it is a good time to think about making a firm commitment to grow in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We have learned that our Lord invites everyone to an intimate relationship with Him, no matter what our past might be. This offer is one that is open to everyone!
Human relationships are two-way affairs that need both kind words and loving actions. The same is true with God. In order to have a personal relationship with God, we must respond to the love that He offers us concretely. This response does not earn God's love but rather allows us to receive it in a real way. How might we commit to saying yes to God? I have proposed a simple way to do so recently--giving ten percent of one's waking non-work time to God, which corresponds to 10 hours a week:
2 hours for Sunday Mass (including arriving early and travel time)
3 hours of spiritual exercise a week (thirty minutes a day on days other than Sundays)
5 hours of acts of service like volunteering in the parish or the community.
In order to make this commitment tangible, we ought to put in writing and track the time that we put in for spiritual exercise and acts of service. One wonderful thing to commit to for spiritual exercise is our parish Bible study on the Eucharist, which will be at 7pm in McCarthy Hall at Saint Paul. It starts this Wednesday.