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This weekend, on Palm Sunday, we will enter the Week we call Holy. Of course, time isn't sanctified by an adjective: time is hallowed by how we spend it, how we use it, with what we do with the time God gives and shares with us.
There are days when it seems we just don't have enough time... And there are days that drag on, each minute passing like an hour... There are times we wish we could forget and there are times we wish we could hold on to forever... There are times we regret and there are times when we rejoice...
There is, the scriptures remind us, a time for everything under the heavens... But too often, finding time for prayer is something we just don't get around to...
How will I spend the time of the Week we call Holy?
How will I use my time wisely between Palm Sunday and Easter?
What will I do with all the time that's mine in Holy Week?
Will I renew my pledge, my effort to praying for 10 minutes every day?
When I spend those 10 minutes in prayer,
how does that time color my day? my night?
How does spending time in prayer
make the rest of my day holy? peaceful? livable?
When I don't stop for prayer each day, what keeps me away?
What do I let take precedence?
From Sunday through Sunday there are 192 hours in Holy Week...
If I participate in all the liturgies
of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter,
that will add up to about 9 hours total...
These liturgies are the most beautiful and important days
on the Church calendar and celebrated only once a year...
I could go to all the Holy Week services
and still have 184 hours left over!
I need to remember that God spends the whole day, 24 hours,
right by my side and in the depths of my heart...
I need to remember that God always has time for me,
that God is never too busy to spend time with me,
that God never asks me to wait but is always there...
I need to remember that God never gives up on me,
never calls it quits on me,
never stops listening for my voice, even for my silent heart,
to speak to him in prayer...
What joys, what concerns have I to bring to prayer today?
How will I spend my time
in the Week we call Holy?
Find some quiet time... find a place to be alone with the Lord...
Take a few deep breaths and let go of what troubles you,
worries you, burdens you...
Be still... and know that God is near...
Be still... and know that God is holy...
Be still... and know that your time with God,
every minute and every second, is holy time...
Are you new to "Praying 10 Minutes a Day in Lent" - or are you having trouble getting started? The first installment offers some thoughts on getting started, as do the subsequent posts in the series. So take a look and join us!
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Pastoral Musicians have a built in way to spend Holy Week, concentrating on the "Holy" All of our time is spent in pursuit of the holiness of the liturgy - how to best draw forth the prayer of the people on these holiest of days.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, one can get distracted by worry and stress and nit-picking but, in the end, would want to spend Holy Week no other way.
Thank you Father for your 10 minutes of daily prayer during this Lent. I was greatly enriched by it!