Turning iron into gold.

The devil’s advocate insisted, “When did Don Bosco pray?” St. John Bosco founded religious orders, built churches, established schools, wrote books and fulfilled his priestly duties that there seems to be no time for personal prayer. The defender of his cause replied, “When did Don Bosco not pray?”

The point is that St. John Bosco prayed with every activity. While he focused on the task at hand, he did it as an offering to God. While St. Benedict’s motto was “Work and prayer”, with St. John Bosco it became “Work is prayer.”

One way to do this is to have a pure intention e.g. fulfilling God’s will, working for God’s glory, or saving souls. So, when blogging one thinks not of getting hits but of uplifting the blogosphere.  In so doing, one does not put porn-like images to attract readers.

Another way to transform work is to live in “God’s presence”. While God is always there, we may forget that reality. To constantly remind oneself, one can say a prayer of aspiration like “Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine”.

Having a crucifix, holy pictures or Bible passages around also helps. I remember cursing up a storm when my project manager stopped by and made small talk about the icons in my cubicle. If the icons by themselves don’t help, my co-workers will make sure that they do – I guess.

This practice of continued prayer is living the liturgy of life. It is like offering Mass all day long.  It enables us to convert our mundane activities into spiritual treasure, like iron into gold.