Having a routine/rule of life - Rector's Rambling for September 10, 2023

     Today we get back into the regular routine of life at St. John’s from September through May.  Worship (all year of course) but with the full choir, Sunday School, meetings of various organizations and guilds, and a full schedule of events.  Just this past week I put a deposit on our parish outing to the Tigers Baseball Game on April 28th.

I hope that you will take advantage of the special events AND the regular routine ones as well.

For those in the religious life (priests,  nuns, monks, friars, etc), one is expected to follow a Rule of Life.  The Rule is a set of expectations of activity, how you live, from day to day, week to week.  This usually involves the regular praying of the Daily Office, saying or attending Mass, studying scripture and doing other spiritual study and reading, and activities to build up the person and which contributes to the health and vitality of the community to which they belong.  Following the Rule helps to form you, and rather than being cumbersome or odious, it is actually freeing. 

Following a Rule helps one to be disciplined in the growth of the spiritual life, even when one doesn’t ‘feel’ like it, in the same way one brushes their teeth and showers regularly for their health, even if you don’t ‘feel’ like it.

Being in a routine is like following a Rule, if you have as a part of that routine things that build you up in the spiritual life!  Prayer, Study, attending Mass, and helping the community around you (at St. John’s and around your home) can all help you to grow in grace and virtue.  One doesn’t have to be in a religious habit (monks or nuns robes) to have the good habit of a Rule of Life.    Set up some minimum standards like those listed above, and make it a GOOD habit.