Crafting a Rule of Life: an Invitation to Grow in Holiness this Lent

I'm asking Mary to be 
my Lenten companion and guide.

I've had a loose rule of life for decades. What do I mean?  Priests have a rule of life that includes saying daily Mass and praying their office. Religious have a "rule" defined by their religious order. But what about the laity? 

Of course we have duties of our state in life, but these change depending on the "season." My duties as a grandmother and great grandmother no longer include the daily care and nurturing of children who live under my roof. I don't have the same obligations of daily rearing and teaching the faith as I did several decades ago. I can certainly be a help and support in the rearing of my grandchildren, but I have few obligations in that department. in fact it would be an abuse for me to try to "take over" and become a source of division between my grandchildren and their parents. 

So what should my rule of life include in today's season? I'm still a wife and have duties to my husband who is both my head and my equal. I have the same duty to honor and respect his leadership as I did on the day I professed my wedding vows. And of course, even above that, I have duties to God. And I still have duties to pray for my children and be there for them. They also have duties to my husband and me. Child/parent relationships don't end when the birds fly the nest.

I think for all Catholics a loose rule includes obeying all the commandments of God and trying to do that well. Sundays and Holy Days of obligation will always require us to be in the pews without a serious reason to be absent. Extra daily Masses are a plus and such a gift from God. Confession offers us an incalculable treasure to grow in faith and holiness. Prayer time with meditation, spiritual reading, daily rosary -- these are staples of the spiritual life and an important element of "the rule."

I think this Lent, I will add forming a more concrete and disciplined rule of life to my Lenten to-do list. I came across a thought-provoking blog post from Graceful Catholic, a young mom and convert to the Catholic Church. Crafting Your Catholic Rule of Life is well worth reading.  It's based on a video by Fr. Ripperger. Listening to his conference will be a good starting place for my own Lenten reflection. I haven't done that yet, but will before I receive ashes on Wednesday. Perhaps we can start together. I'd love to know what you think about developing your own rule of life. May we all have a blessed Lent that brings us ever closer to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.