Christian prayer, like all Christian life, is not a “walk in the park.”

Praying to God as a mother deepened my understanding of the divine.

To mark this National Day of Prayer, America asked our social media followers to share their prayer intentions and favorite ways to pray.

“There is only one great call in the Gospel, and it is that of following Jesus on the way of love,” Pope Francis said in his weekly Wednesday audience. “In this sense, charity and contemplation are synonymous.”

In the present tragic situation, when the whole world is prey to suffering and anxiety, we fly to you, Mother of God and our Mother, and seek refuge under your protection.

The methods of meditation are paths to travel to arrive at the encounter with Jesus, but if you stop on the road, you will make a “god” out of the path.