How to create a spiritual plan?
Like other elements of life: health, relationships, work, etc. it is very helpful to be intentional. If we are not intentional we can neglect or overshoot our mark in one element or another. Hence the phrase work-life balance. The same applies to our spiritual life.
Why is it important?
When you read the Bible, you see God recommending various spiritual practices to ensure that He is present in people’s lives and doesn’t get forgotten. Christ does the same through the Catholic Church by asking us to keep the Lord’s day holy, which means that attending Mass on Sunday is a moral obligation.
Keeping Sunday as your day for God is already a spiritual plan, but at the same time, it is also very helpful to have a plan which not only includes God on Sunday, but includes Him in your everyday life.
Where do you begin?
Begin small. Much like a fitness plan, a spiritual plan needs to start small and frequent. The key to any plan is constancy. Whatever you plan to do, ensure that you commit to doing it every day because it’s in the constancy where you will reap the benefits. The same applies to any lifestyle change: a diet, sport, learning a language, etc.
Starting off, what should a spiritual plan consist of?
An example of a spiritual plan can look something like this (links below):
Morning Offering
10 minutes of Personal Prayer
1 Decade of the Rosary
Examination of Conscience
Night Prayers
The Sacraments play an essential role in our spiritual life but at the same time if you are unable to attend Mass daily, it doesn’t mean then that you simply forgo a spiritual plan altogether.
If this plan is too much than perhaps focus on 10 minutes of personal prayer and work in the other elements over time. At the same time, it’s not either about accumulating pious practices, it is quality rather than quantity that is important.
Importance of Grace
Sacramental Grace is really important in benefitting and persevering in our spiritual life. So if you are starting a spiritual plan, do consider the idea of going to Confession. If you haven’t gone for a long time, and you’re thinking that the thought of it feels unsurmountable and a hundred thousand ideas come to you about how difficult it’s going to be, know that these feelings are totally natural. But I can only say and guarantee you that Grace is real and once you trust Christ to hand over your awkwardness of taking the step to his Sacraments, He gifts you in so many ways.
That said, don’t ever feel that because you can’t face it right now, then any effort to connect with Him is meaningless. On the contrary, our Lord is only too happy to meet us not only half-way but 99.9% of the way. All He asks is that we open the door to Him.
Possible hiccups along the way
You gave up because you missed a couple of days. You started back at work/college and life became hectic so your spiritual plan went out the window. You started but then discouragement creeped in because as soon as you started to pray, you saw all your faults and failings in plain view. You are having serious doubts about the Catholic Church or even the existence of God. You feel like a fraud. You feel like you have sinned in some big way, and it’s only going to complicate life by trying to even consider doing something for your spiritual life.
All or some of these thoughts can surface at different stages along the way.
The beauty of a spiritual plan is that it is adaptable. You’re busy, adapt it according to your day. You’re having existentials? There are always answers. Don’t give up because you have hit a wall and doubts start flooding in. There is always a path and each person’s path is different but don’t stop walking it simply because it clouds over at different stages of your life.
You can’t do it alone
God is very smart and knows us human beings very well. He created a Church that is built around community, because He knows that human beings cannot do things alone. The same applies to our spiritual life. We can’t navigate alone because we will run out of steam. We need the help of friends, family, community, Church. If we don’t have that, it’s really good to search out even one person that can be your guide: a spiritual guide. This would take another blog post to unpack and perhaps we will unpack it at some stage, but we will leave it as is, with some links that will may help you.
Links to:
10 Minutes of Prayer - Resources
9 Days to rediscover the Joy of Prayer / Jacques Philippe
Daily Gospel (and Commentary)
The Way / St Josemaria Escriva
Blog posts in Beloved on personal prayer that are really helpful:
Podcast on “How to do Personal Prayer?” (iTunes link) - Podcasts from Hearts + Minds
Booklet (pdf) on Plan of Life (which is another way of calling a Spiritual Plan for Life)
Note: a simple examination of conscience at the end of the day is to ask yourself: What have I done well today? What have I done wrong? How can I do better tomorrow? The examination of conscience for Confession is like this - see link.