If you want to be a successful athlete, you have to spend years practicing, working out and learning the game. If you want to be a star musician, you also need to spend hour after hour practicing, working on the craft and learning music theory. You need a plan, strong work ethic and determination to be successful. You cannot just desire to be an athlete or musician.
Everyone wants to be a better person. Everyone tries to be good, but no progress towards holiness will be made without a plan. My personal experience is that without making an intentional effort towards holiness, my spiritual life declines and I fall into sinful habits.
Being a saint is like being a successful athlete or musician. You need a good plan, determination and the grace of God. Everyone is called to be saint. Yes, you too! So, in addition to your typical New Year’s resolutions to eat better, save more money and exercise more, prayerfully consider some daily habits that will help you grow closer to God this year.
Below are seven simple practical items that you could add to a list of resolutions that would make a substantial change in your spiritual life.
1. Make a daily schedule.
The best way to ensure that you are going to pray is to schedule it. After years of discussing my lack of personal prayer time with family members and in church small groups, I have concluded that the morning is the best time for quiet prayer. Make a commitment to get up at the same time, and reserve some time in the morning for prayer. If you wait until the evening, it is often too late. How many times have I gone to my room to pray or read and have fallen asleep instead with a book or rosary in hand? With a set wake-up time in the morning, it is equally important to set a time to be in bed. There is a point in the evening after which nothing good happens, and you end up wasting time scrolling through social media or streaming episode after episode on Netflix. After you have a set time for a morning routine and time to sleep, schedule a few times throughout the day to prayer. Set an alarm for noon to pray the angelus or one for 3:00pm to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet.
2. Begin the day with a Morning Offering.
The first thing you think about in the morning, I believe, reveals what you hold as most important. Do you reach for your phone? Do you check email, Facebook or the scores from last night’s game? Are those your idols? We need to get into the habit of directing our first thought of the day to God. The best way to accomplish this to begin your day with a prayer of thanksgiving for the new day and a morning offering.
3. Attend Daily Mass.
The greatest event on this side of heaven is Mass. There is nothing greater than receiving Jesus in the Eucharist! Attending Mass once a week is great, but it is also the minimum. For many years, I convinced myself that due to a growing family and work, I was too busy to attend daily Mass. In fact, I was too lazy. There are days when my schedule makes it impossible for me to attend, and that may be the case with you. Start by picking a few days of the week — maybe Wednesday and Saturday — that work for your schedule and begin by going to Mass on those days.
4. 15 Minutes of Mental Prayer.
Modern Catholics are bad at praying. My experience of religious instruction on prayer was limited to a few vocal prayers; communication to God was done by saying a few Hail Marys and Our Fathers. Vocal prayer is fine and good, but you must progress beyond vocal prayer, especially if you are like me and often get distracted. Schedule 15 minutes of quiet time to pray without reciting a formal prayer. Try to communicate with Jesus as would with any other person who you love, speaking from your heart. Ideally, you could do this after receiving holy Communion or in adoration, but any quiet space will suffice.
5. 15 Minutes of Spiritual Reading.
The path to heaven is difficult, and I often find myself needing inspiration and encouragement. I find that boost through spiritual reading. Every day, Catholics should do 15 minutes of spiritual reading, starting with the Bible. Spiritual classics, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis or writings of the saints are other good options. Spiritual reading is not Catholic commentary on current events, and while important, it often leaves you more depressed than inspired. Good spiritual reading can often provide inspiration for mental prayer, especially if you find it difficult to start praying.
6. The rosary.
Father Patrick Peyton, the “Rosary Priest,” popularized the phrase, “the family that prays together, stays together.” There is no better family tradition than the daily rosary. Growing up, my parents prayed the rosary with us after dinner, and now, my wife and I lead our family in a daily rosary. It has kept both generations of my family together, both in a relational and spiritual sense. The rosary, while a vocal prayer, also helps us contemplate the mysteries of the lives of Jesus and Mary. In meditating on their lives, we learn more about them and grow closer to them.
7. Daily Examen.
At the end of day, take time to review the events that transpired. You can ask God for the grace to see all the blessings that you received and thank Him for them. Then, you can review the day again and determine your faults. Ask God for forgiveness, and the grace to do better tomorrow. End the day by praying an Act of Contrition. This constant review will help you to know what is helping or hindering your spiritual life, and provides an opportunity for you to ask for God’s help.
All these habits would take less than hour per day plus the time for daily Mass. If an hour seems like too much of a commitment to begin with, pick two or three practices and work your way up.
That said, the average adult spends over two hours a day on social media and over 12 hours a day consuming media of all types. We aren’t too busy. We have the time, but we waste it. We just need to desire being a saint more than anything else and to make our relationship with God our top priority in 2021.
Also see
Copyright © 2021 Catholic Review Media
