JPII on Prayer

Last week a new (rather, new to me) quote from Bl. John Paul II was brought to my attention, and now I'm slightly obsessed with the quote because it is so true:

"Every day dedicate some time to conversing with God. This is a sincere proof of your love for Him, for love always seeks to be near the beloved. This is why prayer should be put before everything else. Whoever does not understand this, or does not put it into practice, cannot excuse himself by saying he has no time; he has no love."
Bl. JPII, Homily on April 7, 1987

It makes perfect sense! And those words also hit home; how many days have I gone through the motions without taking time to stop for prayer? Or think that because I went to daily mass,  I'm set for the rest of the day? I am not a morning person, so the thought of prayer right when I wake up isn't really processed by my brain... but after reading that quote I've been starting off my mornings with some prayers of gratitude and intercessions. Faith and keeping up our prayer life can be difficult especially in our world that is driven by "being busy" with everything. And working for the Church doesn't always help either because I plan lessons and prayers and am surrounded by Catholic stuff all day, that I just want to crash and relax when I get home, not feel like I'm doing work. I know other youth ministers feel the same way... which is why it's so important to remember these words of JPII and ground ourselves in prayer and in that love relationship that God desires of us.