One of the concrete manifestations of good will towards God and a desire to grow in holiness through prayer and living out an attitude of “Magnanimity” by doing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, is by formulating and writing out in a clear, methodical and practical way a Plan of Life. The variety of ways to hammer out a plan of life are limitless. The Plan of Life proposed in this article focuses on the various areas in our total life, and how we can improve and make our life a fragrance pleasing to God. Let us make the Psalmist’s prayer, our prayer: “O Lord, give success to the work of our hands; give success to the work of our hands.” (Ps. 90: 17)
Of capital importance, a well-formulated Plan of Life serves to order the disordered in our lives. Due to Original Sin and actual sin, our lives are marked by upheaval, confusion and disorder. The Holy Spirit is a God of order. Our Lady of Guadalupe gently arranged in an orderly way the roses in the tilma of Saint Juan Diego. From order comes peace of heart, mind, and soul. The Augustinian definition of peace is “Tranquility of order.”
Before writing out your specific plan of life, why not give this spiritual project a specific theme, motto or emphasis for the year. Some suggestions! Choose a corporal or spiritual work of mercy that you feel God is challenging you to embrace and live out this year. Maybe you prefer to take one of the 14 Stations of the Cross and that can be your motif. Or else you can choose one of the Eight Beatitudes (Mt. 5: 1-12) and strive to live that out with the help of your plan of life. Perhaps you would like to have a Marian thrust and choose one of the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary as your guiding star for the year. Finally, you might prefer choosing a Biblical scene or verse that captivates your attention. Jesus inviting Peter to walk on the water (Mt. 14: 28-29); or one of Jesus’ words from the cross, “I thirst” (Jn. 19: 28); or the words of the Apostles to the Lord, “Increase our faith” (Lk. 17: 5). It could even be the essence of the Divine Mercy devotion in the simple words painted on the image itself: “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Now that we have chosen a guiding theme for the New Year, let us proceed in the specifics of our Plan of Life with various concrete areas to examine honestly and make short, practical proposals to continue our growth and improvement in these areas. Much better to formulate proposals that are practical and realistic, than idealistic proposals that go up like smoke before the first week of January has transpired! Remember the words of Jesus Himself: “He who is faithful in the small, will be faithful in the greater.” (Lk. 16: 10) The essence of the spirituality of St. Therese is to do the ordinary things of one’s daily life with extraordinary love. There we have the secret and key to holiness!
PLAN OF LIFE: CONCRETE PROPOSALS AND SPECIFIC CATEGORIES….
I. PRAYER LIFE.
Examine seriously the tone, tenor and present status of your prayer life. Pray over this to come up with some concrete way that you can make an improvement. SUGGESTION! Why not decide to add just five extra minutes to your prayer every day. This may seem insignificant, but your faithfulness for five more minutes will earn many graces for you and others!
II. CONFESSION/RECONCILIATION.
By birth we are all sinners. Until our dying day we must fight fiercely but trusting more in God’s grace to overcome sin in our lives. Sin is our mortal enemy number one. One of the most efficacious means to conquer sin is through the reception of the Sacrament of Confession. God’s healing touch and grace manifests itself most abundantly through this Sacrament. PROPOSAL! Go to confession more frequently. The more frequently, the more graces you receive to avoid sin! You can decide how often. Also, prepare yourself better the night before you confess, and trust more in God’s mercy! Victory through God’s mercy!
III. HOLY MASS AND HOLY COMMUNION.
Our eternal salvation depends on allowing Jesus to save us. The name “Jesus” means Savior. Jesus outlines a clear and concrete plan of action for us to be saved in His “Bread of Life Discourse” (Jn. 6: 22-71). Read it and meditate upon this Word of life. To sum up Jesus’ message in a few words, the salvation of our immortal soul depends upon eating and drinking. Adam and Eve ate and they brought death to the world. Jesus promises us eternal life through eating and drinking His Body and Blood through reception of Holy Communion. He states clearly without stammer or stutter: “I am the Bread of Life. Whoever eats my Body and drinks my Blood will have everlasting life and I will raise Him up on the last day.” (Jn. 6: 35,48) ACTION POINT! Why not aim for Daily Mass and Holy Communion? If this is already your practice, come ten minutes early before Mass and offer your own intentions, depositing them on the altar. The graces that will flow into your heart are in direct proportion to your preparation and disposition. One Holy Communion could transform us into saints! Fantastic and true!
St. Charbel Maklouf. This saint received permission to celebrate Mass at noon every day, so he could spend the whole morning preparing for Mass and the rest of the day giving thanks.
IV. APOSTOLIC LIFE.
To be a follower of Christ is to be a missionary. The last words of Jesus before ascending into heaven were, “Go out to all the world and teach them all that I taught you…and behold I will be with you always even until the end of time.”(Mt. 28: 19-20) We are challenged to grow in our faith, but also to share our faith. Indeed, one of the best ways to fortify one’s own faith is to share it with others! TRY IT! What might be a concrete way? In your family, suggest the daily recitation of the Rosary. By praying one of the four Mysteries of the Rosary each day—the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious—every four days we are praying over the key events in the life of Christ! Outside our home, invite a fallen away Catholic to return to the Catholic Church. If we love God, we should love what God loves—the salvation of souls!
V. PERMANENT FORMATION.
Pope Benedict XVI called for a year of faith beginning October 11, 2012 and exhorted us to read the Documents of Vatican II, most specifically the four Dogmatic Constitutions: Dei Verbum (on the Word of God), Sacrosanctum Concilium (on the Liturgy), Gaudium et Spes and Lumen Gentium (Documents on the Church in the modern world). Catholic-Christians today must make a concerted effort to learn their faith more deeply; our Catholic faith is a fathomless ocean in its depth and width. DECISION! Set aside at least 15 minutes every day to apply yourself to a serious study of your Catholic faith.
VI. PENANCE.
To take flight, a bird needs two wings. So as to soar high in the spiritual life, the soul needs to apply itself seriously to two practices: PRAYER AND PENANCE. Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three little shepherd children and insisted that they pray—especially the most Holy Rosary—but also that they offer up sacrifices for the conversion of poor sinners. Jesus expressed this bluntly: “Unless you do penance, you will perish.” (Lk. 13: 3) COUNSEL! Friday is the day that we are obliged to do penance; why not choose one of the following: no meat, give up sweets for the day, fast from watching television, eat less, make the Way of the Cross, do not complain the whole day!!!!
VII. WORK.
All of us are called to work. God said to Adam that he would earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. St. Paul exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We also all know, probably from personal experience, that idleness is the workshop of the devil. Examine carefully your daily work to see areas for improvement. PROPOSAL! Be punctual in starting, hard in working, and honest in the hour you leave. Remember that you are working for the Lord. As St. Paul reminds us, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God!” (1 Cor: 10-31)
VIII. VOCATIONAL CALL.
Most are called to the life of marriage; some are called to the Priesthood and Religious life, and others are called to the single life. If one is called to the married life, then a thorough examination of conscience and concrete proposals can be made with respect to one’s plan of life! Examine your life and respond to these questions. How can I be a better wife or husband? A better son or daughter? How can I improve as a father or mother? Pray over this and the Holy Spirit will inspire you with a concrete proposal.
IX. SPIRITUAL DIRECTION.
In addition to frequent confession, spiritual reading, and serious theological studies, those who are pursuing the path of perfection should have some form of periodic Spiritual Direction. St. John of the Cross put it bluntly: “He who has himself as spiritual director has an idiot for a disciple.” In other words, we all have blind spots and need someone other than ourselves to help us on the demanding and rigorous path to becoming a saint. ADVICE! Pray that God will help you to find this guide. If you have already discovered one, be thankful, humble, docile and obedient!
X. MARY: OUR LIFE, OUR SWEETNESS, AND OUR HOPE.
A successful plan of life would be incomplete if Mary were neglected. As St. Louis de Montfort asserts with the utmost conviction: “The quickest, easiest and most efficacious path to holiness is through true devotion to Mary.” In other words, Mary is the shortcut to God! PROPOSALS! The Daily Rosary, so pleasing to Mary. Consecration to Mary through “True Devotion to Mary” by St. Louis de Montfort or Total Consecration Through the Mysteries of the Rosary with daily meditations by the author of this article. Then strive to live in the presence of Mary and imitate Mary’s virtues. Why not choose your weakest virtue this year and beg for Mary’s intercession to conquer yourself! Mary is the weak point of God. He can never resist her prayers!
Let us conclude with words of wisdom taken from Adolphe Tanquerey in his classic “The Spiritual Life”.
“The man who holds to a well-defined rule of life saves considerable time: 1) He wastes no time in hesitation. He knows exactly what he is to do, and when he is to do it. Even if his schedule is not mathematically detailed, at least it sets off time-periods and lays down principles with regard to religious exercises, recreation, work, etc… 2) There is little or nothing unforeseen, for even should the unusual occur, he has already provided for it by determining beforehand, exercises that may be shortened and the manner of making up for them. At all events, as soon as these exceptional circumstances cease to exist, he immediately comes back to his rule. 3) Inconstancy likewise vanishes. The rule urges him to do always what is prescribed, and that every day and at every hour of the day. Thus, the habits are formed that give continuity to his life and assure perseverance; his days are full days, teeming with good works and merits.” (Tanquery, Spiritual Life, # 560)
