I went to lock up the church last night as usual on my duty day, and took the opportunity for a few minutes of meditation before the Blessed Sacrament. I was amazed at how long it took me to put aside all the various crazy thoughts that flow through one's mind during the day. Admittedly I was tired, and was distracted by the burn on my arm, but even so I found it strange to find so much going through my mind when I was trying to turn to God.
Distractions in prayer are a problem for everyone, from saints to the newly baptized. It's not unusual to find one's mind wandering, even as you try to keep it chained to God. Normally my advice to others is to give a jerk on the mind's collar the way we would call a dog to attention. But on this night, at any rate, things just kept pouring out of what ever crevasses of my mind they had their origin, and gibbering.
I've been noticing how I have been off the practice of martial exercises since injuring my knee, but I had not realized exactly how much busyness was holding back my mind from focusing rapidly and simply on the Jesus I love. I have to take more time for this kind of meditation, and, incidentally, start some aikido stretches as well. Mens sana in corpore sano, and all that.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Sunday, July 24, 2016
St. Mary Magdalen - July 22
Today is the feast of Saint Mary Magdalen. I decided today to begin to write a little each day, so that writing becomes a habit for me.
Saint Mary Magdalen is a wonderful patron for the Dominican Order, since it was she who, at the command of the Lord, preached the truth of his resurrection to the apostles. Furthermore, as she turns again and again to the Lord, she becomes a model of penitence, and of daily penance. I find her to be wonderful personal patron as well. I seem to spend my life constantly turning to the small things of religious life again and again. Above all, I need to keep turning back to prayer as a way to find a balance in life, and to develop a life which is fruitful in preaching.
Saint Mary Magdalen, pray for us.
Saint Mary Magdalen is a wonderful patron for the Dominican Order, since it was she who, at the command of the Lord, preached the truth of his resurrection to the apostles. Furthermore, as she turns again and again to the Lord, she becomes a model of penitence, and of daily penance. I find her to be wonderful personal patron as well. I seem to spend my life constantly turning to the small things of religious life again and again. Above all, I need to keep turning back to prayer as a way to find a balance in life, and to develop a life which is fruitful in preaching.
Saint Mary Magdalen, pray for us.
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