INTRODUCTION: NEED FOR A PLAN OF LIFE OUR LIVES
Nowadays are so filled with activities that if we want to maintain our social relations and not overlook other important aspects of life, we need to organize ourselves, plan things out, and avoid leaving things to last minute improvisation. In short, we need
what we might call a “plan of life.” This plan must be specific and yet flexible, adapted to the changing circumstances of the life of an ordinary person. It should includetime for one’s professional work or study, family, and apostolate, while at the same time fostering a synthesis or unity of life which should be characteristic of every Christian. Such a plan should not be considered a straitjacket but, rather, more akin to the rails along which a train, symbolizing one’s life as a Christian, moves swiftly and safely.
A personalized, fully thought-out plan will enable us to accomplish more with the time we have available, and will help us realistically to set our goals. It should embrace both the human and the spiritual aspects of life. For a Christian, a full life is but an ordinary one lived in a Christian manner. Religious formation and a well-developed interior life are essential for sanctifying human activities and, at the same time, making them instruments of apostolate.
When electrical engineers are planning a high-tension line, they mark out the tower sites at distances that prudently take into account the shape of the terrain. From these will be suspended the cables along which electrical current will pass, providing power to homes and businesses. If the towers are set too far apart for aesthetic or other reasons of convenience, the cables will be stretched too far, compromising their utility. This image can help us understand the importance of certain norms of piety that should factor into our plan of life, in order to sustain throughout the day the supernatural dimensions of our being. Distributed prudently, taking into account our daily activities, they are like the towers of a high-tension line upon which our interior life is mounted. If we spread them too far apart, because they take time from our daily pursuits or are otherwise inconvenient, our humanity will be without supernatural light. To fulfill A PLAN OF LIFE 2 HELPING YOU FIND GOD WHEREVER YOU ARE these norms, to live them, to love them, is to care for our interior life and in turn draw closer to God.
What follows are some norms of piety practiced by many ordinary Catholics in their daily lives.