This is a HUGE question, which a book could be written on.

It's not just about prayers, though piety is very important. In fact, he who does not pray will not save his soul. That is not my opinion, but rather is what all the saints tell us. The Rosary is a good minimum to start out with. You can say it throughout the day if you're extremely busy. But the fact is, you make time for what you care about. If you REALLY WANTED to say the Rosary every day, you would find the time. You can say it while driving, for instance (though it's not the best time -- you can be very distracted on the road).

You have to make the faith the center of your life -- why you chose the house/car/job/school you did, who you hang out with, how much you spend, what you eat, how you spend your time, how you decorate your house, etc.

All of those things should be chosen based on a prayerful, "What does God want me to do?" God's will is manifest in many ways, but usually in the voice of one's parents or superiors. If you are an adult, then it is usually manifest by the circuмstances you are placed. Sometimes it's hard to discern, but that's what meditation and prayer is for.

To see what it REALLY means to be Catholic, I suggest reading some books about the saints' lives. There are hundreds and thousands of saints to read about -- some we know very little about (the early martyrs, for example) but many are very well-docuмented. There are large books about some of the saints, and I strongly suggest you check them out. (http://www.chantcd.com/books.htm) They came from all walks of life, and were all races, shapes and sizes. Several saints had a lot in common with you -- I can say that with a fair degree of certainty. But you can see how they lived their life in a Catholic way. For the saint, going to Mass is a logical extension of the rest of his life. There should be no "jarring" or "dual-life" switching back and forth from "Catholic" to "fits in with the world" like an old manual car that needs transmission work.

Saturday: That car is awe-SOME! I can't wait to get a car like that. Hey can we stop at Best Buy a sec? ..... Hey what movie you guys wanna watch tonight?
CLUNK!
Sunday: In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritui Sancti. Amen. (opens missal to the 17th Sunday after Pentecost...)
CLUNK, CLUNK!
Monday: (phone rings) "Hey man, what's up! Yeah, she's pretty hot isn't she. Hey I'll be over in a few minutes -- sounds like fun!" (and then proceed to a party, which uses up the remaining free time in the day, preventing you from saying the Rosary, doing any spiritual reading, etc...)

I think I made my point

Above all, we must cast off the world if we are going to build up a Catholic life in its place. The world around us today is completely incompatible with the Catholic way of life. That is why I don't have a TV set. The TV puts forth the spirit of the world, which is as opposed to the spirit of Christ as the devil is opposed to Christ. The TV also causes much waste of time that God gave us. Every minute will have to be accounted for at the judgement. I waste plenty of time on the Internet without having a TV set to tempt me with lazy, passive entertainment. It's like junk food -- you never REALLY develop a strong distaste for it. As long as you're human, it will appeal to your lower nature.

We need to shut out the constant noise from our soul -- we need quiet and concentration sometimes, so that we CAN pray. I don't think we need so many music-playing devices (home stereo, car stereo, iPod, cell phone, computer, etc.) -- when are we supposed to be alone with our conscience, able to think about God and eternal things?

Same for visual noise -- get rid of as much advertising exposure as possible (another good reason to get rid of the TV). Throw away the newspaper ads, don't pay for shirts that are basically advertisements (they should pay YOU!), stop shopping just for fun, etc. Instead, fill your house with sacred artwork, crucifixes, and things to remind you of what you CAN'T see around you -- the Blessed Virgin, heaven, the last judgment, the saints who have won heaven, etc.

Matthew

Of course, a hundred years ago, you could be recollected even while cooking, doing the dishes, cleaning the house, etc. because there weren't nearly as many distractions.

You could pray and work at the same time -- one could be more in touch with the fact that God is everywhere. The more modern things are, the more it feels like "man is king", and that isn't good.

The closest I've come to experiencing that way of life is when I'm outside in my garden -- I feel completely dependent on God, and there is nothing to make me think I'm not just a creature. It's much more humbling than, say, working at NASA.

Matthew

The other interesting thing about really living a Catholic life, is that the more you get into it "with your whole heart, and your whole soul, and your whole strength" (like we're supposed to do), the more that those things which take us away from the spiritual life begin to taste like poison to us.

Example: I was once the kind of person who would watch just about anything on the box (that wasn't blatantly x rated), as long as it moved. Movies AND TV... At some point, I realized that the TV was full of crap that wasn't even really interesting... to say nothing of how immoral it was. Over time, TV got so bad that even a worldly, comatose Catholic soul could see it was rank with immorality. Finally I got the picture and stopped watching it. For a while I kind of missed sitting there letting my brain rot out of my skull... but over time something strange happened. I didn't miss it anymore. What's more, when I saw it again, I was sickened by exactly the same kinds of garbage I'd been watching.

Same thing with movies. I watched the modern movies right along side the godless masses... till I realized they were so immoral and full of error, filth and even outright blasphemy, that no Catholic should be watching them. So I quit watching modern movies for the most part (Exceptions included Lord of the Rings and The Passion, for instance.) Now I squirm at the very thought of modern movies, or in fact, of MOST movies in general! Finally, I gave up the last kind I enjoyed because frankly... I wasn't enjoying them much anymore. I LOVED some parts... and those parts I yet mourn not being able to watch... but sprinkled in, like those nasty ice chips in your favorite ice cream, or a fly in your favorite soup, was more of the same garbage... just a bit "tamer."

Even the old black and white movies are full of plunging necklines, materialism, worldly philosophies glittering everywhere, and feminist propaganda. (Among other things.) Gone With the Wind is a famous epic... about a selfish, conceited, immoral woman who is willing to do anything to get her way... including running off with another woman's husband and blatantly defying the purpose of marriage if it suits her. One actress in another movie says proudly to her divorced mother about her divorce, "it's the only thing a girl could do and keep her self respect." ... She was wearing pants, of course, in an age when girls and women just didn't. The Maltese Falcon... Mr Spade (I believe it was) to the woman, "What have you offered me besides money?" The woman: "What else is there I can buy you with?" and he kisses her, and it's an 'uninvited' kiss, I might add. And these are the "good old movies" before they had women baring all on screen... All you have to be is alive and awake to realize modern movies pretty much cover the breaking of as many commandments as possible in a 2 hour span. Catholics are still watching?

The point being... there may be a lot of things you might not think you could live without. Something like TV may be one of them. But the more you begin thinking about and LEARNING (more importantly) about God and the kind of life we should be living, the more many of those things we thought we couldn't live without, begin to make us sick.

As one priest eloquently pointed out, it's no good (or at least not much good, since these things are very powerful) to go to a nice Latin Mass on Sunday, say your rosary and hang up the Sacred Heart picture, if your life and your home... and worse still, your head and your heart... are full of things that offend Him. It takes lots of Catholic guts (and sometimes a miracle of God's grace) for us to admit that some of the things we love or do, or maybe the way we live or the attitudes we have are actually offensive to God. But it's the first step toward getting yourself into a life that you won't mind having to account for at the judgment seat.

We can be hypocrites or we can be Catholics. Hey, the pharisees lived their religion to the letter of the law outwardly. But if then we say we love God and live lives that in so many ways offend Him, we're only fooling ourselves. Better to face the truth, which is the only road to real peace and real friendship with God.

Besides... we might actually learn how to read again!

 :reading:

Has Ts26 ever read Isabella Of Spain by Walsh?