A Formula for Growing in the Faith

During of an evening of discussion with fellow Catholic men, one member of our group offered that he struggled to give his days to Lord.  This comment spurred considerable discussion and debate.

In retrospection, each of us agreed that we needed to grow and avoid stagnation in our spiritual lives.  But how does one intentionally grow in the Faith?  How does one avoid stagnation and backsliding into sin and apathy?

These may be good questions for many Catholics to ponder as we begin a new calendar year.

A Lesson from Franklin

During our discussion, we talked about what every day should include and look like.  We all agreed each day should include prayer and an examination of conscience.

After taking some time to reflect, Benjamin Franklin’s precept of order for a day came to mind.  This simple daily structure is presented in his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin: AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  Dr. Franklin set aside time each day for work, diversion, and reflection.  In his autobiography, Franklin breaks his day down into six distinct parts.

From 5 a.m. to 8 a.m., he would: “Rise, wash, and address Powerful Goodness!  Contrive day’s business and take a resolution of the day; prosecute the present study, and breakfast.  Question – What good shall I do this day?”

Between 8 a.m. and Noon he would work.

From Noon to 2 p.m., he took time to “Read, overlook accounts, and dine.”

Then he would again work from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., he would end his day.  During this time he “Put things in their places.  Supper.  Music or diversion, or conversation.  Examine the day.  Question – What good have I done today?”

From 10 p.m. to 5 p.m., he planned to sleep.

Bookend the Day with Prayer and Reflection

Franklin began his day by addressing “Powerful Goodness!”  This is his way of saying pray to our Divine Father. He started his day spending time asking for help and guidance from our Creator.

Franklin book-ended his day.  He began his day asking, “What good shall I do this day?” He ended his day with a reality check, asking himself, “What good have I done today?”

This is an excellent practice performed by many Catholics for centuries.  Many of us begin the day praying the Morning Offering Morning Offering | USCCB, and end the day with one of many possible Evening Prayers  (Evening Prayer – Prayers – Catholic Online).

Don’t Get Caught by Surprise

Accepting the discipline of daily prayer and reflection is one challenge.  Looking at our time holistically is more difficult.

Many of us agreed that often Holy days of obligation catch us by surprise.  There is no reason for this.  Be that as it may, all of us confessed that it is common to find ourselves rushing at the end of the day to catch the last Ash Wednesday or Ascension Mass.

Holy Days of Obligation are predictable.  It is easy to look up what days they fall on years out into the future.

To avoid being surprised, one can put the Holy Days of Obligation into a yearly calendar now.  Some of us even agreed that scheduling days off with our employers at the start of the year would help avoid the excuse of missing Mass.

We also chatted about how our parishes would announce the dates of a retreat with just two weeks’ notice, sometimes even less.  With the challenges or our jobs and families, two weeks is just not enough notice.

However, we later admitted that these announcements often occurred after a general announcement about the retreat, sans dates, had been posted in the church bulletin for months.  Just as holy days of obligation are predictable, so is our need to escape the daily grind of the world for a spiritual reset.

Just as one can put the Holy Days of Obligation into a calendar now, one can also schedule a retreat.  Parishes often use a repeating schedule making the weekend for the next retreat very predictable.  Retreat centers often post events a year out.  There is no need to go a year without going on retreat.

Select Things to Spur Growth

After much discussion, one member of our group noted that we were talking primarily about schedules.  Schedules, it was pointed out, do not really foster spiritual growth.

Our discussion then shifted to different rituals and practices that many of us had learned about, saw spiritual value in, but never adopted.  As much as many of us wanted to embrace specific traditions, we knew that if we tried to do them all, we would end up doing none of them.

That supposition acted as a compass for temperance.  There was general agreement that it is better to focus on a few things each year with different levels of effort and commitment, then doing nothing at all.  We talked about different practices, and loosely binned them into three different groups.

One grouping was customs, rituals, or practices that if adopted will continue to be carried out every year.  An example would be chalking of the doors on Epiphany.

A second grouping was daily or weekly practices that will be carried out continuously once adopted.  Examples would be praying all four mysteries of the rosary each week or praying for the dead each day.

Several ideas of practices that are basically single events were offered.  We also talked about wanting to visit a shrine or cathedral, or attending a Byzantine or Latin Mass. Perhaps looking up an old theology teacher to thank him or her, or if we are ‘too late,’ to visit the teachers grave.  Studying a particular topic like apologetics or Dante’s Divine Comedy was another good suggestion.  Some suggested actually finishing something, like engraving the family bible with the family’s sacrament dates.

Putting the Pieces Together

Of course, it’s almost impossible to do all of these things.  Why not pick just three to five things like this each year, and purposely do them?  Such things are deeply personnel and vary depending on where one is in one’s spiritual journey.

By taking the individual elements laid out and putting them together, a simple formula for spiritual growth begins to take shape.

• Start holistically and plan to honor our Holy Days of Obligation.
• Schedule an annual retreat to escape the deafening noise of our daily lives.
• Choose three to five new things to drive growth in one’s spiritual life.
• Bookend each day with prayer and reflection.

By themselves, each of these elements are not hard.  Altogether they are challenging and require deliberate effort and discipline.  The alternative, however, is to let the day own you.