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I wanted to suggest a concrete plan for prayer...I really like the "gospel meditation" format, where you read the day's gospel and specifically reflect on its contents, asking God to help you apply it to your day. The basic format is: 1) Pray to the holy spirit to make your prayer fruitful. 2) Read the day's gospel. 3) Reflect on it, noticing what it's all about and praying through the details of it. 4) make a resolution about how you can put it into practice that particular day. This is a service that provides a daily gospel meditation to help people who are using that format.

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Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Father Steven Reilly, LC

John 14:1-6

Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Introductory Prayer: Father, how empty is the life that doesn't know the joy of Jesus your Son. I have come to this prayer today to know you and your Son better, to love you more and to imitate your perfections. Thank you for this time of prayer.

Petition: Lord Jesus, grant me a greater intensity in my relationship with you, the Way, the Truth and the Life!

1. Follow Me, I Am the Way: Remember the olden days, when you would stop in a gas station and ask directions? "Follow me" was the easiest way to give directions. Something like that is happening in the Gospel today. To Thomas' question, "How can we know the way?" Jesus gives himself as the answer. We know the way with infallible precision. A personal and passionate relationship with Christ is the sure way through this confusing world. Let us keep our relationship with Jesus always on our spiritual GPS. Whenever we have a doubt, we should ask ourselves, "How would Jesus act in this situation? What is the path he would follow?"

2. Believe in Me, I Am the Truth: Jesus gives his followers a truth so rock solid, that nothing can shake them. Just as he is the Way, he is also the Truth. "There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved" (Acts 4:12). With the Truth of Jesus, we have the answer to basically any question we need to ask. What a comfort it is to have Jesus as the Truth in this world of jaded souls and in this climate of relativism.

3. Come to Me, I Am the Life: "He's the life of the party" is a compliment of high regard in certain circles. He's the spark plug, the guarantee for an entertaining evening. If he's not there, a deflated feeling hangs in the air and everybody wonders if there isn't a better way to be spending their time. A life lived with Jesus is never dull. He is the "Life" of more than just a party. The Christian with an intense relationship with Christ is completely fulfilled - he is never bored, nor is he boring.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. I thank you for giving me the great grace of my Catholic faith. Help me to share with others the immense joy of this personal relationship you have given me.

Resolution: I will speak to someone today about having a personal relationship with Christ.

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Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter Father Steven Reilly, LC John 14:1-6 Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.

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For research, you might want to look for how other people have connected with God. Maybe those stories about people who converted to Catholicism, or you could research the effects of prayer on the person. You could find different ways to meditate and different prayers. Maybe look into the history of prayer, and the difference between Catholic prayer and the prayer of other religions. In the service aspect, you could look into what kind of service affects people more, leaders in service, why people serve, how service can change a person? I'm trying to throw out as many options as possible because the research part of this is one I wouldn't really be sure on how to approach.

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This is a really great idea, Joey! It is really inspiring. I know a lot of people have mentioned how difficult it might be to measure this goal. It might be helpful to set up specific goals within this goal to reach during this like doing a certain amount of Hail Marys, meditating for a minimum of 5 minutes everyday, going to do service at least every other week, or going to adoration every week. Maybe do a self-inspection and really think about your faith life the first night of this project and think about areas you can improve your relationship with God. Like maybe you don't thank Him enough, or maybe you don't go to Reconciliation enough. Those little improvements could be a part of that big goal you have. You can do this! Good luck and God bless!

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I think this is a beautiful goal, one I am working towards as well. When it comes to prayer, I found that making it more personal helps. A way to do this would be by reminding yourself that, while God is super powerful and stuff, He is also someone who cares about you individually. There is no reason to make prayer sound like it came straight from the Bible. You can totally tell God a joke or tell him about your day. You can unload on God because that's what He wants- He wants to know you.

I think that while this is awesome, it may be a little hard because faith is subjectively individual. A lot of improving this will come for you.
I really wish you luck for writing a paper on this.

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I would like to refer you to my good friend Mr. Chuck Chiodini. If you're looking for ways to broaden what service you do and what things have a really impact on people just talk to him about what he thinks are the best things in and around St. Louis.

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Knowing you, I feel like faith is not an issue in your life. But there is always room for improvement. Maybe to become more service oriented, go to some food pantries and do some service hours there maybe over the weekends. The type of prayer you can do is with your family, alone, or even with your friends sometimes.

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A great place for service that really does feel like it is impacting other people is the circle of concern down off of 141.

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This is such a great challenge and something all of us should try to do. I've tried to do something like this where I try to do a meaningful prayer every night, but it became difficult with my busy schedule and laziness to follow through. One thing that might help is to pick one time of day that you're going to pray. If it's in the evening, tell yourself that you can't brush your teeth and sit in bed until you've prayed. You could even put a sticky note on your toothbrush or bedroom door. That way you can't just say, "Oh I'll do it later", and it will force you to set time aside. Service is also very important but it might be difficult to measure how you've become more service-oriented. I guess you could keep track of how many selfless acts you do a day, because the small things are just as important as the big acts of service.

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Service is hard. Doing something and not getting paid for it truly shows good character. Make sure to find ways to do service early and make the commitment early so you don't find yourself with 25 days gone by without have done service. I have faith in you to accomplish this.

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I really think it is important to grow in your faith because it can be challenging once you get into college. I feel like the service that will have the most effect on someone is the service that means the most to you because you will put more of your heart into it and you will really feel dedicated. I feel like you really have to think about what would mean the most to you as well as to other people.

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My goal over the next 30 days is simply to develop a better relationship with God. I plan to achieve this through two means: (1) becoming more service-oriented and (2) having more meaningful prayer. I would really like to figure out which ways of service have the most direct effect on people.