Spiritual Practices

A common practice many of us use to grow spiritually is to make spiritual commitments. For example, we may commit to saying the Rosary each day. We may commit to attending a weekday Mass each week. We may commit to pray for a different friend each day. We may even commit to fast one day each week.

All of these spiritual commitments are good...

However, many times we make these commitments and then become unnecessarily stuck to them. We must remember that these commitments only have value for as long as they are leading us closer to God.

If you commit to pray the Rosary every day you must ask an important question- for how many days? Praying the Rosary every day for a month, even a year is a great commitment, but praying it every day for the rest of your life is a completely unfair responsibility to give yourself.

I am not calling for a generation of spiritual quitters, I am just trying to put things in perspective. For example, if you pray the Rosary every day for a month and find yourself growing more each day... then by all means... commit to pray it every day for another month. But if you find yourself resenting your prayer time... perhaps at the end of the month you should take on another challenge.

For example, I made a commitment at the beginning of this year to spend time each day writing spiritual poetry. I naively believed that my love for reading poetry should correspond to a love for writing poetry... it does not. I find that I dread sitting down with my notebook.

Of course spiritual challenges should be difficult and make us a little uncomfortable, but writing poetry makes me so uncomfortable that I have found myself not only resenting the practice of writing but resenting God for "calling me to do it."

Then I remembered... God didn't "call me to do this," I called myself to do it in order to find God. I chose a path that I thought would lead to God and it didn't. I shouldn't continue running down the old path... I should find a new one.

A friend told me that she felt guilty because she could not attend daily Mass like she had committed to do a couple months ago. She made this commitment to get closer to God but now finds that she feels guilty and like she has let God down... how sad!

I'm not really sure how to wrap this post up except to impart some wisdom... everyone needs to make these spiritual commitments in order to challenge themselves and grow. But if you find that your commitment is leading you away from God- ABANDON SHIP. Make a new commitment, find a new path.... do whatever you need to do to make sure that you are headed closer to God.

Amen, alleluia.

A Note From Lilith

I just received word from my friend Lilith in the Philippines. She is asking that everyone continue to hold her country and her people in your prayers. As many of you know there has been severe flooding in the region for some time now.

Lilith is a professor at St. Scholastica's University and just graduated with a doctorate in ministry from the Catholic Theological Union here in Chicago. She said that she has taken the rest of the semester off from teaching in order to assist with the relief efforts.

The picture below is of two boys searching through what remains of their home. Lilith took this picture herself. Even those who have not been directly effected by the waters have been profoundly affected. Please pray. Peace turtles!

Help Our Kids!

There was a boy beaten to death in front of his school here in Chicago about two weeks ago. There were many witnesses- it was even caught on tape.

Two other students have already been killed this school year- at schools- by guns.

Last week, another youth- away from school- was beaten to death while witnessing a street fight on the south side.

On average, over the last three years, 30 students are killed while in attending the Chicago Public Schools.

Last July, two teenagers were shot outside of a gym at their Catholic Church; also here on the south side.

I don’t mean to bash the public school system or anyone else. But I encourage you to look up and read these stories (they are all on Google News). I was going to give you the URLs, but making you search for them yourselves will force you to stumble upon the stories of countless other youths who have been killed in our city.

I hope these stories make you sick. I hope they make you angry. I hope they change your life and force you act. I hope these stories make you fall to your knees and pray more urgently than you ever have before. I hope they transform your heart and make it eager to advocate for our young people.

Think… Pray… Act. Peace turtles!