Daily Meditation

To do mental prayer, you will need to take your time, to limit outside distractions. It means that you must bring your focus back to your thoughts, even if you are trying to solve a thousand problems at a time in your everyday life. Take a pause in your day, for a few minutes or more (if possible), Make yourself available to God, become aware of His presence: He is always here. 

• Putting yourself in a mental state that is suitable for meditation is important. You can only calm your thoughts if your body itself is calm: put yourself in a stable, but comfortable position. For example, you can sit down. Some people find this inner peace by being in nature, in the calm of the countryside, near water.
  Closing your eyes helps in the process of internalisation. For a moment, focus on your breathing, it will clear your thoughts and bring you peace of mind.
  Whatever method you decide on for meditation, it should be simple: it should not feel like making an effort, which can cause tension.
  
  
• Meditation is a process by which you collect yourself and your thoughts. In mental prayer, your focus should be on one thing: Jesus Christ. St. Teresa of Avila has these recommendations to help you enter your castle:
  - Read something that inspires you (ex. The Gospels)
  - Look at an image of Christ (one that speaks to you: Jesus on the Cross, Jesus praying on the Mount of Olives, Jesus breaking the bread, Jesus feeding the crowds, etc,)
  - Find a prayer or a verse to repeat: repetition can help you maintain focus.

I am not asking you now to think of Him, or to form numerous conceptions of Him, or to make long and subtle meditations with your understanding. I am asking you only to look at Him.
                                                                                                                        St. Teresa of Ávila 

Everyone must find their own ways of reaching within themselves to find Him

• Finally, it is through silence that one can welcome God's presence within oneself. The simplest way to keep this silence is by stopping to try to manage and organise everything. We pray to meet Jesus: like in any meeting, spontaneity is key. Let us talk to Him - or just keep Him company - like we would talk to our brother, our father, our friend...
  Prayer is a dialogue, an intimate an personal moment.

 The soul can picture itself in the presence of Christ, and accustom itself to become enkindled with great love for His sacred Humanity and to have Him ever with it and speak with Him, ask Him for the things it has need of, make complaints to Him of its trials, rejoice with Him in its joys and yet never allow its joys to make it forgetful of Him.
                                                                                                                  St. Teresa of Ávila 

Let Us Pray with St. Teresa of Ávila 

Find a time during the day to enter into a state of mental prayer.