Do You Wish You Had More Time to Spend with God?

Here is a little tidbit from Dorothy Gaudiose’s book, Prophet of the People. She worked for St. Padre Pio at his monastery in Italy for three years, so she knew him well. This is a true story she related in her book:
At Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, high on the mountain in his monastery home, St. Padre Pio would take a break from his hard work helping the thousands of poor souls who came to him, to go outside for some fresh air and sunshine. One day while enjoying the mountain air and the songs of the birds, he noticed that visitors from all over the world began to gather around him, the famous stigmatized priest who bore—for fifty years—the five bleeding wounds of Christ Crucified in his hands, feet, and side.
Padre Pio hated people making a fuss over him, but God did use him to save souls, so this day Padre Pio sighed and smiled gently as a young married woman from the village at the base of the mountain approached him. “Padre,” she said to him, her face blushing from her shyness and humility, “I live next door to the church and every morning after my husband goes to work and the baby is sleeping, I go into the church and hear Mass and receive Holy Communion.” The young woman, fearing St. Padre Pio would yell at her for leaving her little one, quickly added, “Worrying that my baby might wake up while I’m gone, I leave the church right after receiving the Host. Am I making God angry?”
Smiling at the young mother, Padre Pio said, “No, you’re not displeasing God at all.” St. Pio explained later to a crowd of people: “That young mother pleases God more with her little time in church than you or I do when we spend all day in church.” He continued, “She is taking time out of her duties in order to serve Him.”
So, my dear friend, do you want to spend more time with God in church but can’t afford the time from your daily duties. Do not worry one second. Take to heart these words from St. Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 3, which I’ve chosen for you today: “During the course of the day, when you are unable to do anything else, call on Jesus even in the midst of all your occupations, with resigned groanings of the soul. He will come to stay untied to your soul always, through his grace and holy love.”
May Jesus always smile on you, my dear friend!