Starting 2015 Off Right: Bounding Out of the Starting Gate
Our last post set the tone for 2015. We chose Psalm 146 not only because its specific content really does get us into the right frame of mind to begin our work this year, but as a reminder that The Psalms, a part of the Old Testament, should be regular reading for Catholics, ideally everyday reading. We don't think twice about showing up for our jobs every day, and so we shouldn't think twice about showing up for, as St Benedict called it in his Rule, the Work of God. And while we Catholic men may not be able to observe the Liturgy of the Hours throughout our busy days, we can surely make time each day for this Work of God.
Again, starting the year off right, we remind you that this Work of God consists of such things as regular prayer throughout the day (starting perhaps with the Morning Offering as soon as you wake up), reading some Scripture (10 - 15 minutes), reading good, solid Catholic spiritual works (10-15 minutes), a few minutes of meditation (quietly thinking about and talking to God; being in His Holy Presence), maybe attending Daily Mass when possible. The only limits here are time and imagination.
And, yes, most of us Catholic men have (and will likely continue to have for the rest of our lives), trouble "making time" for Our Lord. We're busy with our work, our family lives. Our obligations to the duties of our state of life demand our time, and legitimately so. We can't slough off and let these obligations go. Yet, despite our obligation to be diligent in fulfilling that daily check list of important items, we need to make time for God.
Here's something to help us all in that endeavor. It's something that St Alphonsus Liguori wrote centuries ago, and it dovetails well with the fact that we're still in the Christmas Season. It's something that will help us not only to give God the time and attention He deserves even as we fulfill our obligation to be diligent, but will also inspire our heartfelt devotion in doing so. St Alphonsus shows us how, in the Incarnation, God makes it, in a certain sense, easier for us to love Him just as He surely loves us:
So let's start 2015 off right. Let's resolve to grow closer to Him each and every day. Even as our work today demands and gets our full attention and best efforts, remember that the aim of our Holy Religion is to get closer to God, to grow in intimate union with Him. What could possibly be more important than this?
Again, starting the year off right, we remind you that this Work of God consists of such things as regular prayer throughout the day (starting perhaps with the Morning Offering as soon as you wake up), reading some Scripture (10 - 15 minutes), reading good, solid Catholic spiritual works (10-15 minutes), a few minutes of meditation (quietly thinking about and talking to God; being in His Holy Presence), maybe attending Daily Mass when possible. The only limits here are time and imagination.
And, yes, most of us Catholic men have (and will likely continue to have for the rest of our lives), trouble "making time" for Our Lord. We're busy with our work, our family lives. Our obligations to the duties of our state of life demand our time, and legitimately so. We can't slough off and let these obligations go. Yet, despite our obligation to be diligent in fulfilling that daily check list of important items, we need to make time for God.
Here's something to help us all in that endeavor. It's something that St Alphonsus Liguori wrote centuries ago, and it dovetails well with the fact that we're still in the Christmas Season. It's something that will help us not only to give God the time and attention He deserves even as we fulfill our obligation to be diligent, but will also inspire our heartfelt devotion in doing so. St Alphonsus shows us how, in the Incarnation, God makes it, in a certain sense, easier for us to love Him just as He surely loves us:
“I think God must have said to Himself: Man does not love Me because he does not see Me; I will show Myself to him and thus make him love Me. God’s love for man was very great, and had been great from all eternity, but this love had not yet become visible…then it really appeared: the Son of God let Himself be seen as a tiny Babe in a stable, lying on a little straw.”What a wonderful description of God's love, of His desire to be close to us. See how He makes it easier for us to want to be close to Him?
So let's start 2015 off right. Let's resolve to grow closer to Him each and every day. Even as our work today demands and gets our full attention and best efforts, remember that the aim of our Holy Religion is to get closer to God, to grow in intimate union with Him. What could possibly be more important than this?
Happy New Year!
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