When I lived in Ohio, I would take my long weekend retreat to Michigan, where we would often have Fr Gomez lead us through the spiritual exercise of St Ignatius of Loyola.  He always had a few good ways of saying something important, and one of them I always quote is this: “How’s your prayer? How’s your life?” They are asked simultaneously because they are inseparable.  Are you struggling right now? There are always crosses to bear in life, but what makes them manageable are the graces we get from prayer.

When we are connected to God throughout the day, the graces abound and we may not even know the evils from which His mercy has spared us.  To begin our day in prayer and silence (loving this week’s resolution for prayer to begin in 5 minutes of silence!) we can accompany our meditation and morning prayer from our prayer book, with scripture, or even an image of a sacred moment.

O Jesus,
through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer You my prayers, works,
joys and sufferings
of this day for all the intentions
of Your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world,
in reparation for my sins,
for the intentions of all my relatives and friends,
and in particular
for the intentions of the Holy Father.

Amen.