She laments that almost half of Catholics in a
survey responded that they “don’t believe God is a personal God.” So she created this list of ways to enhance
your personal relationship with our Lord.
Some of the ways are just stunning.
All fifty are intriguing, but here are a few of my favorites.
“1. Close your eyes and just repeat the name of
Jesus.”
Wow, I know that’s incredibly simple but it just
blew me right off my chair. How
easy. One can do it in the middle of a
boring meeting at work, during a commercial while watching TV, while waiting at
a bus stop, sitting on an airplane waiting to take off, laying in a hammock on
a summer afternoon. Anywhere, anytime.
“5. Pray the news. Beg mercy for sinners, healing
for the infirm, justice and peace and God’s will in all things.”
I bet that creates so much less anxiety in reading
the news.
“20. When you kneel before the priest in confession,
be mindful of the fact that you’re kneeling at the foot of the Cross accusing
yourself before the God who hangs dying to save you. Hate your sin but let him
love you just the same.”
“29. Some time when you’re not tired, lie down in
the sun and try to be still with the Lord. You may drift in and out of sleep
but you may also surrender your mind and actually manage silence.
“34. Pray for an image of your relationship with
Christ–lovers, knight and squire, father and child, king and slave, comrades at
arms–and learn through that.”
And finally for those who can’t muster more from
their relationship with God:
“50. Go through the motions if it’s the best you can
do. It’s better than nothing.”
Check out her blog and let me know which of the
fifty are your favorites.
Wow, I bookmarked her post to refer to , and immediately posted the CS Lewis quote as my facebook status!
ReplyDeleteRemember: “[God] will give us feelings of love [toward Him] if He pleases. We cannot create them for ourselves, and we must not demand them as a right. But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.” -C.S. Lewis.
I love Lectio Devina. Hard for me to stop long enough to do it though. Therefore I do the praying on the run thing all the time. :)
I do the nightly written-down examination of conscience during Lent--but really should do it all the time. I forget a lot of what I do during a day.
Totally agree about going to adoration and just processing till I'm done and empty.
Thanks for posting this. I hadn't heard of this blogger before either.
I know what you mean about having enough personal time for Lectio Devina. The only times I've been able to do it has been when I'm on a business trip and alone in a hotel room at night. Glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteIn my old age, I can't believe that every body would not be thinking of GOD (Good Old Dad) at least fifty times a day but then I start to recall some of the things that I thought and did when I was younger and then calm down a little. :)
ReplyDelete(lol)
God Bless
Victor, I think about Good Old Dad about 50 times a day, but because I'm not that old yet, it's mostly on the line of...."uh oh...." ;-)
ReplyDelete