divine Office. I hear it’s also available for the Droid now, and I spare no breath in telling you you deserve this app, if you have the device for it. And if you don’t, why not visit their website and use the resources there?
In the words of the Psalms, I find myself immersed and closer to God. It’s a beautiful thing. You deserve to experience it. What are you waiting for?
(I am not being paid or compensated for this review. I just really love this product and wanted to share about it, especially in a post where I’m talking about prayer anyway.)
