Alleluia! Christ is risen! As wonderful as Lent has been in our two parishes, we rejoice to celebrate our Lord's glorious resurrection from the tomb on the third day. His is a glory that we desire to share. How can we share it?
One of the most important ways that we can dispose ourselves to experience communion with the Lord is by prayerfully reading the Word of God. Doing so will usually help us to be more open to grace when we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus at Mass. One might begin with twenty minutes in one sitting, but at least thirty is ideal. What follows is one way that I have found helpful myself to do so.
I begin by finding a quiet place with minimal distractions and take a short passage from the Bible. A good place to start is with one of the Sunday readings, particularly the Gospel. I go over it slowly several times to gain understanding about what exactly the words in the passage mean. When I first started to pray with the Bible in college, I found the Navarre and Ignatius Bible commentaries to be very helpful to understand the basics of the New Testament.
After having a sense of what God Himself is trying to say in the text, the real chance to talk with God begins. The acronym ACTS provides a very easy way to structure one's conversation with God A stands for adoration, C for contrition, T for thanksgiving, and S for supplication.
I try to adore God for how He has revealed Himself in this passage of Scripture. If I am reading the parable of the Prodigal Son, I would spend several minutes trying to let absolute beauty of the Father's mercy wash over me. Next comes contrition. Staying with the same parable, at this point I would try to call to mind an instance in which I have needed God's mercy, perhaps even an instance in which I was like the Prodigal Son and lost my way by turning away from God. As always, listening is just as important as speaking.
Having attempted adoration and contrition, I am now ready to practice thanksgiving, giving thanks to God for my personal experience of His redeeming love revealed in the scripture with which I am praying. In the case of the parable I have been using as an illustration thus far, I might give God thanks either for a time that His mercy has brought me back home to Him or for an instance wherein He chose me as His instrument to help another experience His mercy. Finally comes supplication, or asking for things. This step might involve asking the Lord to help someone I know who has lost his way to return to God's grace. It might entail laying bear my own personal struggles to live always in the Father's house myself and begging for help doing what I know that I should do but find difficult.
The consistent practice of daily prayerful reading of the Bible is not easy, but those who do almost universally report that they find it worth the sacrifice. Certainly I have. God willing, you will too!