Hello Friends!!

Life can be busy sometimes and it can be easy to forget about our faith.

However, it is such a consolation to know that Christ will never forget about us. 

He is constantly calling us back to Himself and will never leave us. 

With just a little effort, we can be reminded of His love and the greatness of His Church through our daily routine. 

Start your day by dedicating it to Jesus and Mary:  What better way to start your day than to dedicate it to our Lord and His Mother?  By taking just a few seconds, you can place all of your troubles into his hands and know that they are in the right place.  It can’t get much better than that!

Make specific resolutions every morning:  So many of the churches best and brightest have all advocated this little daily habit.  St. Ignatius of Loyola literally says that if you can judge the effectiveness of prayer by the resolutions that we come to.  By taking a few minutes to choose a few things to work on, commit to, or strive towards, we can completely change the course of our day.

Limit internet time:  Disclaimer:  I will never say that there isn’t a place for the internet in our day and age.  Because there is.  It can be used for so many good things and can truly bring people closer to Christ in subtle, yet moving, ways.  But it is so easy to get sucked into a dependence of our Wi-Fi connection.  If it becomes a lifeline for us, then maybe it’s time to take some of it out of our routine.  There are so many other things that we could work into could schedule instead!!

Never underestimate the power of a good book/Bible time:  A good book can also be just what we need to bring a little inspiration into our day.  Reading the lives of the saints or their writings is a wonderful way to stay connected with those exemplary heroes of the church.  Blocking off time in our day to study scripture is another wonderful thing to remind us of Christ’s love and care of us.

Don’t put off what could be done now:  ‘Later’ is like the big, bad, robber of all good intentions and hopes.  Ha.  If every wonderful person who ever had a wonderful idea just went right to it, we would probably have a world without cancer or hungry children.  And we would also have a lot of prayer warriors!!  Never put those important aspects of your life like faith or family on the back burner!!

Make the effort to utilize your God given talents:  God has given each and every one of us so many gifts.  By them, we are called to bring others to Him in radical ways and strive for greatness ourselves.  By using the talents that we possess, whatever they be, we bring glory to God in a whole new way.  We become like a window through which others can see God.  And that is a pretty awesome job!!

Commit to daily prayer:  There is nothing like having a lunch date with a close friend, right?  Well, time spent in prayer with Our Lord is just as important to our day.  Christ longs to hear our voices calling to Him.  Just as a friend is always there to listen to anything we have to say, Jesus never stops listening.  By committing to daily prayer, even if for five minutes, we can strengthen our relationship with God, just as our earthly friendships are enriched by little encounters each day.

Join the universal church in the daily readings:  There is something so intriguing about the Roman Missal.  Knowing that the same readings are read in every single church in all of the world is kind of amazing!!  By reading the daily readings, we can all come together to appreciate the universal aspect of the Catholic Church.  It encompasses every race, culture, country, language, and mindset as one church united.  And that is a truly beautiful gift we have!

I hope you all have a blessed weekend!!

Maddy