Curing the Spiritual "Blahs"

Six simple suggestions for getting your spiritual life jump-started.

Father Jim Tucker of the Dappled Things blog has some good ideas for those who complain that "I don't feel spiritual at Mass."

1. If your schedule allows it, why not choose one day each week to stop in for daily Mass? It's much easier to focus during the quieter weekday liturgies.

2, Confession is for more than just getting rid of egregious sins. Conversion is an ongoing process, and so regular confession (once every month or so is a good goal) can help keep the process going.

3. Mental prayer is where we should be heading, instead of just memorized prayers. A good bridge of the two, and an easy way to build a good habit of daily prayer, is to commit 15 minutes each day to saying the rosary, particularly trying to use the mysteries as material for simple meditation.

4, Find some time each week to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament-- thirty to sixty minutes of quiet, weekly reflection and adoration in the presence of the Eucharist can truly sow Christ's peace in your life.

5. Another idea is to see if there are any shrines in your area. You may not be able to make a life-changing pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but often it's possible to make a spiritually enriching mini-pilgrimage to a local holy place.

The sidebar here contains suggestions for some nearby places for pilgrimage:

• Blue Cloud Abbey, Benedictine, Marvin, SD
• The Shrine of The Divine Mercy, Sauk Center, MN
• Grotto of the Redemption, West Bend, IA
• New Melleray Abbey, Trappist, Dubuque
• Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, WI
• Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey, Dubuque, IA
• Shrine of St Odilia, Shoreview, MN
• Shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes, St Malo, Manitoba
• The Way of the Cross, New Ulm, MN

6. "Get the dust off the Bible." The point here isn't to figure out arcane secrets, or to get material for religious arguments, but rather to come into contact with God Who is present in His Word and to allow Him to fill your spirit during this spiritual reading. One might choose to read the passages appointed for each day's Mass. Or one might buy one of the little guides to daily Bible reading. I think the easiest thing is just to start at beginning of St Matthew's Gospel and to make one's way slowly through the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Afterwards, one could move on to other books. More