Praying the liturgy of the hours

Third in a Lenten series on Stewardship -- A Life of Prayer

	Stewardship Stewardship: A Way of Life is the diocesan thrust. It invites Catholics to acknowledge that all of life is a gift of God and to respond through prayer, service and sharing. This series will look at ways to do that.

Since my early grade school days, I usually have tried to follow that certain bit of wisdom attributed to Benjamin Franklin -- "early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

Lent
• Lent-related articles  • 2003 Lenten Wish List (3/7 issue)  • Lenten rules (2/28 issue)

Though I may not have always followed the first half of going to bed too early because of exams, papers and friends coming by to talk and hang out, I have been able to get up at a relatively early hour in comparison to my peers.

The usual morning routine starts with the alarm going off at 6:45, going to the closet to figure out what to wear, showering and out the door by 7:25.

Then I walk a few steps to the Eucharistic Oratory Chapel to join the Norbertines for Morning Prayer. I take the songbook and the psalter from the cart, walk in, take my seat and begin to pray and reflect silently. The church bells ring and the prayers of the community begin as one.

Gathering with the community to start the day in prayer and reflection is the best way for me to focus on the tasks ahead and gather my thoughts for how to approach such tasks.

Ultimately, such morning reflection and praise allows me to find the focus for the day and offer it to God -- especially in times of struggle and confusion. In the hectic life of a student, such a focus is exactly what I need.

By remembering a small piece of the prayer from that morning or a phrase of the reading, I am able to see how that piece of wisdom and insight can carry me through the day. Of course, as each day unfolds, that thought can get lost in the shuffle of the day. But with that focus I am able to start off on the right foot.

To gather back my thoughts and focus on the goals of the day as tests, papers, lectures, meetings and all other parts of student life pull me away from keeping God front and center, the perfect time for prayer comes again! As the bells ring for five o'clock evening prayer, the community gathers once again to offer the day's events past and those left for the evening ahead.

Once again, the readings and the prayers allow me an opportunity to join the voices of the countless men and women throughout the history of the church and to praise God for the gift of the day.

Just as in the morning, I am able to see how my thoughts and works for the evening ahead can be focused on a thought or idea from that evening's prayer. Through those little thoughts and insights I am able to keep the important things in the day's activities in focus, and ultimately dedicate it all to God.

(Schmitt will graduate this year from St. Norbert College, De Pere.)

-- Next: Family Prayer