Welcome to Week 5 of our Disciples Together on the Way challenge. How did you get on last week with our six days of fasting? If you embraced the challenge, I hope you feel the better for it. I suspect that you probably do. Hence, this week, let’s continue with our theme of self-denial or, as it is traditionally called, asceticism.   

This week our focus will be to increase our self-discipline and pursuit of being spiritually healthy by beginning each day with 30 minutes of prayer. Why pray? The Catechism of the Catholic Church says this:  

“The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him.” 

Many people find that the best time to pray is first thing in the morning. I know I do. It’s certainly the best way to start our day. Now, I know that not everyone is “a morning person”.  Some of us simply struggle to get out of bed. Even if we don’t have that problem we can often develop a morning routine which creates an obstacle to prayer. Perhaps we check our mobile phone immediately after waking up. Or perhaps we turn on the television or the radio or music or read the morning newspaper before embarking upon our day-to-day activities.

Regardless of where we fall within the scale of being a morning person or not, God is always thirsting for us to turn to him in prayer. Every day. Hence, it is those precious first moments of our day that often provide us with an unparalleled opportunity to enter into a peaceful, intimate and reflective conversation with our Loving Father that we can, hopefully, sustain throughout the day. 

Over 1500 years ago in north Africa, Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote that “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek Him the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.” 

If that is so, just imagine the difference it could make for us intentionally to start each morning with 30 minutes of putting God first. What a difference that could make to the rest of our day…and to the rest of our lives. To paraphrase Bishop Fulton Sheen, those 30 minutes will become our “half hour of power” that launch us – and sustain us – through the rest of our day. 

The Apostle Paul also gives great insights into the peace and joy God can bring to our day when he tells us, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7; RSV).

These words from St. Paul again provide us with reassurance that starting our day in prayer and thanksgiving to God will help us set aside our anxieties and bring peace over all we do.

And so, as a simple recap of my challenge for this week, I encourage us to begin our day this week with 30 minutes in quiet conversation with our Lord. 

To prepare ourselves to do this, consider going to bed 30 minutes early each evening in order to wake-up 30 minutes earlier each morning. If you have already formed this habit of prayer before rising in the morning … I ask you to please take a moment during that time of prayer this week to keep in mind those who are striving for the same and ask the Lord to encourage them on their journey.

So, rise and shine to the great morning that awaits us! God bless and I look forward to seeing you next week as we continue this pilgrimage as Disciples Together on the Way.   And may God bless you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Yours in Christ,

+ Earl Boyea 
Bishop of Lansing