*fortuitous!*
I just watched it so that I could gather the show notes together, and MAN, my hair is crazy in this one. :0 But my week has improved, and so I'm feeling perky today as I write this. It helps that (background discussion is in the video) this morning, despite the fact that I had to start the day with a DENTIST APPOINTMENT (is there a worse way to start one's day? I ASK YOU), when I arrived on campus at the worst *possible* time of the morning, much later than I usually arrive, as I was innocently patrolling the staff parking lot, Hark! Someone was pulling out!
GOD.STILL.LOVES.ME
But I digress. Today's topic is fall and renewed spiritual routines. You got any that you want to write in about? :)
The fall always brings a feeling of new beginning into my life, and I begin to think about Advent. In preparation for that, I generally get all excited and try out new things. What's on my mind in that regard this particular September? View on, gentle viewer!
Items mentioned in this episode (there are lots today!):
- My new Contigo travel coffee mug. #bliss
- Catholic Book Club reading list has been updated through January 2016! Read along with us! The next book we'll be discussing is Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale, by Ian Morgan Cron, on Sept. 30th.
- My new 2016 Mary and the Saints Wall Calendar is in stock and on it's way to me now. *heart*
- Sacred Reading: The 2016 Guide to Daily Prayer, published by Ave Maria Press. I'm going to be trying this out, starting in Advent, for lectio divina! I mentioned in the video that I wasn't sure if it covered just the daily Gospel or all of the daily Mass readings. I checked the sample pages, and it looks like it's meditations on the Gospel alone.
- Magnificat Advent Companion, a favorite of mine every single year. My pre-order is already in. #nerd
- My brand new wood Advent calendar! I grabbed it when it went on sale for about $50, so keep an eye on it, the price fluctuates quite a bit. I can't wait to share this with the kids! They just better not lose any pieces. *glares*
- Saint dolls from St. Luke's Brush. This year Henry will be receiving St. Nicholas, and Anne a rosary case with a painted rose adornment.
- Adoration. No substitute for it. I'm going to try bringing my kids. Have any of you tried this with your kids? How did it go?
You gave me a lot to think about. I'm really good about going to adoration in the winter aka lent once or twice a week but often in the summer/fall fall off the band wagon. It doesn't help that where I currently live the only adoration chapel only has it from 9-3 when I'm at work otherwise I have to drive about 45 minutes. I might instead devote time in prayer at the mission grounds not far from my house that are always opened. It is a very spiritual place to walk around and pray.
ReplyDeleteFunny story right after I watched your video I was going through email and received an email about LENT 2016. I was like can we slow the year down? I'm not ready to think about Lent yet!!
I LOVE St. Therese of Lisiuex (although it's kind of biased as she is my confirmation saint) but I will be praying her novena. It's not really spiritual but it's part of my fall and I'm doing a 31 days blogging challenge in October I'm looking forward to hopefully write a few spiritual posts.
Something I am doing for my new spiritual routine is cleaning and organizing the apartment. This summer I have fallen into a bit of a slothful habit (can you say blobbify ... I knew you could!). So I am in a fall cleaning mode, throwing stuff out, giving stuff away, clearing physical space and I find it is subtly influencing my prayer life by getting rid of a lot of stress.
ReplyDeleteBeth Anne, oohhh, this is all great fodder, thank you! Yes, last winter I had a great Adoration stretch going, and then the weather got horrible, and so driving there after work was dicey, so I took a few weeks off, and once I get out of the habit of doing something? Yep, off the bandwagon. :) But going to try again! Because we are very lucky and have a chapel within a 10 minute driving distance of both home and work.
ReplyDeleteLent 2016? Yeah, I think we have some time. :0 I *did* already pre-order my Magnificat Lenten Companion, but only because they make it so easy to order Advent and Lent together, then I don't have to worry about forgetting. Neither has shipped yet.
St. Therese, right?! I forgot to put this in the show notes, but I did create a page for the novena, so prep work is definitely underway over here! Looking forward to praying with you!
Marika, oh that a fabulous idea! There is definitely a correlation there between de-cluttering and freshening up our spiritual lives as well. More quiet in our space for contemplation and prayer, yes? We need to do an annual sweep of our storage space to tidy things up and get rid of some stuff, and I'm dreading it, but I know that it is extremely necessary.
ReplyDeleteI love it when whole families stop by our Adoration chapel, even if it's just for a few minutes. Some of the most profound thoughts and questions about Christ and the Church come from our youngest parishioners either during or just after they've spent time in Adoration.
ReplyDeleteMary, thank you so much for this! Yes, even just a few minutes can pack a powerful punch, right?
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