The Call to Prayer!!!

As I write this blog, the bells of St. John the Baptist are ringing noon, followed by the Angelus.  Ever since my days in the seminary at St. Meinrad, I have loved bells.  I learned while I was at St. Meinrad that bells are the voice of God calling people to prayer!!!!  Churches throughout the world with bells will let them ring out to announce services, but think of it in this light, the bells are God's voice calling us to pray.  On Wednesday evening, I had the chance to visit some of the religious education classes at St. Augustine.  I took along a statue of one of my favorite saints, St. Padre Pio.  Of course, we celebrated St. Padre Pio's feast day this past Monday!  Two of his quotes that I hold dear are: "Pray, hope and don't worry" and "Prayer is oxygen for the soul!"  We need to pray every day of our lives and hopefully many times a day, not just a meals or bedtime, but all the time.  God wants to hear from us and prayer takes a lot of work.  Hopefully you have good models of prayer, but know that prayer is up to you to do.  Whether the bells are ringing or not, prayer is definitely a necessity.  Let us answer the call of God in our lives and please, answer the call to prayer!!!!