Part of our series "For your spiritual growth: Help for your prayer life."
Posted 12.08.23
2024 is just around the corner. Here are easy things you can do to make the new year one of grace.
Don't try to do it all. Pick one of the following. Ask the Lord for help!
Limit screen time. Decrease your screen time by 5% every month. By the end of the year you will have spent 60% less time on the phone. This will have a dramatic impact on your capacity to hear God.
Consider going to daily Mass on Wednesdays. It's a great mid-week refresher.
Read the daily Mass readings before you start the day. You can find them here: https://bible.usccb.org. Find a word or phrase that tugs at your heart and marinate in that all day.
Go to Confession once a month. I suggest on the first Friday or Saturday because it's easy to remember. Nothing impacts your spiritual life more than absolution from sin.
Aim small, miss small. Pick one sin and focus on its removal. You don't necessarily have to conquer them all. Pick one. Stay focused. Ask the Lord to help you with that one sin.
Pick one person to disciple this year. You don't have to save the world, but you can invest in one soul. Ask the Lord to show who this is. Ask the Lord to show what to do. Invest in this relationship and ask the Lord to lead them to greater commitment.
Read more. Here's a suggestion. Read a good book to start the new year. Finish it before Lent. Read another for and during Lent. Read one during the summer. Read another in the fall. Finally read one during Advent. Take your time. And, here's your first book. If you haven't read this one yet, start here > The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World.
If you haven't done so already, listen to The Bible in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz. You'll learn more than you would have ever imagined.
Carve out time on Sunday nights. It's a perfect time to evaluate life before the new week starts. Ask yourself three questions every Sunday night. Question one: Generally speaking, what was the Lord saying to me this past week? What were the themes from my prayer? Question two: What were the struggles of this past week? What sin, if any, did I struggle with. Question three: What is the goal of the next seven days? What do I need to focus on this week?
Fast one day a week. Pick a day, perhaps Wednesdays or Fridays. Fast from one meal. Ask the Lord to create a spiritual hunger in you.
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