Beloved "in the world"

Being Beloved of God in the world. How do I do it? Here are some ways:

- Remember that I am indeed “in the world”. I have fantasized for decades about being a cloistered monk in habit, living a life devoted to contemplative prayer in the walls of a secluded monastery. THIS IS NOT A POSSIBILITY. I am a married man twice over with grown children, a career, financial debt, and an active priestly ministry. Admiring contemplative religious folk is fine, it really is. But pining for a life to which I have not been called, to the detriment of the life I DO have is, to put it bluntly, a sin. Actively fantasizing about the way I do is escapism on the level of addiction.

-   BE PRESENT to my family. There is much to do in order to be an active participant in my household. To my wives, to my children, to my pets. There is laundry to do and things to clean, and rooms to switch, and animals to feed and walk. I have my greatest physical issues when I try to rush these things as thought there were a time limit and someone is keeping score. I am older now and I have to learn to pace myself. When I am slow methodical, and deliberate, I am far less handicapped than I perceive myself to be. I need to stop treating these activities as annoyances that keep me from comfort and see them as necessities to make my surroundings a sanctuary.

- BE PRESENT to prayer and meditation. When I open myself to this option, I feel the Spirit within me, and my day is far more productive. However, my prayer and meditation needs to be more than saying a rosary, doing the daily readings, the Liturgy of the Hours, or even celebrating Mass. Praying is more than recitation of memorized words, flung haphazardly “upward”. I need to enter into the prayer, BE the prayer. Thoughts and prayers are wonderful, sure. Thoughts prayers IN ACTION have the capacity to change the world. What good does presiding at Mass do anyone, unless I am also walking the walk of a beloved man ofGod? Am I being kind? Am I being fair-minded? Am I LIVING the Beatitudes or am I simply reciting them?  

- Treat my body as a temple. If I am beloved of God, I need to love my body. I don’t right now, not at all. I am not taking care of my physical nor psychological health. This needs to change.