Catholics are Discovering Prayer with new resource

5 February 2018

The Catholic Enquiry Centre has launched a new prayer resource that can help people escape the busyness of their daily lives and find space to encounter God.

Discovering Prayer was developed as a complementary resource to other Catholic Enquiry Centre materials that serve as an introduction to the Catholic Faith.

Catholic Enquiry Centre director Shane Dwyer said some other material seeks to engage the head of people who are searching for meaning. Discovering Prayer builds on that by engaging the heart.

He said the vision for the book was for it to be an introduction to prayer for those who are new to religion or new to Catholicism, but lifelong Catholics are also finding the resource valuable.

“We know that people can sometimes find obstacles to prayer, such as wondering ‘How do I start to pray?’,” Mr Dwyer said.

“This book fits into your pocket and can help those new to prayer and those who have grown up in a prayerful house to encounter God simply and humbly.

“It has been embraced by those who have wanted to either reignite their prayer life or those who wanted to enter into a journey where they could reflect and pray about the realities of life.”

Sharon Brewer, the book’s author, said it was important to produce a resource that would be digestible for people both in its language and in its format.

“While the book can be used every day for 30 days, it really is a little book that can be picked up at any time when a person, especially a busy person, needs to take a moment out of their day for reflection and prayer,” she said.

“Hopefully these prayers will lead the reader to a deeper understanding of themselves, and a realisation of how much God loves them.”

The book has been well received by Church leaders who received advance copies of the resource, with some having placed large orders for their parish communities.

Fr Chris de Souza, Vicar General of the Diocese of Parramatta, said he purchased 200 copies of the book to help parishioners enhance their prayer lives, especially in the build-up to Lent.

Discovering Prayer’s accessible language makes it very appealing, as my parishioners come from a very diverse mix of cultures, language and age,” he said. “I feel sure that this book will encourage our parishioners to enter into a renewed experience of prayer.”

The Catholic Enquiry Centre, a work of the National Centre for Evangelisation, has for almost 60 years worked on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference to offer an invitation to those who aren’t Catholic to learn about the Faith.

Discovering Prayer can be purchased on the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference website for just $3, plus shipping and handling. Click here to order the resource.

Catholic organisations can request a free copy of the book by emailing info@catholicenquiry.com

For more information, call the Catholic Enquiry Centre on 1300 432 484.

With thanks to the ACBC.

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