First Things

First Things: Welcome to Catholicism

I’ve always found it near impossible to commit to things. As I go about my daily life, I often identify habits, goals, or practices that I wish to integrate into my life, but after only a few days of this, I grow weary, decide the practice is too difficult, or forget about what I had set out to do in the first place.⁣

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And when it came to cultivating prayer or spirituality practices, I grew even more despondent. Meditation routines, carved-out daily prayer, and scheduling “God time” into my life was always cast aside or replaced when life got complicated. And as a full-time student, life was getting complicated quite often!⁣

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Such were the circumstances when myself and a friend (the co-author of this page) set out to embark on a simple project: pray every day, together. In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, which forced us away from our campuses and into our homes, we began implementing a daily shared prayer routine. The rules? Pray. Every day. With one another.⁣

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That was over a month ago, and we haven’t missed a beat. Sure, sometimes life gets in the way and we have to plan around our originally agreed meeting time. Other times, we forget whose turn it is to lead prayer. And more often than not, we get a little distracted and our conversations drift from where they were intended to go.⁣

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And from that starting point, we expanded our endeavor. We implemented a habit-formation program, agreeing to each choose a new habit (mine being exercise, his, waking from bed earlier) and keeping each other accountable for maintaining it. We decided to read books together, keeping chapter deadlines to ensure we remain constantly learning new information. And we decided to start this page, a digital outreach project to share our faith with others. We hope to share thoughts, reflections, prayers, videos, quotes, and more with you all!⁣

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…which brings me to a few thoughts on community. Saint Augustine, in contemplating the very same thing, writes in his Confessions that:⁣

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“There were other joys to be found in their (friends’) company which still more powerfully captivated my mind – the charms of talking and laughing together and kindly giving way to each other’s wishes, reading elegantly written books together, sharing jokes and delighting to honor one another… Such sparks of friendship sprang from the hearts of friends who loved and knew their love returned, signs to be read in smiles, words, glances, and a thousand gracious gestures.” (Confessions 8,13)⁣

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Such are the fruits of friendship, community, and loving another. Truly, there is no substitute for our searching hearts than the presence of a friend. In fact, these relationships are treasured by us so deeply that Augustine admits he misplaced his love for God in his friends before his conversion! The ability to be trusted, known, and loved by another is perhaps one of the closest experiences we can have on this earth to the Divine relationship we are invited to participate in.⁣

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As we embark on this new journey, I find myself with a sense of gratitude for those persons in my life that God has entrusted to me. To simply have another to share ideas with, joke around, and experience life – that is a gift that we far too-often are ungrateful for.⁣

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Prayer⁣

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Oh God,⁣

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You have placed us upon this earth not in solitude, but in community. During these times that make community more difficult, tend to our hearts. Show us new ways of loving others. Allow us to show our appreciation for those who sacrifice their health and very selves each day for others in the midst of this uncertainty.⁣

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Heavenly Father, do also search our hearts for the gratitude we feel, yet do not express, for individuals who are in our lives. Encourage us to share our thanks for these people. Increase our love for them.⁣

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We ask all of these things, in Christ’s name.⁣

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Amen.⁣