If you’re like me, you may have a list of things that you will do “someday.” Someday I will run a marathon. Someday I will climb Mount Washington. Someday I will make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Someday I will cook vegetables better. Someday I will locate the replacement parts for that broken bike rack. Someday…
You may even place conditions on that “someday” that would allow you to do the thing you wish to do, if only things were more perfect. “Someday when I’m retired and have free time galore,” I will serve the homeless on the streets. “Someday when the kids aren’t already in bed,” I’ll practice my musical instrument and join an orchestra. “Someday when it’s not so dark in the Massachusetts morning,” I’ll get out there and run every day. Someday when…
We do have a way of complicating things, don’t we? Have you ever had a time when you finally just decided to do something? Finally? I did. Since I moved to the Connecticut coast for work in the late 90’s the idea occurred to me that I would really like to try kayaking. As a Boy Scout, I had learned how to do it, but never had my own boat. Frequent vistas of Long Island Sound on ordinary drives or bike rides tempted me to explore the smooth coves and winding estuaries I saw every day. I never got a kayak in those years, but kept thinking, “Someday I’d like to do that.” Years went by. I kept on with all my other pursuits, biking and skiing. Finally, 12 years and many moves after first thinking about it, I said to myself, “I’m just going to do it.” And I set about taking kayaks on test paddles, going on kayak tours with a rented boat, and finally found just the right used kayak to strap onto my roof rack. Right away, I was exploring Boston’s Charles River, the Ipswich, the Danvers and more. It was exactly as enjoyable as I thought it would be. Why did I take so long?
Perhaps you’ve thought about having a better spiritual life. Maybe it occurred to you years ago. Maybe you’ve noticed others who have a particular way of viewing the events of their lives, through the eyes of faith, and you wonder how they got that way. There are likely two main ways: prayer, and the sacraments. Our prayer life is the place where we speak to God, and where He speaks to us. It is the place where our souls are opened wider and wider to God’s grace, and the spiritual soil of our inner selves is tilled, and made fertile to receive God’s Word, and so to bear fruit in all areas of our lives. If this is something that has ever occurred to you, or occurs to you now, reading this, I invite you to take your first step today.
Maybe you look at the disorder and distress of our world, and in so many corners of society and wonder, where can I find peace? Where can my family find a place to grow in peace, in faith, in hope, and in love? The answer is in a shared life of family prayer.
If you’re like me, you too can’t believe the kinds of things you’re seeing happening to families, to couples, to young people; or maybe you just wonder—What can we do? Isn’t there anything more? The answer is yes. Jesus told us in the clearest terms: “…where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20, NABRE). That means that you are inviting the Lord Jesus to be present with your family in whatever situation you find yourselves today. He will be with you. When you pray together, all of you will invite God’s grace into your lives—grace to grow, to trust, to understand, to persevere, and above all, to actively decide, day after day, to love one another. If you’ve been waiting to start growing in a life of prayer individually, as a couple, as a family, don’t wait, don’t say “Someday when…” Let’s pray together now.
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