From Self Reliance to Liturgy
Sometimes instead of constructing a spiritual life we need to participate in one
Happy 4th Week in Ordinary Time! Continuing our conversation on false assumptions we make about following Jesus, this article is exploring how we move from a spirituality that is self-reliant and allow ourselves to be carried by the historical rhythms of followers of Jesus. You can catch up on previous articles in this series here:
In 2020, I'd just finished my first ministry job. In my first year of ministry, every day of prayer felt like an opportunity to hear God say something life changing. I had a sense of direction in my prayer life that was closely tied to my day to day work. But in second year, prayer started to feel like a bundle of unmet expectations I unloaded on a God who didn't have much to say.
After I left my ministry job, I worked for a year or two at the Starbucks in my hometown. It was a decent job for the most part but there was one aspect that killed me: 4:30am wake-ups for the morning shift. 4:30am wake ups were killing my body but before that my soul had been feeling long dead.
While it ministry it had been fairly easy to maintain a vibrant spirituality, the exhaustion of life and ministry had been slowly accumulating. By the time I left my ministry position, it seemed as though there was very little spiritual energy left in me. The early morning shift was the nail in the coffin.
I called my spiritual director and explained that prayer was starting to feel more draining than life giving - that it was a battle to show up, and when I did I left feeling more tired and more discouraged. The advice he gave me was simple: to start my day with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be and be on my way.
I realized something on that phone call - in my prayer life, I was trying to carry the full weight of my walk with God. I believed the lie that it was all up to me.
Rather than being okay with leaning on the beautiful pre-written prayers of our tradition, I pressured myself to carry the conversation all on my own. I relied on myself to generate a vibrant prayer life.
Self reliance is an easy trap to fall into. In a chat where our conversation partner is invisible, it can often feel like we need to speak on His behalf. Even beyond prayer, in a world where customization is the norm, we might feel the need to identify exactly what elements of the Christian life “speak to us” the most, and adjust our discipleship accordingly.
At one level, this spiritual personalization is good and even healthy. What works for one believer won’t necessarily work for you. At the same time, if it becomes all about constructing a spiritual life rather than participating in one, what seems on the surface to be liberating actually becomes exhausting.
We need a baseline. Something to carry our walk with God when it feels like we can’t take another step (and this is really a “when”, not an “if”.)
Since the earliest days of the Church, rooted in our Jewish history, people seeking God have stepped into the rhythms of a pre-constructed spiritual life. Other practices have been added to help bring continued growth, but some pieces are universally helpful - praying through the day, fasting on Fridays, resting on Sundays, attending to the Liturgical seasons.
Many of these rhythms fall under a concept we call the Liturgical life. It’s doesn’t comprise everything we need for a thriving spiritual life, but it does give us a foundation on which to grow and a place to rest when we need to prune.
More than that, it teaches us that we don’t need to carry the weight of our spiritual lives. Jesus has laid down a pattern for us, practiced by saints throughout history. This pattern isn’t designed to be another obligation on top of our already overly-busy lives: it’s an invitation to something easy and light that “works,” even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Putting it Into Practice
Liturgical living is a MASSIVE concept and many Christians are doing a great job of trying to explain it and make it accessible to the average person. We hope to build on this great work by using the Liturgical life as a foundation for a Rule of Life (more on that to come).
Before that though, most of us are actually just unaware of “Liturgical time,” or the rhythms that have guided the life of the Church for millennia.
For that reason, our practice for this week is simply to start developing an awareness of the Liturgical year.
To make this easier, we recommend subscribing to a digital calendar from The Little Rose Shop that has all the feasts, fasts, and Liturgical events of the year laid out for you. Each day has a brief description of the saint or feast and some ideas for commemoration. You can add it to your Google Calendar (or digital calendar of choice) here:
In our community, practicing an awareness of the Liturgical year looks like tying little pieces of our lives to the Church calendar. We try to rest on Sundays, abstain from meat on Fridays, and throw little celebrations on the feast days of saints we’re inspired by. More than just fun domestic traditions though, these practices allow us to meditate on an infinite God over time.
As we come back to these themes year after year, they sink into our hearts and have a formative effect over time.
Deeper Dive
💻 3 minute read - Experiencing Eternity in Time by James Pereira
📖 Book - Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Ratzinger
💻 7 minute read - Keeping Sacred Time by Elizabeth Oldfield
Benediction
To close, consider taking this good word (bene = good, dicere = word) by Catherine Henry into your week:
Where I am fearful to release control, Jesus, be my strength
Where my heart is closed, Jesus, be my strength
Where the burdens are too heavy, Jesus, be my strength
Where I struggle to trust that you are enough, Jesus, be my strength
Where I am self reliant, Jesus, be my strength
Thanks for reading! Next week we’ll look at how to move from legalism to contemplation.
God Bless,
James
Loved this! Great reminder that prayer does not have to be complicated