I seemed drawn to a more orderly prayer routine, almost liturgical in nature. Perhaps it was the daily Mass on EWTN and later my own Mass attendance at a local parish. At any rate, I found that meditating on the daily Mass readings helped me and gave my prayer life a more fulfilling routine. It also helped me to slowly start to see the year more in light of the Church’s liturgical calendar. The two periods of Ordinary Time, and Advent/Christmas, and Lent/Easter and Pentecost became as real to me as Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. And more relevant, too. This aided me in my continuing reversion to the Church. Seeing the year according to the Liturgical calendar helped me view the Church as a living, breathing organism, with its own tides and times.

When reading the Mass readings, or the Wisdom books and Gospels, I tried to discern a connection between what they were trying to say and my own sober journey. Either the path I was on, or just stuff that I was coping with then. The just gettin’ through the day stuff. Many times I got a connection, or advice on dealing with whatever I was going through. This gave an additional vibrancy to the liturgical calendar. Not to mention developing an increasingly greater tendency to seeking (or seeing) God’s will in daily life.

I then discovered the Liturgy of the Hours. This is also known as the Divine Office, An old name was the Roman Breviary. It is the official daily prayer of the Church, second only to the Mass. Mandatory for the Pope on down to the newest seminarian. Ordinary people (laity) can say it, and I’ve learned that it is increasingly popular amongst us. It is organized around the Psalms and other Biblical readings. It quite often ties in nicely with the daily Mass readings. It is ancient. Praying it connects you to all others in the Church who pray it, plus also those who’ve gone before. This gave a greater structure and sense of rhythm to my day.

To aid in that, this blog also has at the top links to the Daily Mass readings and also to the Liturgy of the Hours. The LOTH links (provided by Universalis) gives greater information on the Divine Office, if you’re curious. there is also a link in the sidebar to Presentation Ministries. In addition to also having the Mass readings, they also provide daily meditations that are beyond compare if you wish to live a radical, authentic Catholic life. They point to the ideal.

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

One of my early realizations about AA was that its brand of spirituality wasn’t enough for me. However, one of the good things it taught me was that a regular period of daily prayer and meditation was essential in “getting your head on straight” every morning. At first I read from daily devotionals based on AA’s 12 Steps. Then I progressed to seeking out Catholic texts. Prayer books were obvious.

The need for this is simple. We are at our weakest in the morning. It is then we are most susceptible to depression or any glum view of the day. To fall into a bad routine and not get out of it.

A regular prayer routine, starting as close as possible to when you awaken is essential to survival. Prayer connects you with something greater than yourself. Call it your “Higher Power” if you wish, but doing something ASAP in the general direction of God helps you to get your head oriented in the right direction.

In AA meetings you learn that sometimes a relapse back into drinking occurs before you actually take the drink. The mind relapses and the will follows and then the drinks start pouring. Meetings interrupt the flow of thought in the mental relapse; daily prayer affords the same benefits, but with greater spiritual effects. In prayer, in which you raise your heart and mind to God, either with Scriptural readings or set prayers written by Saints, you are allowing God in and enabling him to do His work. He recharges your batteries, rewires your electrical, fixes your plumbing. Re-orders your thought patterns. He heals.

And so I developed a routine of going through various prayer books I had, in addition to trying Bible reading (namely Psalms and the other Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiates, Song of Songs, Wisdom and Sirach. Job is tough and I set it aside for a while. Still haven’t yet read it through.) The Gospels are relaxing. Any of those are a great start in a regular routine of daily prayer. There is no greater prayer book on Earth than the Holy Bible. Fifteen minutes a day is a good start. Don’t be too surprised if you find yourself reading and praying longer.

Next post continues with specifics.

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)