REEDSBURG — On January 8, 2015, the second evening in a series of talks for the Spirits and Spirituality Program was held at Karstens Hall at Camp Gray in Reedsburg.
The program is a joint effort between St. Cecilia Parish in Wisconsin Dells, St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo, and Sacred Heart Parish in Reedsburg. All parish members ages 21 and over are invited to attend.
Participants enjoyed snacks and beverages in front of the fireplace, while Fr. Eric Sternberg, pastor at St. Cecilia Parish, spoke on “How to Build a Solid Spiritual Plan for Life.”
Make a plan
“If you care about something, you have a plan for how to approach it,” he said. “Things that are important to us — we give it our time and our money.” He challenged participants to approach their spiritual life in the same way.
He focused on five basics tools which he admitted, weren’t his unique idea. “Read any saint and they will tell you the same points.”
He emphasized that while we are using the same tools, we would each have a unique experience of these in our daily lives.
Concrete step
His concrete steps for these tools included:
• Morning offering — Form a routine for going to bed at a regular hour and getting up at a regular hour. “Make the emotional sacrifice to do this — which means not having that late night conversation or watching that TV show.
Don’t hit that snooze button in the morning. That’s an attitude of ‘I do what I want for my own comfort.'” Make the first action of your day a sacrifice instead of a selfish action.
“Proclaim, ‘Lord the day is yours.’ Pick up your cross daily and follow him. Choose sacrifice and being uncomfortable. Christ came to serve. Tell yourself, ‘what I do today has value.'”
• Mental prayer — This is your time of personal conversation with God. There are a variety of ways to touch the things of God — such as reading Scripture, spending time in nature, etc. Have a set time and a set length of time in a certain place where you can foster a relationship with God, he suggested.
Make it 10 to 30 minutes per day and do it earlier in the day so you get it done. Father Sternberg said, “Have a conversation with him like you would with anyone else. You would talk about them, and talk about yourself.” Praying with sacred Scripture will help you understand God.
• Holy Mass — The Mass is of the greatest value because it is God himself. It is perfect.
But Father Sternberg acknowledged that, as laity, we can’t control when Mass will be offered, so Mass every day may not be possible, depending on our state in life and our responsibilities.
• Rosary — Most saints have affection for saying the Rosary. “It requires an interior disciple,” he said. “It sheds selfishness. If you struggle to do this routinely, start with a decade each day until it is second nature. Then add another decade. And then another — until you are saying the whole Rosary.
“Try kneeling instead of sitting, because sitting makes you sleepy. And if you can say it in less than 11 minutes, you are going too fast.”
• Examination of conscience — This is different than what you do before Confession. “Just before bed, see your day in light of the light and law of God. Where did I live it? Where did I fail?
“Review the day and use it for praise and repentance. You will take great steps forward in the spiritual life by making one concrete resolution for the next day.”
Know when you will do each of these each day. “By doing all of the four (which are in your control), you have a solid table. Mass is the fifth leg and makes it a really solid table,” Father Sternberg said.