When we are young, we stand in front of a mirror and pump iron, excited to see our bodies take shape one popping muscle at a time. But gradually, after we grow weary of the societal definition of what our bodies should look like, we discover that exercise is intrinsic to our human lives and does not need to be imposed from the outside. We thus find ourselves walking to the store, shoveling our neighbor’s driveway, stacking boxes in the basement of a soup kitchen, and taking the stairs at work quite happily, without neurotic impulse. And so it is with prayer. When we are novices in the spiritual life, we desperately cling to images of holiness that have been imposed upon us from the outside. We get in the habit of raising our eyes to heaven in imitation of a face we once saw on a holy card. We carelessly ramble off a daily rosary because somebody once told us we need to be a prayer warrior who fights the good fight. As time goes on, however, the piety no longer satisfies, we feel the Lord beckoning us, we surrender our spiritual routines, and, perhaps for the first time, we pray. Let’s exercise our hearts this week by walking with the Lord and not making it more complicated than that.
Ave Crux, Spes Unica.