Pray-As-You-Go
I am a collector of resources. I love to accumulate resources that may be helpful to others along the way. Today I want to share one with you.
Reoriented
Every day when I drop my kids off at school, I finish my daily commute with the Pray-as-you-go podcast. This 10-13 minute Jesuit ministry has become a staple for my prayer life, particularly on week days. Their simple format guides me with the help of music, Scripture reading, and questions of reflection and invitation. Each day I find myself awakened as the reader introduces the day. “Today is Wednesday, 9 September, the Memorial of St. Peter Claver, SJ, in the Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time.” Yes, the reader speaks with a British accent, but what really awakes me is the way the reader reminds us of a different concept of time. The liturgical calendar orients our lives to the life of Christ and the church.
Ordinary Time
“The twenty-third week of ordinary time”—the hallowing of the ordinary, the mundane, the monotonous—calls me to name this day as sacred. This act provides the lens through which to see my day, as holy in the midst of its monotony. In the midst of getting kids ready for school, making lunches, daily commutes, growing to-do lists, endless soccer practices, mind-numbing work, caring for a fussy child, another game of My Little Ponies, all of this that can feel like a hamster wheel, this day is holy. Not because we are producing so much (although we may be), not because the work we are doing is particularly special (although it might be), but because God has created you, me, this day and everything in it and is mysteriously at work in the world. In this holy monotony, the sacred lens through which to view the world transforms the world into a sacramental mystery, endless opportunities to discover the presence of God.
Pace
I am struck by how, in keeping this simple ritual, I find myself less hurried and more open to receive that which is before me. Even when my day may begin with my shoulders up to my ears with tension and my mind trying to maintain a frenetic pace, this time of prayer slows me down enough to get my attention, slows down my breathing, and releases the craving for ultimate control. I stop grasping and am more open. Now I am more attentive—attentive to others, myself, and to God. And I can begin my day, just as the prayer ends.
Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and evermore shall be world without end. Amen.
