168 : the number of hours in a week.
1:for some, the average number of hours a person spends at Church for Mass in a week to worship, 're-charge', nourish the spirit
Surprised? Not really. Some people practice their faith only by going to Mass every Sunday. In that single hour, not even their full attention is given to God. It begs the question: how can it be so difficult to completely give yourself to one hour of undivided attention and prayer?
Inspiration doesn't come easy. Inspiration, though divine and spontaneous, needs to be worked for in order to induce its presence. It also needs practice.
In Latin, inspirare "inspire, inflame, blow into," from in- "in" + spirare "to breathe". Literal sense "act of inhaling.
Inspiration for me is a word coined out of three: IN SPIRIT ACTION. It is the Holy Spirit moving in you. If it is not practiced, if it is not fully applied - even at a mere "1/168 hour-pace" - then it is bound to expire. It might grow stale. It might end, or it might go away.
Are you inspired, or 'expired'? Do you inspire or do you expire too easily?
Train your faith! The goal is for you to practice "in spirit action" until your pace moves from 1/168 to 1/24 hours a day until it reaches a 1:1 ratio; That for every hour of every day of every week of every month year after year, you will always be thinking, doing, praying, serving and living for God's greater glory. You will always include Him in the equation.
So ingrained will this value be in you that it becomes your second nature, as in breathing, something that is "divine and spontaneous" to you - something truly inspirational. The spirit will finally work in you so much so that it becomes a part of you. The spirit active in you will make you feel more alive every single day in every single way.
All you need is to start with that one hour. Commit to it, give it your all, and the rest will follow.
May this inspire you to receive His love more and share Him as we prepare to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
Fr. Vic Y. Apacible
Rector / Parish Priest
Rector / Parish Priest
