What Are We Going to Do Today, Lord?
Maria Eugenia grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, raised in a Catholic family of three sisters and one brother. She currently lives in Framingham, Massachusetts, with Alex, her husband of 24 years, and their French Bulldog RoRo. They have twin sons, 21 years old, Carlos and Luis, who are about to graduate from the University of Wisconsin and Boston University respectively. Maria Eugenia and Alex are active servers of Build the Faith, and practice their faith with the support and inspiration of a close group of friends, and guided by the example and legacy of Christina Dangond and her family.
For some time now I’ve been looking for ways to make my relationship with God less compartmentalized. Ways to ensure that God is present all throughout my day, in everything I do, and not only during specific times of the day that I carve out for prayer and reflection. Ways to really walk by God’s side and practice Galatians 2:20 which states, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
In reality, my daily life is very different; not unlike many of you, the responsibilities of a demanding job, a family, a house, etc. take most of my day and my mind, and it is easy to go through the motions of the day without, having God in my mind. Believe me, I am not proud of it, but saying that I live life in a state of mystic inspiration is simply not true.
I prayed to the Holy Spirit for his intervention, almost thinking that a celestial light was going to come down from heaven and inspire me. I kept thinking about the many images of the Apostles and the saints; images that portray them surrounded by light and gazing up to heaven, fully overpowered by God’s love. Then I realized that I needed to be more practical about it. I needed to use the “earthly” tools that I have at my disposal to be more intentional and purposeful about my desire to keep God present in my life.
With the help of my spiritual advisor, I put aside the shame I felt for struggling to keep God present. I shared with her the tools that I use to keep me focused on God…. The Hallow App routines, a rosary on my desk, in my car, and on my night table, an alarm on my phone at 3:00 pm every day, and even a sticky note on my computer monitor. Yes, I know these are very mundane, and God is not a task in my to do list, but these tools help me. They really do. Every single one of these non-celestial and potentially prosaic reminders bring me back to God, even if it’s only briefly, and they create a thread that is interwoven in my day. That is what I want; to look back at my day and reflect on all the moments when I was able to feel the presence of God, even if I needed a little push.
I don’t know if I ever won’t need reminders, but for now, I do, and I am happy to have many helpful tools and use them in a disciplined and consistent way. It is comforting to know that God will be in my day, so I start my day by asking God, “What are we going to do today, Lord?
