3 Small Habits That Will Transform Your Faith

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Where to begin? The fact is, you probably know these things already. But what you may have forgotten is how to make them a way of life—and a way of living.

SO FIRST OF ALL , BE THANKFUL This isn’t exactly a new idea. St. Paul told the Ephesians: “Always, and for everything [give] thanks” (5:20). The German mystic and philosopher Meister Eckhart, once wrote, “If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is ‘thank you,’ that will suffice.”

In the seventeenth century, Europe was being wracked by the Thirty Years’ War and one town especially hard hit was the walled village of Eilenburg. It became a refuge for the surrounding area. But eventually the war came to Eilenburg—and with it, the plague. Thousands of people died in a matter of months. It fell to a man named Martin Rinkart to bury the dead—including, in 1637, his own wife.

In the middle of his horror, one day he composed a simple prayer for his children to say every night before they went to bed—a prayer, improbably enough, of

gratitude and thanksgiving for all God’s blessings in their lives.

She was on to something. Giving to others gives

dignity to them—and purpose to us.

One afternoon several years ago, my wife asked me to stop by H&H Bagels in Manhattan on my way home from work. Every weekday, you could buy bagels for half price after four o’clock. So I bought a dozen and went down to the subway station to head back to our apartment in Queens. The bagels were still warm. They smelled wonderful.

The Word Among Us Press Sample - Not for Printing Does this feel familiar?

The scenery doesn’t change. The view never shifts. You feel the wheels spinning and hear the engine revving, but you just aren’t going anywhere.

Congratulations: you’re stuck in a rut. It can happen in life, in love, in work, and, believe it or not, in faith. We find ourselves going through the motions—making the right gestures, saying the right words—but we end up feeling spiritually paralyzed.

Too often, what begins as a habit ends up being a chore. The life of grace and holiness we were

striving to achieve becomes more like drudgery. Go to work. Make dinner. Walk the dog. Go to church. Repeat.

What can a Christian do? The real question, I think, is: what can a Christian be?

Turning faith into merely something you do misses the beautiful reality that faith—what we believe and how we live it—is the sum and substance of who we are.

If you want to give your spiritual life a lift, “thank you” is a great place to start. Make the choice to

develop “an attitude of gratitude.”

That prayer eventually became one of the most beloved hymns in the Christian world, “Now Thank We All Our God”—a tremendous testament to hope in the midst of despair. What power is contained in the simple act of being thankful!

SECOND, BE GENEROUS

Okay, we can’t all write a million-dollar check to the charity of our choice. But to be

generous means to be willing to give however we can, wherever we can, even in the most modest of ways.

The Gospel tells us the story of the widow who gave

just a small coin to the temple treasury—perhaps all she had—and Jesus was deeply moved. What trust! But more significantly, what selflessness!

A friend of mine not long ago was dealing with some personal turmoil in her own life, and closed her note to me with an observation: “I’ll go make dinner now. I always feel better when feeding people.”

I went to get a subway token, and there was a homeless man standing by the window of the token booth.

He was holding a cardboard cup, asking for money.

“Would you like a bagel?” I asked him. His face lit up.

“Oh yeah!” he said.

I reached into the brown paper bag and grabbed one and offered it to him. He took

it in his hand, grinned and thanked me.

He was overjoyed.

I was feeling very proud of myself and my generosity.

I went through the turnstiles and waited on the platform. My train came, and as I stood there, waiting to get on, I looked for my homeless friend. I couldn’t see him.

But then I noticed: he’d walked all the way to the end of the platform. There, I saw, was another man, sitting on the floor. My homeless friend took the bagel

TAKE THE NEXT STEP

I had given him, broke it in two, and gave his friend half.

My train came. I got on. I watched them eating the bagel as I left the station. I was overwhelmed. In that moment, I encountered someone who gave me something: a lesson in charity and human dignity that I’ve never forgotten.

That was an act of generosity for which I am eternally grateful. A spirit of generosity can put our

lives in perspective and teach us how to love more deeply.

Find Time for Prayer Discover some simple ways to enhance your prayer life with The Busy Person’s Guide to Prayer by Deacon Greg Kandra.

aren’t! Opening your mind and heart to God can make almost any act, any thought, and any chore a prayer.

Grow in Your Faith through Prayer and Scripture

Make the Lord a collaborator in life—and not just for an hour every Sunday. I do some of my most fruitful praying on the subway on the way to work in the morning.

Your daily devotional on the Mass readings, The Word Among Us will bring the daily Scriptures from Mass alive for you.

The Word Among Us Press Sample - Not for Printing FINALLY, BE PRAYERFUL

Have you said your prayers today?

Even if it’s just a simple “Good morning, God” when you wake up and a weary “Good night, Lord” when your head hits the pillow, that is a noble and holy sentiment to help frame your day. It can focus your heart and remind you that, as a matter of fact, someone else is in charge—and isn’t that a relief?

Try to make having a word or two with God a habit; over time, you may make it a way of life. You will find ways of directing everything you do to God, and you just might start to “pray constantly” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

And don’t think for a moment that you are too busy to pray. You

Gratitude. Generosity. Prayer. These three simple

habits of living—habits, really, of being— may be just the spiritual boost you need to get out of your rut. You may be surprised at how

powerfully they can transform your view of the world and get your life back on track.

TRY THIS

• Make gratitude the foundation of your prayer life.

Develop a habit of writing down what you are thankful for. As you read your list, give God thanks and praise for your blessings.

• Find something you can do to be generous with God. Visit someone who is lonely or sick, or volunteer at your parish as an usher, bulletin stuffer, or small group leader. Or think about what you can do without, and share more of what you have been given.

• Gain a renewed sense of purpose and mission by praying before meals, at the start of any project, or at the end of a long day.

www.wau.org

Nihil Obstat:

Msgr. Michael Morgan, J.D., J.C.L. Censor Librorum July 9, 2019

Imprimatur:

+Most Rev. Felipe J. Estévez, S.T.D. Diocese of St. Augustine July 9, 2019

Copyright © 2019 Greg Kandra.

All rights reserved.

Published by The Word Among Us Press 7115 Guilford Drive, Suite 100 Frederick, Maryland 21704.

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Small Habits

That Will Transform

Your Faith

23 22 21 20 19 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN: 978-1-59325-073-7 Design by Suzanne Earl

Scripture texts in this work are taken from The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1965, 1966 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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