Fr. Shane Johnson

Sorry to take forever to respond!!! Well, there are lots of kinds of signs... Signs show God's glory and God's love and God's presence in your life. So there is the type of sign that you can ask for (as is common with, for example, novenas like those to St. Therese) but the most important type of sign is the one that you can see from where you're sitting right now. That you exist. That your heart is made for love. That the sun rose this morning to warm you and that there is food to nourish you and air to surround and envelop you. That there are people in your life that you cherish. That you know you need to be guided and you trust it can happen.Are those "facts," or are they signs?Seen with eyes of faith, all of those are signs that are ought to be even more impressive and awe-inspiring than the signs that we ask to be sent. Little by little, Our Lord tends to wean us off the jaw-dropping "special effects" we long for into a deeper relationship with him, in which no signs are necessary anymore, because we have truly discovered his glory and his love and his presence in what he says to our heart (eyes of faith), not what he says to our eyes (human eyes).If Our Lord and St. Therese are sending your friend roses, glory be to God. But there will come a time in her life (as perhaps it already has for you) when there is something else she needs. You can ask for signs, which is fine, but asking for deeper faith, hope and charity is a far greater thing.God bless you! - Father Shane

I definitely recommend that you pray when you drive! So does the Bible (Ephesians 6:18). But use different types of prayer for different situations. Sorry to overrule your friends. :-)

Here's a standard version of the Guardian Angel prayer (though there are different translations of the same):

"Guide" isn't really a very close translation. That line is actually "Angele Dei, qui custos es mei." The "guide" part is coming from the word "custos," which means "guardian" more than anything. It's reminiscent of Psalm 91:11: "For he commands his angels with regard to you, to guard you wherever you go." (Of course, the core verse for all this is Matthew 18:10.)

Someone once told me that he thinks it's like "reverse temptation": If devils (evil angels) can tempt us, the angels of God (good angels) can inspire us with good and holy thoughts.

More than anything, the angels are at our service -- counterintuitive, but in God's Providence it's true -- like they served Jesus in his humanity (Mark 1:13). But they can only guard us and guide us to the extent that we allow ourselves to be guided, sort of like asking anyone else to be your guide or mentor or spiritual director.

Make any sense? God bless you!

- Father Shane

I'm deeply sorry to have taken so long to get back to you! In the meantime, you might have seen this response to a similar question. You might also get something out of these posts.

It's normal to have periods of less clarity about our faith, and moments of greater clarity. It's very important to nurture your faith all the time (consuming things that will help it grow) and not to doubt in darkness what you have seen in the light.

Faith isn't just about reasonableness or logical necessity, either. Above all, it's opening ourselves to something transcendent and loving what we have experienced.

More than eradicating feelings of doubt, try to simply go deeper in the experiences of God's closeness which have powered your faith. You should definitely read this post to see more about that.

Feel free to get back to me -- even on Facebook -- if that isn't fully answering your question! God bless you and count on my prayers in the meantime.

- Father Shane

My personal favorite for rosary meditations is the NCRegister's Rosary Guide, though I'm sure that Magnificat's similar booklet is also very good. You can find good things online, too, like this and Fr Tommy Lane's excellent resources, but of course a booklet is easier to pray with.

Sometimes those "imaginings" of the truths of faith are actually fairly important for our prayer. We think in terms of things we can see and touch, so even though that's a very limited way to deal with divinity, it's our best and only entryway. As prayer life deepens over the years, the soul is gradually prepared for purer and more perfect ways to get to know God, but true vision is still only reserved for the next life.

So by faith we know that Jesus and our Blessed Mother really are there. Just not in a spatial way. Imagining God's smile on you and the Virgin Mary's smile on you is true. Just not in a spatial way. So you know that, if you start imagining that Mary decided to wear white instead of blue today, it's all in your head.

Of course, it's necessary to be humble enough to recognize that your imaginings are just that, but that the deeper truth of God's loving presence is so incredible that your imaginings could never ever do it justice.

God bless you and say a little prayer for me, would you?

- Father Shane

Yes, that's a complicated question. It's complicated because the way that Mass and Confession change us is complicated. Grace always happens there (Jesus comes into us when we receive Communion, and he forgives our sins in Confession) but to a certain extent, the effect that the grace has on us depends on our disposition.

In other words, if habits or desires in me are pulling me in another direction, the divine "seed" can fall on rocky soil, and it will normally take sacramental grace far longer to change us. We have to want to cooperate with God's grace in transforming us, and we need the strength to do so. Not a given.

So what should you do? First, think of reasons to forgive her. Attenuating circumstances: maybe she had a bad day, maybe she's suffering, etc. We never fully grasp the stress and the pain that consume other people.

Then find ways to defuse the tension that can develop. Be sympathetic, be understanding, show that you want what she wants, show that you don't want to answer back by yelling, show that you think you can work it out together.

So pray for her and pray with her, but realize that prayer is therapy to a certain extent. It's not a sign that instant total change has happened or that we're "holy," but a sign that we're not... that we're seeking to change, that we're sinners in recovery. You and me and your mom... we're all in this together.

I'll pray for both of you! God bless.

- Father Shane

Well, you know what Feuerbach said. "Der Mensch ist, was er ißt." "Man is what he eats."

What he meant by that, of course, is that we're nothing more than the biological material we consume. Which is simply ridiculous. But maybe the question applies to you too: What are you feeding your soul with? Because your soul is deeply affected by what it takes in, and souls can starve.

It's fine to be afraid of death: here's something I wrote about that a little while ago. But reflection on death that doesn't lead to hope... is the quiet desperation of despair. Don't let yourself go there.

Most people who have advanced a ways in the spiritual life can point to a moment or at least a period in their life which was a "before and after" experience: It's the moment in which they had a deep experience of God's personal love for them. God as a Person: That changes everything. You can't really doubt anymore like before, because you've seen.

But getting to that moment, and persevering through times of darkness and dryness in prayer, can take a while, and God has a specific time for everyone. Whatever is his plan is best for you, even though it's hard for us to see sometimes at the moment.

So the key is to be patient and to let God be God, but at the same time trying to prepare your soul so that the seeds of God's action can fall on good soil. Books like this one or this one or even the YouCat can be excellent ways to be led deeper into prayer. Make sure you're listening to the right music, spending time on the right sites, hanging out with the right people. Otherwise the background noise can drown out God's whispers.

One final thought: Prayer and relationship are the best solution to your question, but true prayer depends always on discovering God's presence. Saying words but not realizing he's listening doesn't help a whole lot; it can be very empty. So always try -- even if you're praying something like the Rosary -- to first make your soul still and quiet and to discover that God surrounds you, penetrates you, holds you in the palm of his hand. Then speak. And listen.

Keep in touch... I'll say a prayer for you today. God bless you!

- Father Shane