Dr-Week #3 E&W

Sacred Story

Week 3 Encouragements & Wisdom
 
Share your feedback with us! Send us a comment on Week #3.
 

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If you prefer to read offline, you can also download: Wisdom and Encouragements for Week 3 (PDF).
 
E & W reflections are additional helps for your Sacred Story prayer journey. Reflect on them ahead of your prayer exercises for the week or outside of your fifteen-minute prayer windows.

Comments about the Whole-Life Survey

Honesty was the most prevalent word used in participant comments about the experience of taking the Whole-Life Survey. The selection below is an example of one person’s reflection that captured this majority theme from thirteen pages of comments submitted:

I would suggest people open themselves up honestly in taking the survey. With honesty comes humility as we begin to understand how fallen we are and how far we have to go toward God, how difficult the path is. What is really hard is for those of us who have been trying to live according to God’s laws only to see how much we still have to do. It can be disheartening and yet, fill us with hope in that, no matter what our age is or our experience in following a spiritual life, we can always grow more. The survey also points out the strength of convictions one has and the desire to be ever present to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. This is why only honesty will help a person discover these facts and gain the greatest spiritual benefits that the person needs to grow closer to God.

Advice you would offer to “Someone Just Like You” at this point in the Sacred Story Yearlong Journey

I want to share with everyone at this early point in our year journey together a large sampling of the sound and wise advice you have offered to others who will take this journey.

St. Ignatius had many ideas for helping individuals make good decisions. Here is one I like:

If you have a question that needs an answer, pretend someone has come to you to ask your advice with the very same question. What advice would you give them? St. Ignatius said you should listen to the advice you offer to the imagined questioner, and then…follow the same advice yourself!

There will be easy days and difficult days in the year ahead, but your advice to “hold fast” and “trust God to work” by “taking time for daily prayer” will always be true.

Be consoled that there are so many on this journey with you. Be consoled that there are so many other people in our world who daily set time aside to allow God to be present to their hearts.

You don’t have to read all the advice in the comments below. But you can return to this sound advice over the year when you are discouraged or when you are feeling like you want to give up. It will be as true then as it is now.

Peace,

P. William Watson, S.J.

Don’t think too much. Just open your heart to God.

The hardest thing to do is to find a quiet space—keep looking!

I think this exercise is important to my spiritual life and just like eating a meal daily, I need to spend time with spiritual thinking to allow for the health and growth of my spiritual side of myself. It is wonderful to have “food of thought for the journey” for my soul. Thank YOU!!

Print out the Rule of Engagement and the Sacred Story Affirmation that consoles you the most, and have it handy when you start your 15 minute reflection time.

It will give you a path to Jesus that you do not now have in your life.

It is so early on in this, I don’t know if one would need encouragement yet. The initial interest is still strong.

Human nature is always there with each one of us. Some have the tendency to procrastinate more than others. Building a new habit takes time and effort. Try to keep yourself motivated but don’t be too surprised if you fall back and have to perk up and begin again and again.

It is very important on a daily basis to look at how your life if going, where is God and getting some feedback from God. You will be immensely more happy if you are able to do this on a routine basis. Understand that it will be more helpful at some times than others and do not stop just because you may experience a time of less helpfulness.

We are only getting started and it already feels like a secure structure has been set in place for healing. This is just like going to an excellent secular physician when one is quite ill, and witnessing that the doctor has good training, can diagnose well and will be slow and steady in determining the most accurate prognosis. Good spiritual care should follow the example set by scientifically proven good medical protocol. A patient can already start feeling healed when there is confidence in the structure, method and knowing that a clear, well thought through path for treatment is already planned out ahead of time, even for the worst of illnesses that may take quite awhile to heal.

My advice would be, prayer takes practice and practice takes time. If you don’t have time for prayer what do you have time for? What are your priorities?

You have just begun

It helps me to identify my being on the right track in life and where I have opportunities to grow.

No matter how busy you are, take time to be with God. Because you are busy is the BEST time to make sure you slow down to take time for God!

Let the Holy Spirit get closer to you through these exercises.

If you are looking to experience your faith in a new way, be prepared to try something new!

Your Sacred Story is already being written. Don’t you want to see what it is?

Be not afraid, Jesus goes before you always, come follow him.

This is a way to “increase in me a clean heart.” This is an opportunity God gives me to draw closer to him, to become one with him. Why wouldn’t you choose
that?
Be patient and observant. Allow time for things to unfold and be observant to how they unfold and how it impacts you and those around you.

Why not? Who knows what and where it will lead to? For the last year, we have been puzzling over how to live out our lives together, knowing that our spiritual lives are now free to blossom in big new ways…all to be discovered. I am grateful for this opportunity.

A journey begins with the first step.

Make a commitment to the prayer time. Believe that God is calling you to this journey. Look forward with joyful anticipation to where He is leading you.

Ignore the voice that says “you can’t do this”, “you won’t be able to commit to the time and effort”, “nobody is going to learn from your experience”.

This is the beginning, suspend disbelief, encourage yourself…say , “I will go on, I will go on!”

Something about prayer works. Something about prayer accesses reality. This is an adventure, I don’t know what will be asked of us, but it’s about prayer, so I’m betting there will be results. We can do this without gritting our teeth.

I wanted to quit at week 1. I was too tired, too stressed, too busy. But, I have this anxiousness inside of me that I can’t describe. It’s more than wanting to be involved in something bigger than myself. I can’t explain it. I made a promise to myself that I will continue with Sacred Story no matter what and maybe it is through this mechanism the anxiousness will go away.

Investing time in your prayer life is important. So far, this journey has made a difference by providing a discipline that I have acted on in a less meaningful way until now. Prayer and reflection were a part of my daily life; however these materials and this journey truly make the reflection and prayer more meaningful…I feel I have already taken steps closer to God.

If you feel like you need to quit, reflect honestly as to why. Fear of what you may learn? Resistance to change? Worry about time investment? Acknowledge the feelings and you will be free of their hold on you.

Don’t make decisions quickly and if you have started keep going until you are familiar enough with the SS process to make a reason decision about whether God is calling you to continue.

Go and try It!

Allow yourself time to be alone in your heart with these thoughts

This is not an easy thing to do. Self-examination will likely reveal things that you are not proud of. It is important to remember God’s love is everlasting and his mercy is constant. You need to forgive yourself of past sins, and ask His forgiveness, in order to be able to move on.

Our Lord is ready to meet and embrace us wherever we are at this very instant…on our faith journey. In doubt or in knowing…. He is ready to hold on tight to us!

Be patient

To be focused on God. I am extremely fearful of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and when I read that we will be asked to participate frequently in it I almost bolted from the program; however, I know I have to work through this issue to obtain true peace. Just I need to go through with this journey to learn how to hand the issue.

Believe, hope and commit to the Sacred Story program.

Even if you feel peaceful at this time in your life, there is still a lot of room for growth in your relationship with God.

Take the opportunity. It could be very worth your time.

Pray often.

Over the years most things change. This may be the one exercise that helps us maintain our faith.

Although I have no idea what is to come in the year ahead, I take comfort in knowing that now that I have made the commitment to this journey, God will be by my side throughout. I feel certain that I can only grow stronger in my faith as the year progresses.

Read the affirmations slowly and more than once.

It may seem daunting – a year is a long time. Life is longer and if we can make the space for God daily it will make the path and daily grind more even.

It is important to set aside time each day to examine your false self and meditate on realizing you true self and to be living in the moment at all times.

I hope that others may have also recognized a spark of the possibilities and opportunities this prayer journey may provide for helping to open wide my heart to Christ’s love and to embrace the chance for encouragement and guidance to be received by bravely continuing to takes the steady steps on this path. To not ignore the sense of uncertainty of whether I can make it through and whether I am doing it right but to instead seek to uncover and lay bare the ways I found myself afraid of what i cannot do on my own and hopes that this practice may be another way i have not yet tried which may help me to fill the voids in my life with God and his endless love

You just started. Give it a chance.

It is too early to even think about quitting.

Pray for forgiveness and help from God.

Getting to the root of you sins is difficult work. Ask God to help you.

Not to be discouraged by my failures & shortcomings, & to remember that Christ will be with me all of the way.

Don’t wait for the “perfect” time, place…do what you can when you can.

Be patient. trust that God will help you and be with you every step of the way during this journey.

We haven’t really even started yet. I can only imagine that a person quitting at this point would do so because they could not find the time to begin and to carve out those 15 minute periods during the day. So I would say that you should not feel guilty if you miss a session but to use the missed session as an opportunity to figure out how you can work in a session the next time you have a similar situation.

God answers your yearnings through your openness to growth and in his/her appropriate time.

Think of the good results this could lead to in your life spiritually and psychologically. “Eye on the prize.”

do not be afraid of this survey. It can only be a good thing to learn more about what can draw you closer to Christ. It is always exciting to learn new things.

The journey is just starting. Just consider a day at a time and concentrate on the reflections for that week. You will be surprised how these messages will be reinforced during the week, Keep a journal!

Stay committed and be realistic, it’s okay when we forget to do our 15min prayer, don’t give up. Trust and have faith, ask our Lord for strength.

To make time daily to spend with Our Lord. Be open to the promptings of his spirit.

Keep an open non judgmental heart.

Even if you feel a bit overwhelmed by the emotions arising from the personal survey, or the stresses of your life, keep going. I want to keep building a closer relationship with Jesus.

Keep an open mind. Be patient. Allow God to do His work on His timeframe.

To go with your heart and really try to put time for prayer

Trust that God is working to gain more access into your life. These prayers and meditations are another way for Him to enter.

In my personal experience, life always becomes more peaceful and joyful when I am spending time in meditation and discernment. I feel more confident in my decisions and actions when I am listening for the voice of God around me.

You have everything to gain and nothing to lose when spending time with God. Rearrange your schedule; prioritize prayer and JUST DO IT.

Do not be concerned about imperfections in your prayer journey. This journey is designed for imperfect people–if you had no imperfections, you would not need the prayer journey.

Not to be discouraged

It’s a beautiful thing to have continued life learning and empowerment through God.

You will see comparisons in daily life to the affirmations

Trust in God, the Creator, the Spirit, the Word, that this opportunity has come at a time you need it most and can benefit most from it. Thank God, the Creator, the Spirit, the Word for gracing you with your decision to say “Yes!” / Ask God each day to walk with you at each moment of the journey. Express your trust and thanks to God for your hope and faith!

The affirmations help to get through the chaos and difficulties in life. When you learn of a problem that is going on in your life, or your loved-one’s life, the affirmations help you to view the situation in a more manageable way.

Find a way to reflect each day, but don’t let failures to do so make you feel guilty when you don’t succeed.

I don’t have any at this time, but I know I will when I’m into this for a while.

Just start doing it. Don’t get caught up in the commitment aspect of it.

We will never know in this life how much God loves us. We can only continue our journey to him every day by making use of all resources that will open us more to that love. God will always show us his mercy when we step forward to him and he will respond by showing us his love.

In order to accomplish anything, you need to set a goal and have a daily plan on how you are going to get there. For example, To study 7 hours a week—It is easier for me to study one hour a day for seven days, then trying to study seven hours in one day to accomplish the weekly goal. To make your spiritual journey a daily habit, it is important to do a little each day.

I feel a restlessness and anxiousness about perfecting my relationship with God, and what that means for me in my life. I hope that participation in this program will provide me with good tools to seek out and achieve that better relationship.

This spiritual journey is worth the time and effort. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

To connect more with God and my own spirituality through prayer and this year long journey which I believe God is leading me to do so that I can find more peace, faith, hope, and a better way of life to come

Take care of yourself first then you can care for other. You cant give what you don’t have. Listen to God. Work on understanding.

Just do it.

Trust that at some point, I will get the message and it will stay with me and inspire me. I am not a churchy person, I just don’t talk holy.

I would say, “You deserve this beautiful gift from God simply because He loves you. Allow yourself the realization that He would have died on the cross just for you, so it’s not so difficult to believe that He wants to share this Sacred Story time with you and to reveal new ways of love to you”.

Take one day at a time and keep an open mind and pray for guidance.

Don’t quit.

Look for peace and trust in the process worked put by others

Trust in the process and be open to God’s blessings.

Our real goal in life is to become closer to Jesus. This sacred story journey sounds like it will help.

The experience seems to be transforming – approach it with an open heart and God will be faithful.

Be not afraid. There is nothing to be afraid of- except giving into the weaknesses that make you stumble and loss sight of God.

This is the beginning of eternity. God knows us through and through, and this whole process will bring life as we reflect and go deeper within.

Stay with it because God will call you nearer.

You will derive instruction and great strength from meditating on the affirmations. Stay the course; this is a journey that will reward you with “results” along the way.

By the grace of God, I have this opportunity. God is inviting me to be closer to him. As St. Teresa used in his writing, a lot of time, I have to draw the water myself to water my faith and prayer life garden. This opportunity is like having my garden next to the river where God just provides all the water.

Don’t give up.

It feels exciting and right.

It may seem like just another gimmick, but let’s stick with it. It can only help.

I feel a bit disconnected with the program at this point because I could not access the materials in the first week, so feel I am behind and a bit lost in the program. Maybe the parable of the vineyard is helpful, even the late arrivals were encouraged to participate, given a day’s labor and given more than a day’s payment in reward.

None. I’ve been engaged in prayer and reflection on a daily basis for years. I wouldn’t need any encouragement to continue at this time.

Even though there is a lot of “unknown” ahead, be hopeful, keep and open mind and trust that God is leading you. He has a plan for you and your willingness to engage in this year long process is saying “yes” to his desire for you to draw nearer to him. Be not afraid!

Keep on schedule even if you are tired or depressed. Keep going forward.

Take this one-day at a time especially at the beginning when a year seems like a very long time.

Taking the initial survey and reflecting on the Sacred Story Affirmations caused past issues to resurface. This made me realized issues that I thought had been resolved within me really have not been resolved. After this realization I spent the first week praying both at home and in front of the blessed sacrament, saying the rosary and attending movie night at the church (The Way) with the church community. All of these activities helped me to cope with the past feelings that resurfaced during this initial week.

Don’t be afraid to be honest with yourself and with God.

God created you in His image and likeness to do something unique. The Sacred Story will help you become the person God created you to be and then you will be able to let everyone with whom come in contact experience an aspect of God’s love for each of them that no one else can do.

Keep going, keep praying, keep reflecting

Too early to know what blessings can come out of this journey – much too early to consider giving up on the process

This is a unique opportunity to have expert guidance on our spiritual journey. Few people can spend the time to get a theology degree and accumulate all the knowledge and insight that is being made available to us. We will be learning to pray to God in a more powerful and reflective way.

It is not selfish to set aside 15 minutes in order to be attentive to the Lord.

Don’t give up even if you missed some days…

I am curious about what lies ahead! What will it feel like to look back on this experience a year from now? What will I have learned, how will I have grown? I’m too curious to stop!

It can’t hurt to try.

Keep your heart open to God. No matter how difficult your life may be, know that God always wants to help you, reaching out to you as a Lover to His Beloved. God wants to mend all the hurts your carry within you. Open your heart to His healing and love.

Trust that this is a path that Christ is calling you to follow

The words from week one are great to say over and over. “your fidelity to sacred story depends less on you and more on you decision….to ask god….to help you…to be faithful”. We are not doing this by ourselves. God is with us and wants to help us. Very powerful and very good to remember. It is a daily decision

To give this time real priority from the beginning rather than just fitting it in to your already very busy day.

In even this first week, I have found a level of calm during my fifteen-minute daily sessions that have helped me through each day.

Begin with small-steps, but have in mind the larger picture. Do not let the larger picture overwhelm you. Acquiring any skill takes a bit of learning and time. Skills are not acquired all-at-once. Think about what it takes to change one’s diet from unhealthy foods to healthier foods. You begin small and “yes,” there could be times when you do not follow the regime that you set for yourself. But you look at the changes that are taking place and make adjustments to what needs to be done to accomplish the goal you have in mind. An exercise program would be another good example. You do not acquire the ability of swimming 25 laps all at once, even if you are a seasoned swimmer. You have to build up to it.

I don’t have a full feel for it just yet. I imagine that the comments will help the next person since I feel the lack of such encouragement. At this time, this is an exercise and a personal commitment.

Results can only be seen years after the experience is over.

This is just the beginning, stick with it.

Well, I just read week one and now I am trying to read and do week two also. I think I will be in a better place after I have had a chance to reflect on week one and week two. Here’s hoping!

Be open to what may come. It’s still early.

Have patience with yourself.

Keep working on it. It’s like peeling an onion–just one layer at a time. And sometimes it’ll make you cry. Just pray that the final result will be worth the work and the pain.

Although I just arrived from Mexico and I am trying to put my act together. I would like to go back to my routine of morning meditation. / pax

Give it a chance, were only getting started.

At the end of 52 weeks, you’ll look back on the journey and be thankful that you’ve done it. Give that gift to yourself.

Establishing a new routine takes time. Keep at it.

Time and taking time is the most important aspect. A time of quiet.

Don’t be task oriented, don’t try to get the survey done as quickly as possible, read and re-read, you’ll get more inspirations, new insights.

The moments of prayer give one a great sense of peace that can’t be found any other way.

It will need to be an act of the will at this point to commit to doing the 15 minutes a day

Engaging in The Sacred Story may be the first time you trusted, that resulted in Blind Trust Made Good.

Just trust the process, take Christ’s hand, and go forward one step at a time. He will not lead you where He will not sustain you. Despite your weaknesses, you really can be faithful to this journey.

If your life is at its most discouraging and hopeless point like mine, what do you have to lose, just try it. Life can’t get any worse…..

Making time is very important. I think you have to remind “a person like me” make 15 min in a day to reflect.

Recognize what an opportunity this is to reflect on and grow in God’s love. It is also an opportunity to learn more about ourselves. Already, early in this yearlong journey, the initial surveys indicate how well we know or thought we knew ourselves. They provoke thinking about the entire fabric of our lives and how the emotional, psychological and spiritual dimensions are all part of our story and how Christ’s love reveals it as Sacred Story. It is exciting to anticipate what might come by having an open heart. Take one day at a time. We are free each day to accept the invitation to continue or not. Fear might be an initial reaction, but what is to be lost by going forward knowing Christ’s love will be with us on this journey? To think of one’s life as a Sacred Journey fills one with a powerful sense of the miracle and mystery of life. This prayer journey could bring us healing and a path toward closer unity with God. This is worth trying to get past any fear or other resistance that we might feel.

It will take a real commitment to set aside the time needed for this journey.

You might get better doing this long thing.

Trust in God, trust in the process, trust in yourself and jump in. (Despite being afraid! I am!) Try to let go of who you think you ought to be in this process and surrender to who God wants you to be. Don’t think of this as “another thing I have to do” but rather as an opportunity to do the most important work of your life. Trust that the benefits of the process and program will bring grace to your life, and grace to the people you love and care for.

I really believe that God placed Sacred Story in my life because he loves me. The Rules of Engagement and the Affirmations were so helpful in organizing, in my mind, what has been going on in my life and my soul. I believe that Sacred Story is very important. I hope it reaches many people. I’m glad Sacred Story found me.

Maintain the schedule, it’s only 15-30 minutes per day, taking this deliberate time out of your day for calm and reflection will be immensely rewarding, and indeed will equip you to “get more things done” during the rest of the day that you would otherwise have.

What have you got to loose? Anything that has the chance of bringing you closer to a better relationship with our creator is worth the effort and time.

Trust in Christ Accept help to make life better

Do not think your participation in this journey as one more thing to do, do not be burdened by it. Think of it as a way of calming your body and mind to allow you to rest in God.

Yes, you do have the time and the commitment to move forward on this Journey. One step at a time.

God wants me to go deeper. Prayer is an area in of life in particular that I feel called to go deeper. I want to continue to be able to learn everything God wants me to which especially involved discipline- ” Hebrews 12:11- “At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it”. I find this very inspiring and motivating.

It seems that there is so much to work on, so much to learn, so many sinful habits to address. With God’s help and the guidance of the Sacred Story, you can take it one peaceful period at a time.

Keep the faith, don’t give up. Believe in God presence in your life and he will see you through.

Even if it’s hard or you feel like you’re not getting anything out of it, stick with it. Just sticking to something and working on it strengthens your faith in the goodness of what is happening.

Don’t let setbacks keep you from continuing the effort.

That healing only comes with time, it’s not going to happen right away. It also depends how much effort you put into it, and how much you actually want change in your life.

To trust in the process. God is offering you a great gift. Be faithful, and grateful to it no matter how you may “feel” a particular day.

I think is extremely useful to older people like myself who see their role in life “to fix things and people” to step back and allow someone to help them care for themselves.

It does not take that much… the blessings will be enormous… You cannot quit your intention to get closer to God

just stay the course… / that group of ‘affirmations’ that brought you to tears on the first reading (and every one after) – THAT is why you need to continue. / Satan has been ‘dogging you’ with those feelings your WHOLE LIFE, and now is the time to find out why THAT has such a powerful effect on you, and… perhaps, God will help you to understand why you constantly expect/feel a “no” answer when most your life has been filled with “yes.”

What do you have to lose except the 15 minutes / day? The sacred story is a leap of faith, faith that something good will come from our diligent 15 minutes / day.. We have to et go and let God on the this journey and not attach our own expectations to this journey.

Just thinking about the plan is a good beginning. Pondering the commitment is the start to making it a commitment. My intentions are good, my follow-through is what is lacking. Making the reflection time a habit will be the most significant contribution I can make towards this year of self discovery. (I think)

Sacred Story has guided me to create a time, space, and practice for quiet prayer in my very busy life. In committing to a time and place for quiet reflection, I have come to realize how busy I am. This time of the day has been a refreshing part of my day.

Not being with others while you are on this journey may seem daunting, but remember that you are not truly alone. If you can find time each day to reflect and pray and truly believe in your worth and that God loves you, you will get so much out of this or out of any similar type of spiritual learning

Learning about life, oneself and the world is a lifelong journey and it behooves us to engage in prayer, reflection, reading, downtime, self-examination and new experiences.

Stay focused on your spiritual health as much as you focus on your physical health (daily/weekly).

Life is a journey, which we all so often forget in our humanness. Allowing yourself to take this time for you to reflect on your journey and allowing yourself to find healing and release from the events in your past is something we all deserve. You are God’s blessed child. He only wants you to draw closer in your relationship to him. Take this time for yourself. We all are in such a hurry in our lives that we often forget how important our journey with God is. It is OK to take time for your relationship with God to more fully developed. If you don’t allow yourself to take that time now, when will you find the time? This is a gift from God. Grab his hand and take this journey. It can only help lessen the burden you have been trying to carry by yourself for so long.

Make the time it will be worth it

I cannot really comment right now. All I can say is to keep at it and see what happens. It is way too early to tell.

Sacred Story will help me grow spiritually. I do enjoy learning about my Faith. I hope and pray to learn the teachings well and do better in applying the virtues in my life. I believe God is with me here!

Great idea, it should give you the best route to firming up your faltering faith and thus make it possible to remove doubts (like those of Thomas).

The story has just begun. Don’t judge it before you have tried doing it.

Don’t worry if you don’t think you are “getting it right” in the beginning. It is a journey and you will have time to figure out just what you need to do and how it
can help you.

Don’t stop before the miracle happens.” Don’t let the lie of perfectionism prevent you from what God has in store for you if you persevere in faith and keep coming back to prayer.

The beginning of a journey always starts with a first step…..

to continue on to see what doors will open up for them. This is a spiritual journey and sometimes we never know the true reason that we came here until we have studied and prayed.

Give the program a fair trial

We all want to become Saints and go to Heaven, but sometimes is difficult when we have pain in our hearts from what we did to others or what they did to us. I would suggest you to continue in this project and to pray and ask God to open your heart to Him.

To take the time every day to pray and ask God to help you through this journey. It’s hard to set aside the time but it is very important to make time for God and your journey. Write it down in your calendar until it’s part of your day…just like eating and sleeping.

Really commit to this and make time for God and prayer.

just start and continue, being confident that the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth

Find someone else to do this exercise with – perhaps use this website to read postings by others who are doing this to, this will help know that others are in the same boat as I am and what I can learn from them about how to move forward.

i personally find it easier to try and interact with one or 2 thoughts per day, a long list tends to make me indecisive and non-committal. Parsing out daily affirmations could be more helpful on MY path.

Look at this as an adventure – a gift box from God, that you are curious and wanting to open.

I have not seen or read a sacred story. Did I miss something in week 1?

Once a day of reflection and prayer is better than none at all. You may be surprised at how the affirmations will resonate in your daily life

Have an open heart, and make the time to reflect.

The Sacred Story Affirmation that holds most true to me- “The insights you need to move forward in life always unfold at the right time.” This is why we hope and pray as we do. We are always seeking inspiration and direction to become our best selves and grow closer to God. If you listen and pay attention to everything around you, God always gives you exactly what you need. That is why Sacred Story is amazing. If you are faithful and listen, everything you could ever want or need will unfold.

You might not know where this journey is going but it can only be positive as it is inviting you to spend more time in prayer.

Most import is focus. Taking the time to meditate, pray and during this time be are aware of our feelings as well as how we react to what is around us. Calm your being and isolate yourself from outside influences of phone, internet, people, noise.

Continuing to experience Christ through the Sacred Story will help infuse you with the strength need to work through the problems you believe you have. Seek after Christ.

Setting aside time for reflection and prayer may seem overwhelming. But for the time of 15 minutes, it is a small request compared to all the other things we do in a day.

Best to not get too caught up in whether you have done everything every day…do the best you can for now and keep striving to do better and know that it is in the striving that makes it ok and you can be at peace for having done your best.

Don’t get discouraged if you have difficulty maintaining focus on the affirmations during the 15min prayer sessions. My mind wondered numerous times. Stick with the program even if you were not successful in doing the prayer sessions consistently each day. This is a learning process that will take some longer than others to master.

Make the commitment to stick with it.

God appreciates the time spent with Him even if you are stumbling through this.

Always try. Never give up

Stick to it. Do it for God, yourself, your faith, and for the people that come after
you.

However, be truthful in your reflections even though it is challenging to do so.

Give this a chance

God has PROMISED to help us and He has PROMISED to love us. Hold Him
close.

I’m trying to open myself to spiritual growth. I’m longing for something and know my life is not as it should be…not as complete as I desire. It’s the beginning and I knew this would be a long process. It’s the beginning and it’s hard to see where all these questions will lead. There IS time and I want to spend it trying to improve my relationship with God. Keep searching for those answers.

I cannot offer much advice—only be open. Try to enter fully into the experience. It should be of great use to you.

Have faith and keep going

Don’t give up. Keep trying.

Find time for GOD

Not to be afraid of the work ahead

Have faith that everything happening is for a reason. You are in this moment for a reason. Keep going.

There are always things happening in life that disrupt what we’d like to do. For example, last weekend I experienced the loss of my father in law after he spent 8+ weeks in ICU. Evenings and weekends from the beginning of the year were taken up with hospital visits rather than taking care of things at home. There will always be something going on. It’s critical to find time for “you.”

Not to be afraid to uncover past hurts you have buried and want to be done with. But know with Gods help you need to be truthful with yourself so you can become the person you were meant to be

“If you put your hand to the plough don’t turn back” / Don’t let the evil one undermine your desire for a deeper relationship with God. / Let nothing stop you from going forward with this life changing experience.

Praying every day is a gift. I thank God every day for that ability. I say a rosary a day and it calms me down.

Not having a understanding of what you want from each person I can’t give any advice except to have faith that whatever this is all about will make sense soon.

As with any commitment, going along the journey requires an active, conscious choice to be made everyday. Is this a priority? If so, how will you make the time to commit to it?

Don’t put off this opportunity for later, “when I’m better prepared” – Christ wants to reach you right now, just as you are!

Devote some time each day for your spiritual well-being.

They will develop self-discipline and inner peace.

I have a practice of Centering prayer and Sacred Story seems to be a continuation or enlargement of this practice.

Take it slow and allow the experience to happen. Don’t try to control it.

Be patient with yourself. Just as the sinful aspects of your life did not happen all at once, so too the healing of your destructive and negative personality traits will also take time.

This is all new, therefore, one needs to give this program more time.

Make sure that the time period you choose is achievable. Don’t hope that you can fit it in but schedule it like you would any other important appointment.

Please keep a positive attitude and give it an honest effort, the dividends will pay off

Do not view this project as a point of stress – another thing to schedule into an already busy day…. but rather, see it as an experience filled with hope, joy, and peace. As Fr. Watson stated, pray that you might desire to seek God’s goodness through this journey. Lastly, as with most habits, a few weeks of determined commitment to your prayer time and it will come naturally.

One day at a time

Going to church on a daily or weekly basis requires focus and commitment, just as prayer and reading the bible. It is challenging to be a strong faithful follower if you don’t immerse yourself deeper then the pressures of a corrupt, and sinful society that more often then not has little to give back to others that believe in God and being good to one another.

Give it time. Trust God to lead you.

Be open to the graces God has in store for you.

Keep moving forward and let it develop

Sometimes God does not present all that you will gain from taking the steps towards him in a different manner than you have in the past, but makes each step in this process to peel away the layers slowly (like an onion) in order for you to become closer to him and his will.

Keep on going forward, just keeping moving forward with the practice. You never know what gifts may await.