There are not enough hours in the day for me. I suppose this is true for most of you. From the very beginning man has had an almost unhealthy obsession with controlling time and measuring it. Archaeologists have discovered that the ancient Chinese, Babylonians and Egyptians had solar clocks.

Later water clocks were used. The first sand clock emerged about the third century A.D., and at the beginning of the seventh century the first counter-weight clock was invented. Watch making only came of age with the arrival of Galileo and his pendulum laws.

Our souls are occupied with many things; so much so that one thing is always crowding in on another in a constant state of movement, and often of tumult and uproar. How can we sanctify our days?

I once read a book written on Saint Edith Stein (Edith Stein by Sister Teresia de Spiritu Sancto, Sheed and Ward). Saint Edith was a Carmelite religious who died in a concentration camp during World War II. She had been a well-known philosopher, a student of Edmund Husserl, and Jewish. Saint Edith became a Catholic through reading the works of Saint Theresa of Avila.

Her words, written for working women, describe the pattern of a day spent in the presence of God. All activities are joined together in the inner stillness of union with God. She describes the Christian's day as beginning with the Eucharist. Saint Edith would ponder whether we who celebrate the Eucharist daily or weekly bring all our activities into it? As I read her words, I thought of my inner attitudes during any given day.

St. Edith Stein

When we wake in the morning, the duties and cares of the day at once begin to press on us, if indeed they have not already driven away our night's rest. The nagging questions begin: how is it all to be done in one day? When am I going to do this, that or the other? How am I to tackle this or that? We feel inclined to rush out in a panic and throw ourselves into it. Some of the questions below might be helpful in your own reflections.

In the morning, shouldn't the first minutes of our day belong to God? What do we do? In spite of our dreariness, do we unite our hearts with the Lord? Do we avoid our own impinging cares and the distractions in order to begin all things in the Lord? Do we begin with the radio and music or in quiet with the Lord?

In the middle of the day, is there any time around lunch, or afterwards to stop and center ourselves? At mid-day, is there any time to say in some way to the Lord, "For all that has been, `Yes!' for all that will be `Thanks'?" Is there any time for physical and emotional union with the rhythms of the Lord's nature?

• A walk
• Relaxation
• Some exercise
• Manual labor

What about the evenings, before going to bed? Do we remember all the Lord's gifts on a particular day? How did we use music, television and computers during the day? Did they distract and tempt us from God? Do we make a conscious effort to discern and to feel how he has loved us this day; remembering His command to "Remember me!" This is a laying of all our worries and cares into His lap.

In brief, each day should be arranged to make room for God's grace. Every individual will know best how to apply this grace to the circumstances of his or her life. Thus, we should go on to show how Sunday must be a great doorway letting the life of heaven into everyday life and giving strength for the work of the whole week.

Sanctify each and every day!

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