Sunday is Advent! I can't believe how quickly this year passed! I know I say that every year, but why I'm surprised this one passed so fast is because of all the heartache that accompanied it (and continues to accompany it, though to a lesser degree--"time heals", as they say). I intend to make the most of this Advent season. Advent is a time of repentence and reconciliaton--that means plenty of soul-searching and uncomfortable examinations of conscience. Advent is always a time for me to ask, "What's my prayer life like? Am I getting ready to greet our newborn Savior with a heart full of love of God and neighbor?"
As I said in my birthday post, I recieved a book from Sarah and her boyfriend written by Scott Hahn titled, "Signs of Life, 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots". It has been very good for me to read this. I have grown up around every one of these "customs" and have tended to take them for granted. Mr. Hahn's book has made me look at myself a little more critically and shown me a couple of ways I can improve my prayer life with some simple tried-and-true practices that have been around since the founding of the Church.
One way to improve my prayer life is to use simple "prayers of aspiration". As Saint Francis de Sales writes: "Aspire continually to God, by brief, ardent upliftings of the heart; praise his excellence, invoke his aid, cast yourself in spirit at the foot of his cross, adore his goodness, offer your whole soul a thousand times a day to him, fix your inward gaze upon him, stretch out your hands to be led by him, as a little child to its father, clasp him to your breast as a fragrant flower, raise him up in your soul as a standard."
In short, even when I don't have time to pray, I have to find the time to pray. Instead of cursing the rain that's making it difficult to drive, I should praise God for bringing the rain that washes away the filth on the roads and nourishes the crops. Instead of yelling or cursing at a driver who cuts me off in traffic (he can't hear me anyway!), I need to pray that the errant driver arrives safely at the destination he is hurrying to.
The other method I'm going to try to employ to help my prayer life is to get to confession at least every 3 weeks. Some people think that's excessive. I don't think so. How can trying to get all the graces I can to help me combat temptation be excessive?
We'll see how it goes. I've got confidence that Blessed Mother Mary will help me, so how can it go wrong?
2 comments:
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Lovely sharp post. Never thought that it was this easy. Extolment to you!
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