pa s to r a l pl a n n i n g
DnD WITH JESUS
"A relationship is simply spending time with another. It is the sharing of my heart with them, as they do with me. Therefore, anything I do where I’m spending time with God and sharing my heart with Him IS prayer." Getty Images/dima_sidelnikov
M
y friends and I play Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) with Jesus. We get together on Monday nights over Discord to play. I serve as the game master, and my friends are the adventuring party seeking
to stop an evil vampire lord's nefarious plot. We've been playing DnD since high school, and it's served as a fun medium by which we friends stay in touch on a regular basis. Before each game session begins, we open the Lord. We aren’t His mindless machines pronight with prayer. We thank our Lord for the grammed for mission and dispassionate miliopportunity for leisure and fun. We thank Him tant order. We’re His children. When the Son for each other and our lasting friendships. We instructs us how to pray, He teaches us the Our invite Him to join us, so that by His inclusion, Father. (Mt 6:5-15) Therefore, every prayer and our leisure may be made holy. We ask Him to interaction with our Lord is ALWAYS meant to continue to grow the love between be rooted in and flowing from our us, and our love for Him. We ask relationship with God as Father. Him to be the central part of the A relationship is simply spendnight, every night we play. ing time with another. It is the The Catechism of the Catholic sharing of my heart with them, Church’s last section is focused as they do with me. Therefore, on prayer. It opens by stating that anything I do where I’m spending the mystery of faith “requires the time with God and sharing my Father faithful to believe in it, that they heart with Him IS prayer. Andrew Kleine celebrate it, and that they live from The beauty of all the Faith’s is Parochial Vicar at it in a vital and personal relationdoctrines, rituals and rote prayers St. Thomas More ship.” It then clarifies that this is they help us to better receive Parish, Kansas City, vital and personal relationship and respond to the relational love has served as Chaplain “is prayer.” (CCC 2258) of God. The most perfect prayer, at St. Michael the This is the heart of our Faith the Mass, is a wedding banquet, Archangel High School and the daily invitation of our where we exchange our matrimoand Vocation Promoter.
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Catholic Key • August/September 2022 • catholickey.org
nial gift of self to our Lord, as He pours out Himself as a loving gift to us in the Word and the Eucharist. Just as the rote words “I love you” help us to form and express our charity towards others, so too do the words and actions of the rituals and rites of the Church. But just like “I love you,” if they're done mechanically rather than from the heart, they can become empty and hollow. Our invitation is to approach our Lord, His Church and our Faith as we would a relationship with one we cherish. Whether it be the ritual prayers or our daily activities, all can be sanctified by His inclusion. We can gather with others, growing in relationship with God together through leisure, work, or hardship. We can talk to God as we would our closest friend, whether about a cross or our hopes for the Chiefs. We can give Him time to talk in turn as we listen. Faith is not an obligation to complete, but personal time to spend with the Lord who loves us. Our God IS love. We’re not a Yu-gi-oh card that He’s wanting to collect and shelve. We are His beloved children. He wants to be in a perfect loving relationship with us for all eternity. May we live out our “Amen” to this love by treating our Faith as an intimate relationship with God. And invite our Lord to play Dungeons and Dragons.
