"Ask and you will receive.” It makes prayer sound so simple: All you have to do is ask, and almost like magic you’ll get it.

A lot of folks in my parish check their phones during the General Intercessions. Others look out the window. For the Cheerios crowd, it's an opportunity to snack or use the rest room. Nothing personal.

One day he was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, “Master, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”

The other day I was ticked off at my young daughter for wasting food—even when we are given our daily bread, we often fail to appreciate it. I sent her to her room and told her to think about what she had done.

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

We have forgotten how to pray. We have forgotten that there must be a time when we are silent so that we can hear what God wants to say to us. —Catherine de Hueck Doherty