Feb. 17: Some Alone Time with God

Criterion writer Marcellino D’Ambrosio schedules some “alone time” with God when he feels the stresses of life overtaking him.  Specifically, he visits a monastery to enhance his prayer life.  “Prayer is like breathing,” D’Ambrosio writes in the Indianapolis archdiocesan newspaper.  “All Christians need to do it continually to survive.”

The monks and the nuns that D’Ambrosio visits are living reminders of lives blessed by constant communion with God. D’Ambrosio remembers one aspect of a Trappist monastery that particularly resonated with him.

“I was struck by the words chiseled in stone above the door—‘God Alone,’” D’Ambrosio recounts.  “A monastery is a place where men or women live alone, apart from…secular life. Whether it be for a morning, day, weekend or full week of retreat, entering into the rhythm of the monks’ prayer and solitude helps me restore my focus and energy.”

May we all be so similarly inspired to take deep breaths, and reconnect with God.

Answer me when I call, God of my right!  (Psalm 4:1)

Father, strengthen the bonds of our heavenly communion.