What do you do with the white space in your day? You know, that time in your day when you don’t have anything scheduled. This could also be time that you’re waiting for an appointment to start, getting ready, or in-between tasks.
How can you use that space for God? What about when you’re getting ready in the morning? One of my favorite ways to spend time with God is through His Word. Outside of my daily
morning coffee hour with God, I listen to the Bible each morning while getting ready for my day. I love the Bible in a Year podcast with Father Mike Schmitz. Each day, he reads about two to three scripture readings from the Bible and then offers a guided prayer, and summarizes what was read. It’s a great way to dive into God’s Word and become closer to Him. You can check this out and even start listening to this today to start your Bible in a year study: ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear.
Do you ever find yourself aimlessly scrolling social media? If you’re anything like me, you can find that it can be a major distraction and time vacuum. I actually gave up Facebook for Lent because my social media addiction was so strong - and it was so freeing! It felt so good to cleanse myself from this media overload.
How can you take this time that you’d normally spend scrolling through social media and turn it into time for God? There are so many great apps that have devotions, reflections, prayers and videos that make a great alternative to that scroll. One of my favorites is the YouVersion Bible App. It’s by Life Church, but there are some great Catholic reading plans and various translations of the Bible on this app. It even has the ability to connect you with friends; and it gives you an opportunity to read devotionals along with your friends and discuss them in the comments. You can find this at bible.com/app. If you want to be my friend on this app, feel free to search for me and send me a friend request. You can see which plans I’m reading, which Bible verses I highlight and so much more.
The MyParish app is another great resource that offers daily Mass readings (I use this every single morning!) and gives links to inspirational homilies and messages. If you choose St. Mary’s Church as your parish, you’ll even be able to see Mass times, Confession times
and receive messages from us.
Now, I know that not everyone truly enjoys reading, and for some it is easier to watch videos in order to spend a little more time with God. If you haven’t downloaded the Formed
app or have yet to visit their page online, make sure to check them out! Our parish has a subscription to Formed thanks to our Knights of Columbus. All you have to do is visit the
following website, https://stmarysglensfalls.formed.org, and create an account using your
email address. I like to watch some of these videos while I’m cleaning and doing chores around the house. It makes the time go quicker and I always learn something new that makes me feel even closer to Christ.
Some of these still might sound a bit outside of the box to you. You might even be thinking that by multitasking your time with God might not be as special. I beg to differ. While quiet time connecting with God is so important (if you didn’t get to read my first column about this, you can read it here: https://www.stmarysglensfalls.org/post/peace-through-trust-and-rest ), it is beneficial to invite God into ALL areas of your life, even the white space, and connect with Him throughout the day.
Peace be with you.
Melissa