Consistency beats intensity every time. Prayer is like a muscle: it needs to be slowly built up. 5 minutes every day trumps a day of prayer every month.
 

• Turn a mundane task into a time of prayer
• Daily Examen before bed
• Monthly confession
• Yearly retreat; personal retreat on your own monthly (Check out the St. Joseph Retreat & Conference Center)
• Find an accountability partner/spiritual mentor
• Participate in an OLMC ministry every year
• Settle in with a book that has the power to transform (ideas below)
• Spend time with Christ present in the Eucharist
• Begin a Sabbath practice
• Read the upcoming Sunday scriptures with intention during the week
• Cultivate a morning ritual (e.x. no Bible, no breakfast)
• Learn about a new saint once a week
• Grow closer to Our Lady, St. Joseph
• Spend time in nature

Fasting reveals our dependence on God and not the resources of this world. It is a means of saving resources to give to the poor, and ways of self-discipline, chastity, and the restraining of the appetites.

• Every Friday, give something up: social media, snacks, eating meat, etc.
• When you fall into mortal sin, fast or abstain from a source of your sin the next day
• Be sure to fast one hour before receiving Communion (you don’t have to receive Communion every time you go to Mass! Receive the Eucharistic with intentionality).
   

Giving is an exercise in detachment and a reminder that possessions are not the ultimate good. It’s about making a sacrifice for others that echo the self-giving love of God.

• Are you giving at least 10% of your income to charities? (We recommend that you tithe 5% to your local parish, 1% to your diocese, and 4% to all other charities.)
• Have a regular phone call with your parents or children.
• Doing an extra chore for a loved one or neighbor.
• Volunteer at the Merciful HELP Center or for a parish event.
• Clean out your closet and donate your clothes.
• Give up your extra coffee for a month and donate those savings to a charity.
• Give more monetarily to charity than what you purchase for yourself.