Men's Rosary

It is important to think about how we live.  Unwise it is to live for the moment and for ourselves.  Life is more than that and we are called to be more.  We only have a small amount of time, in the scheme of eternity, to be here and do something about our life.  “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) Speaking for myself, it seems like only a handful of years ago I was a young man and that my adult children were my young children.  I have come to understand that it is especially important to live intentionally.  Furthermore, we must live with intentionality in our spiritual life.  Our journey here is really a time of preparation to enter Heaven.  If the time is ill-spent the alternative is Hell.  Care must be taken in how we live and our decisions.  “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16) I am sure that most of us can look back and see failings and precious time wasted, actions that hurt others and ourselves, and opportunities missed to do good. Akin to this, there are times when we did not take ownership of our actions and inaction, laying blame elsewhere to justify ourselves. It is all too often the case that we isolate our actions into our life and not those around us. It is good to take account of our past and our actions; good and bad, however that is not where our attention should stay.  Every day is a new day, and we are not defined by who we were, but rather who we become. “Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 3:13-14)

Intentional living is important.  Life is not about the what and how.  It is about the why!  Happiness and fulfillment are found in the why.  In temporal affairs, such as our job, career or business, our hobbies, interests, and service; when we do for the sake of doing; life will become a heavy load.  Likewise, in our spiritual life, if we are not clear on our why, all our prayers, obligations, etc. become a chore and a burden.  Our why, the very reason for our creation, is to live forever with God in Heaven, sharing in his divine life.  This should drive every action of our life!  We should want this like the air that we breathe! 

The perfect time to start living intentionally for our why is now.  “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24) Every day should be a day spent coming to understand God’s will for us more. Through prayer, study of our faith and the saints, and fellowship we can enter deeper into the life of the Church.  It is not simply a thing we do on Sunday or at special events.  Christ sacrificed all for us.  Every day several Masses are started every second worldwide. We share in Christ sacrifice, and we can offer something at each one – our every thought, word, and action of the day.  If we live intentionally and offer these things, we will think twice about what we think, say, and do; for who would want to unite something bad to the offering of Christ’s body and blood at Mass?

Along with living intentionally we must also live accountably, owning our actions and behaviors for what they merit. We were given free will.  This is a tremendous gift.  This gives us the freedom to choose what we do, how we act, how we react, how we forgive or not forgive, how we serve or refuse to serve, how we love or choose to hate, how we share or how we hoard, how we are compassionate or indifferent, and how we will be fulfilled or empty.  “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another.” (Galatians 5:13)

I hope we all can be more aware of what we spend time on, what we watch, what we listen to, what we say and how we treat others.  We do not live in a vacuum.  What we do is not just about us.  Our actions affect others – good and bad.  Our sins harm everyone and everything, not just ourselves.  We are one body and when any part of the body is harmed the entire body will feel and suffer the consequences.  What we do matters.  We speak volumes with our actions, and we have a strong capacity with our speech.  We must be careful and make beneficial use of them. “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)

“We must consider the utility and values of our conclusions.” (St. Thomas Aquinas)