成人每日大赛

The young musician from Ohio was mesmerized by New York City and very excited about her upcoming audition. As she emerged from the subway at the corner of 56th and Seventh, however, she felt disoriented. She knew her destination was around here somewhere, but in which direction? Then, to her relief, she saw an elderly man coming toward her, with a violin case tucked under his arm. Ah, he must surely know, so she inquired, 鈥淓xcuse me sir, can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?鈥� The old musician halted, looked pensive for a moment, and then offered, 鈥淧ractice, practice, practice.鈥� We can say the same about Catholic Christian faith; being any good at it requires lots of practice.

The Reformation era was occupied with an intense debate about the nature of Christian faith. A great battle cry of the Reformers was that 鈥渇aith alone鈥� by 鈥済race alone鈥� brings salvation, granting little significance to people鈥檚 own efforts and 鈥済ood works.鈥� When the Catholic Church regathered at the Council of Trent (1545鈥�63), it granted that we are saved by faith鈥攚hich is always a gift of God鈥攂ut this faith must be lived in every day of life. And even though we live as Christians only with the help of God鈥檚 grace, we are still held responsible for making our own best efforts. In sum, Trent insisted that 鈥渇aith without works is dead鈥� (Jas. 2:17), that good works are integral to the Christian life. We literally must practice our faith.

The daily practice of Christian faith, of course, cannot be reduced to saying prayers or doing spiritual exercises. The core Christian practices are to live the great commandment of love, to embrace the spirit of the Beatitudes, to do the works of mercy and compassion, to work for justice and peace in the world.聽In sum, our practice of Christian faith should help to realize the reign of God. We cannot simply pray for its coming, as in 鈥渢hy kingdom come鈥�; we must also do God鈥檚 will 鈥渙n earth,鈥� that is, in daily life, 鈥渁s it is done in heaven.鈥澛�

This is what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus. This emphasis on practicing the faith, living as disciples, lends a particular distinction to Catholic spirituality. Far more than simply saying prayers or doing pious things, Catholic spirituality requires people to consciously put their faith to work in the ordinary and the everyday of lives. Catholic spirituality means that Christian faith should permeate and direct our every 鈥渢hought, word, and deed鈥濃�攁s the old Morning Offering put it.

This being said鈥攖hat Christians are to live their faith through their whole way of being in the world鈥攚e then recognize that good habits of prayer and spiritual practices can help to inspire, guide, and sustain such lived faith in the day-to-day. Prayer practices both heighten our God-consciousness about life and lend us access to God鈥檚 grace in Jesus that St. Paul says we need for doing 鈥渁n abundance of every good work鈥� (2 Cor. 6:8). In other words, we need practices of prayer and spirituality to nurture and sustain our efforts, which we mount by God鈥檚 grace, to live lives of Christian faith.

For example, a good morning offering can surely help orient one鈥檚 day toward living as a disciple of Jesus. It sharpens a person鈥檚 God-consciousness to permeate every aspect of the day that follows. If you don鈥檛 like [a] traditional one...make up your own. I did so about thirty years ago and have used it ever since. I call it my 鈥渇oundation prayer鈥� because it helps me to begin each day with a review of my groundings in faith, while asking God for the graces I need to live them. Likewise, to do an 鈥渆xamen鈥� at day鈥檚 end helps us recognize whether we responded well or poorly to the movements of God鈥檚 Spirit this day, inspiring our efforts for tomorrow.

Besides helping to sustain and deepen lives in faith, consistent spiritual practices are key, as social scientists now assure us (as any parent could intuit), to forming children and youth in Christian identity. In sum, the most likely way to raise Christians is to have them do Christian things. Young people need to become well informed in the beliefs of Christian faith, but more formative by far are regular faith practices. It鈥檚 practices more than theory that make Christians.

You鈥檒l find dozens more practices of prayer, care, and growth within every instance of ethnic Catholicism. Hispanic cultures, for example, brim with popular spiritual practices including Las Posadas and D铆a de los Muertos. Much the same can be said of the Polish, Italian, Irish, and so on. And if you don鈥檛 like these or what you find in your tradition, make up your own. I know a single mother who performs a brief nightly ritual with her three young children. She simply takes each child in her arms at bedtime, gives them a hug, and says, 鈥淕od loves you and so do I.鈥� I鈥檒l wager that those children will grow up knowing deeply that they are loved by God, as well as by their mom. What a great foundation for a life lived in faith.

The old adage that 鈥減ractice makes perfect鈥� is likely not true in the spiritual life; we never quite reach perfection. Even the greatest saints recognized their shortcomings. However, Jesus did say, 鈥渂e holy as your heavenly Father is holy鈥� (Matt. 5:48). What a high聽standard! It surely means that the journey into fullness of faith is lifelong; we cannot rest until we finally rest in God. In the meantime, good prayer practices and spiritual exercises will help to sustain our reach toward fullness of faith, to approximate the holiness of God. If we keep on practicing, we鈥檒l surely get better at it.

Thomas Groome is Professor of Theology and Religious education at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry and a former director of the C21 Center.聽Groome鈥檚 article was originally published in Catholic Spiritual Practices: A Treasury of Old and New, Paraclete Press.聽

Learn more about C21 Living Lent here.聽