Here is a 16 minute Homily from a 2007 Mass at Saint Patrick’s featuring Father Chip O’Neill talking with God about the “Our Father” … Be sure to check out the faces on some of the younger parishoners circa 4 minutes into the piece when the Voice of God is first heard through the congregation … the fluttering pages on the podium at the end was a happy accident and the real source of their movement is in the fan - enjoy!

If the flash player does not work, click here to download this mp3 file - approx 8.9 megs, 44.1Hz 16 bit stereo file compressed at 128kbps

This audio file is approx. 9 minutes and thirty seconds long and features Father Chip providing a guided meditation and overview on using mantras to help get centered despite the distracting noises from this wacky world of ours.

Father Chip starts this podcast with a brief overview of what a mantra is and how mantras can help center us before prayer. Father Chip then goes on to discuss how we can heighten the power of mantra by including a visual focus on a particular location in time.

This is a very powerful concept of using location and the power of our respective imaginations to recreate the sight, smells, and other sense information surrounding a location. It was also the first time I’ve ever been exposed to thinking of mantras in this visual manner.

About 2 minutes into the audio, Father Chip provides an example of one of his meditations and mantras that takes us back 2000 years to Good Friday during the late afternoon on Calvary Hill.

I don’t want to spoil the joy and power of his message so you can listen and decide for yourself if including visual sense information works for you.

Speaking for myself, after listening to this awesome meditation, I will never be able to think about Jesus the same way again, and this is a good thing - enjoy!

Just an FYI on Production
The audio was recorded in the Pastor’s office via an AKG c1000s mic fed into a Sony PCM DAT recorder. The audio was then brought into the computer for post scrubbing via Soundforge (e.g., noise reduction, EQ, compression, etc.). The musical bed is a collection of three pieces composed by Chuck Scott on a Korg Triton keyboard that was fed into Sonar were the various levels and volume envelopes were structured in way to support the narration with subtle ambiance.

The photo collage is composed of two pictures - the top is a scene from one of the glorious stain glass windows at Saint Patrick’s Church and the bottom scene is a fire truck going by a crowd during a Fourth of July Fireworks display in Ridgefield CT in 2005. Both photos were taken by Chuck Scott using a digital Canon Rebel with a 350 mm lens.

Peace be with you! Often people come to me as ask how to deal with the many distractions they experience while trying to pray. Whether the “noise” is external like road traffic or a barking dog or “internal” such as work/home pressures or something as mundane as a grocery list, these distractions are real and can be very frustrating when we go to spend some time with our God. It is like trying to carry on a conversation with someone while standing in the middle of a major freeway during rush hour! Fear not, there are ways to silence these annoyances and very calmly and prayfully return to your peaceful meditation.

Some feel that a “mantra” helps them regain their center. Among other definitions, a “mantra” is a word or a phrase that is used as a spiritual conduit, that instills one-pointed or centered concentration in the pray-er, e.g., “Jesus” or “Jesus my Lord and Savior.” When one finds oneself distracted in prayer, calmly and peacefully begin repeating your mantra quietly to yourself, which will bring you back to the center of your prayer. Often people begin their prayertime with the mantra to quiet themselves and center their meditation.

What do you do to calm the distractions in your prayer?

(Next issue - The “mantra” as a place in time - very effective)