Prayer is important in all seasons, but it is especially important in Lent during your process of spiritual spring cleaning. So often we can go through our routines dedicated to our goals, but find ourselves simply going through the motions with cluttered or offset motivations and mentalities. Just like fasting and almsgiving, prayer does not have to take the traditional religious forms we learned growing up, but the principles of prayer can be applied in many other small ways. A person can read the Bible for hours or say seven rosaries a day but fail to grow in holiness if their motivation is off. Just like if a baseball player practices for hours with the wrong technique, the result can be more harm than good because their mind wasn’t in the right place.
Are you taking the opportunity to meet with your coach, get their advice, watch training videos, or read about the ways you can get better? Are you examining your mentality, motivations, and mindset as you approach the upcoming season? What are you doing to sharpen, learn, and refine your focus so that you’re ready when the big day comes to get out on the field? Unless you’re willing to put in the work, game day isn’t going to be all that it can be.
Easter is the same way. The most glorious celebration in the Church year can become just another Sunday if we’re not willing to put in a little work to make it all that it’s meant to be, but don’t waste this season on big efforts with poor motivation. Find some small sacrificial ways to communicate with God each day and let those ways guide you toward bigger strides.
