A 3rd Sunday after Pentecost Thought About a Simple Way To Conduct Our Spiritual Life

For some of us, "spiritual life" can conjure up a set of complicated ways of praying, or difficult exercises of some sort. Or maybe there's a kind of mystical cloud around the idea of anything spiritual.

Forget it. Our spiritual life just means that our soul is alive and well. If we're wallowing in sin - specifically mortal sin - our spiritual life is dead. If we're in a state of grace, we've got a spiritual life.

Now, that doesn't really tell us anything about what exactly a "spiritual life" is. So how about we tap into a good source of spiritual writing to help us here? To set up the following remarks, all we need to know is Jesus and Mary. We all know them, right? Oh, and one more thing: Mary is our Mother. We know that too. Mother Mary - right?

So with that basic Catholic 101 knowledge and understanding, let's give a look to a solid Catholic writer for some instruction on conducting our spiritual life:

“Since Mary is our Mother, we ought to go to her with the heart of a child. No need, here, of precise formula or complicated method. The more simple one’s spiritual life, the more divine it is. Unhappily, this is not always so well understood as it ought to be. It is not unusual to find certain individuals who are greatly distressed because they cannot feel their devotion to the Blessed Mother. And so they are driven almost to despair, thinking themselves lacking in love. All this fret and worry is unnecessary, to say the least. Such individuals should stop being worried. Let them rest assured that devotion need not be felt. The ways of God are infinitely varied. Every soul must follow, freely and in all earnestness, the form of devotion that nature and temperament impose. Our particular form of intimate affection for Mary should be mirrored in, and be expressive of, our personality…Nevertheless, after all is said and done, there remain two great providential laws in the economy of salvation, and in order to advance on the way to divine union all Christian souls must conform to them. In the first place, our spiritual life must be centered in Christ; but, and this is the second point, it will be more perfect in proportion as it develops and grows under the influence of Mary. This does not mean just mumbling a few quick prayers every day. Indeed not. Our recourse to Mary has to come from the heart, and it has to be regular and persistent. In times of great decision or difficulty it is natural enough for us to look to Mary, but we ought to bring her our joys and expectations as well as our sorrows and adversities. Then, if we have confidence in her, prayer to Mary will obtain all things. She is at all times our Mother, from the cradle to the grave – and beyond. At the beginning of life, on the day of baptism, it was she who conveyed to each of us the title of child of God; at the end of life, it is she who will open to us the gates of heaven…
    Yet Mary is not an end in herself, but a means of coming to Christ. She is, however, the best and quickest means of coming to Him and, through Him, to the Blessed Trinity; for it is in the Trinity that all is made perfect in the unity of the Father and the Son together with the Spirit proceeding from Both. Instead of being an obstacle, Mary is in fact the most direct way to Christ and, through Him, to the Father. She is, in a manner of speaking, the short-cut to the Blessed Trinity” (Father M. Philipon, O.P.)

Note: 

• Simplicity is better. 
• Our particular spiritual discipline and practices should be based on our individual nature and temperament.
• Despite our individual differences, everyone's spiritual life must be centered on Christ.
• Our spiritual life will be more perfect when it develops and grows under the influence of Mary.
• Our recourse to Mary should come from the heart and be regular and persistent.

Those are the basics. Re-read and think about, or even meditate on the passage to dig deeper.

Sunday should provide at least some stretch of time for us to do this, especially if we lead a busy life that leaves us little time for our spiritual life. (Although making more time, in that case, should be a priority.)

Hope this helps us understand exactly what our spiritual life really is - or really should be.

Happy Sunday!