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When
I was in seminary at Mount St. Mary’s, I received a great piece of advice that
has stuck with me. The advice was about the spiritual life and in particular,
spiritual reading. One of my teachers said, if you are looking for good
spiritual reading for your prayer life, remember what the brides do: You need
something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.
Something
old: The Church has 2,000 years of history and some of the greatest minds of all
time have put their thoughts to work and prayer to write about Jesus. These
works are at our fingertips to be read and re-read. The Letters of St. Paul or
the sermons and writings of the Church Fathers or great saints of the Middle
Ages have a great deal of insight for folks who are trying to live a life of
faith – even in the 21st century.
Something
new: There are great books written by great Catholic authors that are published
every year. I sometimes wonder if I will ever get all the books read that I want
to. I just can’t seem to keep up with all the great writing that is being
done. Find a new author that you are not familiar with and check them out. There
is nothing so wonderful to a reader than to find a really great new book,
especially if it leads you to a new approach to the spiritual life and
relationship with Jesus.
Something
borrowed: There are loads of writers who do not share our Catholic faith that
can lead to brilliant insight to us on our journey. Look for books of prayer or
scripture analysis that may open new doors to your understanding of the
meditation or the Bible. We can learn much about praying from those who do not
necessarily pray the way we do and we shouldn’t be intimidated to borrow
from them.
Something
blue: Lastly, no spiritual life is complete without including our Blessed Lady.
In this month dedicated to Mary, it is a wonderful opportunity to renew our
commitment and trust in her intercession by praying the Rosary or Marian
spiritual reading.
Isn’t
it simple? A little old, new, borrowed and blue makes a perfect balance in the
spiritual life that is sure to get you on the road to holiness which leads to
Heaven.
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