We must take up our swords - We must commit ourselves to prayer!

Like it or not we are locked in a Spiritual Battle. But do we do anything about it? Do we "arm" ourselves against evil, against sin, and against our own human frailty? I know I didn't; and that was true for a very long time. Sure, I prayed. I would pray while falling asleep, or in times of extreme need or jubilation. I wold pray at Mass, or when it was nice and convenient for me. I especially prayed when I found myself along with nothing "else" to do. But I sure didn't commit myself to prayer. I didn't carve time out of my day to pray, or even do it very intentionally. Instead it was often an after thought or done as a "last resort."

Oddly, I found myself spending minutes a day looking for "something" to watch on TV. I would also catch myself re-visiting the same website for the 2nd and 3rd time because I had nothing "else" to do. This is a common thing for people, so don't think you are odd if you do the same thing.

Yet, we as Catholics must take up our swords. We must fight complacency, evil, relativism, and other wickedness with vigor and zeal. We must enter the spiritual realm, encounter the heavenly, and quest for the mystery of God to do so. Our spiritual weapons and allies exist not only in each other, but in the guardians of Truth. In angels, prayer, and intercession we find our weapons and strategy of hope, faith, and love. Prayer is our communique, our secret code, our prime directives, and our mission briefings.

We must awake to prayer and fall asleep to prayer. It must become common place and central to our lives. The Church prays in universality through the Liturgy of the Hours. Prayer is the lifeblood of the Church and our faith, and so we must embrace it with the loving kindness as if it were a precious gift of gold. It truly is the vehicle in which we can send forth our soul to encounter the divine in some small way. Much like the Mass is the ultimate encounter and communion with the divine - a Sacred Wedding feast. Prayer is a small and personal encounter with that which we strive to attain - communion with our God.

We would never enter a race or a game without practice and training would we? Why then do we think we can enter spiritual battle or prepare for heaven without a spiritual exercise and regiment of faith? Prayer is the one way in which we can condition our soul in preparation for such things. 

So awake 5 minutes early. Say an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Fatima Prayer, and St. Michael's Prayer before school or work. At meal times pray a blessing. And at night, before your slumber, remember to say the 5 prayers from the morning. You will notice a difference in your days over time, and you will see a change in your spiritual self. Don't become complacent and think that prayer is unnecessary. Complacency and doubt are tools of the Devil. He wants you to fail. He wants you to be a person of sloth. He needs for you to be spiritually "out of shape."

Much like the weak and sick gazelle, the vicious predators of evil attack the injured and the slow. They need you to be "fat and lazy" in your soul. Do not let them win! COMMIT TO PRAYER... and COMMIT TO GOD!