Set aside a few minutes each day

Well… We have finally finished the holidays, the Christmas time of year ended last week and we are back into Ordinary time. We have gone back to the green vestments for the Masses, and at the school, we are in the time that I call the one of the “long haul.” The time between Christmas and Spring Break. The kids are coming off of their post-Christmas sugar and present highs, and they have a couple of months before Spring Break happens, but there is still a lot to do in classes. In the school this can be a challenging time, because even though the daylight is getting longer each day, because we are still in the heart of winter, it is still cold out so the kids don’t always get to go outside for recess so they can get some fresh air.

This can also be challenging for us adults for the same reasons. The days can be dreary and short. We can easily find ourselves getting into a funk and have a lack of energy. This is also the average time in which a majority of people have fallen away from their New Year’s resolution. Hopefully we can get back on track with it, or maybe switch to something new, maybe spending some more time each day to pray. The challenge is that sometimes we just want to do something more, like go to the gym more, or eat less, or lose weight, but we do not set any real goals. We can do the same thing in our spiritual life, we can say that we want to pray more, or spend more time with God, but if we really do not set anything specific, it can just go to the side.

Adding to our prayer life does not always mean something big. Maybe we can set a goal to every day at the beginning or end of our lunch time to pray a decade of the rosary, it only takes a few minutes to do that, but it can really change our attitudes each day. I know a couple of people who set an alarm every day to say a short prayer asking for God’s guidance. I know someone else who once a month sets an appointment to do something nice for his wife, sometimes sends her flowers out of the blue, or brings her home something else that she likes. I myself, set aside the first time in the morning every day to pray for at least half an hour. It is a great way for me to start the day. I know that this is not always an option, especially if you have a family and kids getting up, but even 5 to 10 minutes in the morning would help, or as we get into the car after work and spend some time in prayer. One of the most helpful things we can do for ourselves and our families is to pray for God’s will to flow through ourselves to those that we love. So… find some time each and every day to attach ourselves to the God who is love.

God bless,
Fr. Ken