10 Quick Tools:

1. Schedule a time to go to confession monthly or bi-weekly. Make it an appointment on your calendar. Frequent confession is a great way to grow in holiness and virtue and to be more aware of God’s presence in our daily lives.  
2. Attend Mass on a weekday and work up to making it a daily occurrence. The more we receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament the more we become like him!  
3. Pray the Morning Offering before doing anything else at the start of your day.  
4. Designate a spot in your home which can be an in-home chapel. Decorate it with Catholic imagery such as a crucifix, icons, and other sacred art. Make an effort to make this a place of daily prayer for yourself, with your spouse, and with your family.  
5. The saints give us a holy example of living a Christian life. By studying the lives of the saints and asking for their prayers we can be inspired to live holier lives that are more closely united to Christ. Ask your patron saint/confirmation saint to pray for you daily, and look up new saints that you can ask to intercede for you and your family. This website can help you find one.
6. The sacraments are the foundation and the hinges of our spiritual life. Our spiritual lives lead to and flow from the sacraments, and they facilitate a deep, intimate relationship with God (The Way of Christ, Lesson 5). Spend some time in prayer reflecting on your baptismal promises and what impact that has on your daily life.
7. Jesus’ suffering and death give meaning to all suffering and death. He invites us to take up our cross and follow him each day, and to unite our suffering to the Cross. Find ways to make small sacrifices throughout your day as a reminder of this call to image Christ.  
8. We need both faith and works to grow in holiness (James 2:26). We are made right with God through faith, and then we must respond to the grace he gives us. The Holy Spirit moves us to a deeper faith and gives us help to perform good works. Find ways to incorporate the spiritual and corporal works of mercy into your life.  
9. Set time limits on your smartphone/tablet for the apps that are the most frequent “time wasters”. Pick up a good book instead of your phone.
10. Sleep with your phone in a different room. Studies show that this may help you fall asleep faster and have a better quality of sleep. It also prevents us from mindlessly scrolling through social media before bedtime. 

Scripture:

• 1 Samuel 3:1-10
• Psalm 139(138)
• Matthew 19:1-12
• Matthew 19:16-26
• John 2:1-11
• 1 Corinthians 7
• Ephesians 5

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

• The Consecrated Life (CCC 914-933)
• The Sacrament of Holy Orders (CCC 1536-1600)
• The Sacrament of Matrimony (CCC 1601-1666)