Dear Charley-George:

Thank you for your blessing. I am happy to see that our apostolate has been useful to you.

Busyness is probably the biggest stumblingblock of modern times. Sometimes "busyness" becomes a false god as we tend to "worship" being busy more than we
worship the one true God. It is a sign of our times.

I tend to have problems in this area too. There is much to do. Maintaining this website, for example, is a handful especially without any volunteers to help out. I could spend 20 hours a day working on this website and still not have everything done. (on that score, please pray that God will inspire qualified volunteers will join our team).

Nevertheless, even in the best of situations, in this modern world there will be many things competing for our time. There is some advice given by St. Alphonus Ligouri that may be helpful.

St. Ligouri, speaking to busy Abbots who felt guilty for not spending as much time in prayer as their monks, said that God knows the responsibilities they must perform, He put them in that position of responsibility. God knows that the Abbot has pastoral and executive duties to perform in addition to the usual duties of a monk. Thus if the Abbot will spend fifteen minutes in prayer, God will give him the grace as if he had spend many hours in prayer. But, St. Ligouri warned, do not try to tell God you cannot set aside fifteen minutes.

This is good advice for the modern Christian. We have many responsibilities. God knows this. Thus, if we can give God fifteen minutes of prayer, He will give us the grace as if we had spent many hours in prayer. But, we cannot use this advice as a cop out to ignore living a balanced life.

God has given us twenty-four hours in which to work, play, fellowship with family and friends, do good works, and to rest and sleep. We must be good
stewards of this gift of time God has given us.

While certain responsibilities may keep us from spending as much time in prayer and devotion as we would like and St. Ligouri's advice thus applies to
us, we also need to re-evaluate our daily schedule to see if we really need to be as busy as we are.

Is there anything that can be removed from our schedule? Are we watching too much TV? or watching dumb TV shows that benefit us nothing when we could be spending that time reading the Bible or praying?

At work, do we spend our break gossiping when we could, perhaps, be offering a little prayer?

Do we know how to say "no" when the parish calls and asks us if we would like to serve on a committee? If one's schedule is full then saying "no" is the
responsible thing to do.

So the first thing I would advise is to realize that God knows the responsibilities you have and only asks you to do what you can in praying and devotion to Him. He will give you grace for what you can do.

Second, re-evaluate the way you spend your time. Is there anything you can remove from your schedule?

Third, evaluate your habits. Is there any habits, such as watching TV the time of which could be reduced or eliminated?

Fourth, say "no" to new projects if your schedule is already full.

Fifth, know that you do not have to spend hours in devotion, fifteen minutes can be appropriate.

Sixth, know that formal prayer and devotion is not the only way to worship and fellowship with God. St Therese, the Little Flower, talked about "the little
way." Let everything you do be a prayer. Picking up a pencil off the floor can be a prayer. Changing dirty diapers can be a prayer. Each of these acts can be
done with a prayerful spirit without saying any words at all. Live a live of prayer.

When you look for a parking spot, talk to God. Thank Him when you find one. Talk to God causally about everything throughout your day. Watch the film
"Fiddler on the Roof" and you'll see what I mean.  Tevye, the father, goes about his day delivering milk and dealing with the headaches of his growing
daughters, talking to God. He talks to God the way you and I talk to a friend. Make God a part of your daily like the way Tevye does.

Look for opportunities for spoken prayer. For example, when changing dirty diapers a spontaneous prayer such as this comes to mind: "Lord, as I change
these dirty and stinky diapers, please change my heart from its dirty and stinky ways."

Or, when talking a shower: "Lord as I wash my body, please wash my soul."

These are ways to make the everyday things in our life a form of prayer or a verbal prayer.

Seventh, just as it is when we have gotten ourselves out of shape physically, we cannot just go running a marathon. Rather, we must start slow. Walk around
the block first, then walk around the neighborhood. Build up slowly to running, and then to running a marathon. The same is true with spiritual things like
this.

Since you have gotten yourself out of shape spiritually, do not try to be like St. Francis overnight. Start slow. For example, you could start by reading
the Bible for five minutes after supper each night. Do that for a couple of months. Then read ten minutes.

The same with prayer. Start with a few minutes for several months and build up to fifteen minutes.

The point is that since you are where you are now, start slow and stay slow for a while as you get use to the new habit.

Now, even this is not going to be easy. You do need to exercise from self-determination and will-power. But if you start slow with something that you like to do (such as a favorite devotion, a favorite prayer, Bible reading, or whatever) then it will be easier to find the will power to do it and to stick with it.

Try these things and let me know how it goes.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

P.S. I have not read this book, but perhaps it might be useful. It is called,
Keep It Simple: The Busy Catholic's Guide to Growing Closer to God