Almost Wrecked Christmas

My regular prayer life includes the morning and night prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours and I've added daily mass. All through Advent, these prayer activities kept me tied to the liturgical season. They helped me stay expectantly hopeful to God.

I took time off between Christmas and New Year's. My schedule changed, and so did my prayer routine. We slept until our boys got us up; we went on family outings; and our normal routine was very different. It was wonderful! However, I wasn't praying.

Part way through last week, I had a down day. We had an issue at work, and I spent a few hours working from home helping to resolve the issue. I got a little depressed thinking about how my vacation was ending. This depression was a result of being away from God for too long.

I need my regular prayer to stay close to God. It keeps me connected to the liturgical seasons and to the Holy Spirit's influence in my life. Because of the hiatus from prayer, I missed out on the joyfulness conveyed by the church. I missed the celebration!

Fortunately, I realized that my spiritual tank was empty when I went to mass for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. It reminded me that I needed my regular prayer life and I needed to stay close to God. I was able to capture some of the joy the church conveys, and I'm hoping to carry it forward into the new year!

Staying Close to God

I've taken vacation over the Christmas holidays. With the kids being off of school too, my daily schedule has been different. I haven't spent as much time praying as I normally do.

Last night and earlier this morning I was feeling very anxious and edgy. This morning I spent some time in prayer, and I feel much better. The experience underscores the idea that we must stay close to God through prayer.

As human beings, it is easy to get discouraged in our prayer. We may not see the immediate effects that prayer has. Yet, it is critical that we continue to pray so that we stay close to God. Through prayer we receive the consolation that St. Paul talks about. Prayer is the link that God uses to communicate with us.

Keep praying. It keeps us going.

Angering Article About Charitable Giving

I read an article yesterday that really made me mad! The article was about how religious people donate more to charity than non-religious people. The author used the article as a call-to-arms for atheists to "catch up" in their charitable giving.

(NOTE: I generally like the Get Rich Slowly blog. I was hesitant to publish my post because I think the blog is generally helpful. However, the post in question really pissed me off, and I needed to rant to get it out of my system.)

The author of the article has missed the true crux of the matter: religious people donate more because they are focused on something other than themselves! I know this is a tough message, but it's the truth. I donate money, clothing, time, etc. because I genuinely want to help people because I believe that my God is calling me to do that.

I want to call non-religious people to search their hearts for the reason that as a group their charitable giving is lower. If they honestly look for a truthful answer, they will find God waiting for them.

Litany of St. Joseph

I saw this link posted on Twitter. http://happycatholic.blogspot.com/2009/11/friday-litany-litany-of-st-joseph.html

Suffering Servant and Our Call to Service

I work as the manager of a small software development team. Lately, my team has been under a lot of pressure with a large workload, and I've been working quite a bit. This weekend has been especially stressful and busy.

Last night at mass, the first reading was from the book of Isaiah. It was one of the suffering servant songs that appears in the book of Isaiah. (Is 53:10-11) My pastor's homily talked a little about the suffering servant songs, and it got me curious. This morning I read all four of the suffering servant songs in Isaiah. (Is 42:1-4, Is 49:1-7, Is 50:4-11, Is 52:13-53:12) Reading these poems gave me a much better perspective on my current workload.

It is really easy to get down on oneself during times of exhaustion and great stress. If we look on these times with the eyes of the suffering servant, we realize that we are specifically called by God to be his instrument. (Is 49:1-2) We also realize that being God's servant entails a lot of work without reward, and possibly suffering (Is 49:4). The end of Is 49:4 gives us insight into our reward:

Yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God.

These passages from Isaiah give me hope during this stressful time. The servant songs remind me that I was specifically created by God for a special purpose. Even though I may not see the fruits of my labor, my reward will be with God. I just have to trust Him.

Novenas

I was on a search for novenas and found the following ones. I didn't want to lose them, so I'm posting them here.

Novena to St. Nicholas I

Novena to St. Nicholas II

Novena to the Holy Family

Novena to Our Lady of Hope

Novena for the Conversion of Sinners

Interesting Background on Liturgy of the Hours

Here is an article about the origins of the Liturgy of the Hours that I thought was interesting.