Faith does not grow by accident

Nobody gets in shape whenever it happens to occur to them, nor learns a language in odd spare moments. With the interior life we make that losing bet: I will set aside time when I find an opening. That opening never arrives; work and the phone devour it. St. Josemaría proposed something else: a plan of life. Few practices, small and with their own set time: a few minutes of prayer in the morning, the Gospel of the day, three Hail Marys at bedtime. Whatever it is, but fixed, like meals. Not out of rigidity: because you give what you love an appointment, not leftovers of time. On days when you feel motivated, the plan is hardly necessary. It is there for the other days: the gray days when fidelity replaces motivation and keeps friendship with God alive.