October through January are probably the most busiest months in every parish.  Between fall fundraisers, important liturgies, Holy Days, Christmas, service projects, and school events it seems that everything piles up fast and if priests and parish staff aren’t careful we could easily be overwhelmed and burn out.  It’s hard to keep a consistent prayer life the other eight months of the year and these four months are even harder.  

    Every family and each person has a “busy season.”  Outdoor laborers are busiest in the summer when the weather is good, teachers are busy at the end of each quarter/trimester/semester, college students are busy in December and May, accountants are generally busy at tax season, etc.  No one has it easy and every one experiences stress in some way.  But how do we keep our spiritual life in check amid our busy schedules?  

    Honestly, it all comes down to priorities.  Where does our relationship with God fit in with our priorities?  Do we give God the “prime time” he deserves?  It’s super easy to say, “I have work to do and my job provides for my family” or to say, “if I don’t sleep I’ll be super uncharitable to everyone I come in contact with tomorrow.”  Does God want us to be poor?  No. Does God want us to be uncharitable?  No.  But God also says we can’t serve both God and money.  God doesn’t want you to lose your income; however, God also doesn’t want you to exclude him from your work.  God doesn’t want you to be burned out and uncharitable; however, God also doesn’t want you to exclude him from your life.  

    Its super important to really look at our day and see where God fits in.  Something I do is actually schedule a meeting with Jesus in my calendar.  That way as meetings and Masses and other events come up, I know that at a certain time that day I’m unavailable because of my pre-scheduled prayer time.  This forces me to fit the rest of my day around prayer and not try to fit in prayer to my already busy day.  If only I could start doing that with my exercise schedule…

    As I’m currently in the midst of the busy time for parish life, this is what I’m trying to do to keep my own head above water and my spiritual life going strong(ish).  I don’t have all the kinks figured out; but, I’m working on it.  One may think, “isn’t it easier to pray when you work for the Church?”  I wish that were the case…I’m not saying it’s harder but there is certainly a lot more Catholic guilt involved.  Know of my prayers for you and I ask for your prayers in return.