“Our entire daily lives cannot be occupied with purely religious practices;all of us have to eat, and most of us have and want to do many other activities besides. So though we cannot always be religious in this sense, we can always be Catholic, that is, the round of our daily activities can be conducted in such a way as to express and be in harmony with our Faith. And [this] can involve more than avoiding sin and exercising virtue.”
A quote form ‘Catholic Milieu‘ Thomas Storck
Filipe de Melo
/ March 29, 2012Good point.
Whether or not we are able to attend daily Mass, or pray the daily devotions, we can still sanctify our day by dedicating it to God. In this way everything we do becomes a prayer, and a ministry.
In our morning prayer, we can offer ourselves “in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.” By offering ourselves to God, we are living as a “holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5), sharing Christ’s identity and mission. We have this privilege by Baptism, not by ordination.
Here is a traditional Catholic morning offering: “O Jesus, through the immaculate heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your sacred heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.”
If you prefer, you can make up your own prayer, instead of using the one above. For example: “God, our Father, I offer You my day. I offer You my prayers, thoughts, words, actions, joys, and sufferings in union with the Heart of Jesus, who continues to offer Himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world. May the Holy Spirit, Who guided Jesus, be my guide and my strength today so that I may witness to your love.”
“Our entire daily lives cannot be occupied with purely religious practices…” indeed, but each day can still be offered up and thus sanctified.