Let's face it. Every one of us probably has a daily routine. We've got work, school, social life (or some of us do, anyhow), family duties, house work, etc... And after all that, most of us are so tired, that when our priest or someone tells us it's not enough to just go to church on Sunday and say the rosary, our involuntary first reaction is to want to... well...

 

... Ok. But the fact of the matter is, it's very easy to forget one very important thing. And the reason I'm posting it again, is precisely because we do forget. (All of us, myself included of course.)

Just because we have duties doesn't mean we can't "pray always". We do this by offering up all of our works, and in short, everything, to God. Which... let's be honest... we usually forget to do. Because it's one thing to do it at the beginning of the day in general, and another thing to offer up even a few major things (like the ones we really, really hate doing) in particular.

Well, we should at least cover the "general" offering in the morning. Of course it's better if we catch ourselves before our work or before something that's hard for us, and offer it specifically. And let's not forget, it helps if we actually say, "I offer it for the poor souls" or "in reparation to the Sacred Heart for all the offenses committed against it" or something specific. This way, we remind ourselves who exactly will benefit, and we may be more likely to catch particular things and offer them up, or make the most insignificant acts of the day meritorious by doing them as an act of love.

In this way, even our busy, hectic lives can benefit ourselves and others, and we enter more fully into the work of the truly Christian soul... loving our neighbors, and not just ourselves, and of course, "praying always".

I wrote this as much to remind myself as anyone else, but of course, even as I often forget, we're all only human, and many others therefore forget just as quickly and easily as myself. (With life in this insane world, that's not terribly surprising, except in the sense that we all, I'm sure, need to work on that bond of love which makes forgetting almost impossible.)

So, as a random act of kindness, I thought I'd share this, and these words, which I hope will inspire and remind all of you as they did for me. I borrowed them from "Prayers and Heavenly Promises" ... which I unfortunately can't really recommend, because some of the prayers in it are frankly dubious. (Though there are many traditional devotions in it, and it DOES have information on many devotions. So if you don't mind sifting for your tradition...)

Anyhow...

Words of Our Lord Himself:

"If a person is engaged in work of no value in itself, if she bathes it in My Blood or unites it to the work I Myself did during my mortal life, it will greatly profit souls... more, perhaps, than if she had preached to the whole world. You will be able to save many souls that way." -to Sr. Josefa Menendez

"Whosoever shall breathe a sigh toward Me from the bottom of his heart when he awakes in the morning, and shall ask Me to work all his works in him throughout the day, will draw Me to him... For never does a man breathe a sigh of longing aspiration toward Me without drawing Me nearer to him than I was before." - to St. Mechtilde

"It is not merely by praying that souls are saved, but through the actions of even the most ordinary lives lived for God... Offer Me everything united to My life on earth... Offer me all the crosses of the world. There are so many, and few think of offering them to Me in expiation for sins..." - to Gabrielle Bossis