#76 Without a plan of life you will never have order.
Having a plan of life is a popular spiritual and secular idea! Use of this phrase, including rule of life, means lots of different things to different people.
Secularly, a plan of life is usually about organizing a set of ideas or a recognition of priorities for personal fulfillment which then influences behavior. Spiritually, a plan of life takes on different meanings depending on which group uses the phrase.
A unifying aspect of any plan of life seems to be order.
The Opus Dei members are committed to living a plan of life, meaning a specific plan for daily prayer. To be done as one is able for at least a few minutes every day, the spiritual practices that form the plan of life were established by St. Josemaria and consist of the following (stay with me here – this is an amazing list!):
*morning offering
*daily mass
*rosary
*mental prayer
*the Angelus or Regina Coeli
*a particular examination of conscience
*spiritual reading
*reading the New Testament
*visiting the Blessed Sacrament
*Preces
*a general examination of conscience
Add to this list weekly confession, a monthly day of recollection, and a yearly retreat. Wow, right?!
It’s easy to see that following this plan of life would definitely give beautiful order to one’s day and foster through repetition, time, and grace an ordered, contemplative lifestyle in the midst of a very busy world.
When I read this, my mind immediately jumped to what a plan of life means to me as a formed Disciple of Jesus and Mary, and – again – how true St. Josemaria’s point rings despite the difference in disciplines.
The DJM plan of life is knowing who one is created to be for His kingdom.
Unique to each soul, a plan of life is formed in the heart of God, and it lives and grows as one is brought ever deeper in union with Him. Discernment, especially between two good choices, and discipleship are seen through the lens of one’s plan of life. Rooted here is identity, dignity and mission. Blessed order, indeed.
