A smart phone manufacturer made news recently when it announced that, yes, its batteries only function optimally for a couple of years.
Or
less. Consumers were not pleased, and rightfully so. The maker confessed but omitted any mea culpa.
Your Maker, on the other hand, has designed you so that your soul can function optimally forever. But that’s not to say there
won’t be times–this side of heaven–when your spiritual batteries seem drained. You know the feeling. In one way or another,
your prayer life has become “Hail Mary, full of grace, blah blah blah…and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
Compounding the problem, those batteries, which don’t seem to last as long as they used to, also now seem to take longer to recharge. You’ll be OK. Your Maker–to stay with the smart phone analogy–has an update, a patch, a program, to get you back in tip-top spiritual shape. Relax. Breathe in. Spiritual tech support makes house calls. Well, heart, mind and soul calls. You’ll be up and,uh, down on your knees in no time. Or maybe a little bit longer than “no time.
More good news: All our efforts are themselves a form of spiritually. God is for us and wants to meet us in so many varieties of ways. God longs for us and to share in our lives, if we freely will bend our will. Then, as we do, in all our forms of doing so, God comes, or God arises within us. He is at work in us, for all His good purposes. Let us notice Him, by some quieting down on our part, and/or by some communication to God on our side. We also have our Lord as Daily Bread to make life a holy communion. We have Him as Reconciler to us in Sacrament, too, to fully have His Grace enter into us.
Lent is here. Pray to Jesus and for the Help of The Holy Spirit to lead you, inspire you, convict you, and deepen you in love and mercy. God has your renewal in mind here in this season. He’ll want to do an update on your soul in this Lent (like downloading new info or cleansing you of past bad input—like a virus/malware scan). Yes, He’ll even blow away the dust and cobwebs, if needed, and will want you to be renewed to function at proper capacity. To get basically started, here are seven suggestions for Lent:
1. Get back to the Catholic basics. Mass, confession, adoration, prayers, fasting, giving.
2. Remember that you are body and soul. Each needs attention, so to help the other. 
3. Let the Spirit help you do something new. Such as Journaling or a day pilgrimage or Bible study.
4. Spend time in ‘the desert.’ Follow Jesus’ example and spend some time alone with the Father.
5. Remember to live in the Works of Mercy. There are 14 of them to choose from and to practice.
6. Use the web! There are many things on there to assist your faith. Take advantage of it.
7. Get into Holy Week. From Palm Sunday…to Confession… to Holy Thursday…to Good Friday (2 liturgies)… to the Easter Vigil to the Easter Sunday Masses: This is the Super Week of Faith. Partake! But to arrive in great shape for it, so start living Lent in these lead-up weeks to Passion Week and the Triduum of Christ’ Last Supper, Crucifixion, entombment, and Resurrection at that First Easter.