The first reading of today, from Isaiah, brings two questions to mind. What can it look like to give God the first and last hour of your day? How can this aid the spiritual life?
Let us allow ourselves to ponder how we can orientate our start and end of the day to reflect the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is very common within monastic traditions to rise early before dawn and begin the day with the Lord. This is similar to the idea of offering our first fruits to the Lord, our first waking moments of the day to the Lord. Traditionally this can look like sacred silence, Liturgy of the Hours, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or a Holy Hour. Some religious communities end the day with the Liturgy of the Hours and grand silence. Within these spiritual acts, fruits, and graces flourish. Through these avenues God can reveal Himself and strengthen your identity as a daughter or son.
What Does this Look Like?
What might it look like to give God the first fruits of our day particularly as a lay person? This might have to include setting your alarm a little earlier or being mindful of the night hours to allow time to enter into prayer. Here are some practicals that come to mind.
· Limit snoozing the alarm. Make active attempts to reduce phone usage.
· Make a Daily Offering like the Prayer to the Immaculate Heart or Holy Heart of Jesus.
· Ask for our Blessed Mother and St Joseph to guide and protect you throughout the day; include any patron saint that you might have. This might also look like a daily consecration.
· Attend a Morning Daily Mass if accessible or spend time at home meditating on the daily lectionary.
· Pray with the Psalms from Morning Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours or The Little Office of the BVM).
· Hydrate the temple of your body with water before reaching for your morning caffeine. If you must eat right away, eat something whole and nourishing. God made you precious, so maybe skip the pastries and pop tarts every once in a while.
· Read the saint of the day or reflections sent out from GVM or other publications.
· Pray the Angelus.
Return the Favor
In Christ’s sufferings, we can be transformed. During His last moments on the Cross, He thought of each and every one of us. Let us return the favor before we slumber. For the Evening time, here are some ideas:
· Set an alarm one hour before your ideal/or practical bedtime to remind yourself to wind down for the evening. Make your nightly dishes or cleanup around the house a prayer.
· Daily Examine, focus on where God was present or maybe where God is inviting you to change.
· Make a Nightly Offering like the prayer from St Alphonsus.
· Pray with the Psalms from Evening or Night Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours or The Little Office of the BVM).
· Ask for St Michael’s and your Guardian Angel to guide and protect you throughout the night so you may rise to glorify God.
· Do not let your phone be the last thing you look at or think about before bed. Create healthy space.
Surely, we can select one or two items to add to our morning or evening to reorientate our time to God. When we are open to the Holy Spirit and allow the Spirit to cultivate our lives by the richness of the Church, God seated in Heaven will make Himself present in the smallest or grandest ways. You and I are His sons and daughters! He has crafted the greatest plans. He has chosen you for a mission. A mission to unite intimately with His will and serve the universal body of Christ, the Church. By ordering our lives to Him, He will become actively present and order all of the light and darkness in our lives. Join me because I surely need to work on creating intentional space for God too.
