Source
r/Catholicism•
NitwitNobody

I don’t know if the thoughts I’ve been having while praying the rosary lately should be considered a distraction or a task.

So I have been trying to be a better Catholic, and this includes praying the holy rosary daily. But lately during prayer of the last two or so decades my mind wanders to how to open an ethical rehabilitation and work house for the homeless/destitute. At first I felt discouraged because I thought it meant I wasn’t focusing hard enough on the mysteries or on the prayer itself, but now I’m starting to question if it’s actually supposed to be something akin to a divine task.

I actually don’t know how I’m supposed to take this. It’s happened for the past few days and doesn’t leave my mind until long after I’ve finished praying the rosary for that day. Is it divine guidance or personal guilt from seeing all the homeless around my college campus?

Posted Nov 5, 2020, 3:09 AM UTC

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WanderingPilgrim333•

You need a spiritual director to help you in this regard. I would be very wary of trusting one's own intuition and comparing it to divine intervention.

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Informal-Amphibian-4•

i am not the definitive answer here. like the poster before me said, you'd have to consult with a spiritual director or priest. i'm inclined to say, however, that it is a distraction. when you pray, you should be focused directly on the prayer. if the Spirit is leading you somewhere else, it will happen organically and you will know it is the Spirit. however even with this it is easy to be deceived. the best advice i can give you is to make note of the distraction even jot it down on a piece of paper if you have to and come back to it after the prayer. true concentration in prayer takes discipline (to stay on task) and the rosary is a good way to train yourself and practice that! think about whatever the distraction is afterward/outside of the prayer you're saying (if you think it may actually be good/real). pray with it outside of the rosary. if you don't rein in your self-control with the distraction and force yourself to stay focused, trust me, it will become a bigger problem. the force of habit of letting yourself be distracted will gradually take over your prayer life. remember, the devil very often if not always tries to appear as an angel of light. the devil will even use good as a means if it can lead us to bad ends.

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