If you look at your life and habits, how often is your faith relegated to Mass on Sunday? You go to church, but your faith isn’t really a part of your life otherwise. Or maybe you do pray every day, but it’s become just a task to check off your to-do list. Once you’ve offered morning prayer you don’t really talk to the Lord for the rest of the day.

Living in a post-Christian world, it is ever more important for Catholics to live an authentic faith life. The Catholic faith can’t simply be something we do on Sundays, but the core of who we are. Recently Emily Jaminet, a regular Relevant Radio® contributor, stopped by Morning Air® to share some steps we can take to live a more authentic faith life.

Jaminet explained, “Living an authentic life really is not about being Pinterest perfect. It’s about being real and true, and developing a relationship with Jesus Christ and allowing those graces to penetrate your day each and every day.”

An authentic life of faith is one in which your faith is integrated into all aspects of your life. So Jaminet suggested that the best place to start is to incorporate prayer into things that are already part of your daily routine. Something as simple as thanking God for your food at meal times can have a big impact if you are intentional and consistent with it.

“If you notice, even our homes are running a lot like a fast food restaurant,” Jaminet acknowledged. “And I can say I’ve had four children playing four sports this past season. So I know that feeling of rushing and going and moving. But really we are called to pause and pray at different moments throughout our day, and one being grace before meals.”

Recognizing the difficulties that can come with incorporating prayer into meal times, Jaminet pointed out that although it may not look the same every night, consistency in taking that time to connect with God and offer thanks can reinforce where your priorities lie.

“I think about dinner last night,” she told Morning Air host John Harper. “We went to a five o’clock Mass and then we did two different drive-thrus because we had children with different needs and wants on this Sunday dinner. But we paused and prayed in the car.”

Another practice that has helped Jaminet live a more authentic faith life has been praying a daily Rosary. As a wife and a mother of seven children, she admits that this can be a challenge, but encouraged listeners that when it comes to daily prayer we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Jaminet said she looks at it as playing ‘the long game’ when it comes to the daily Rosary with her family.

“The long game is not just to say the perfect Rosary with the two-year-old and be done,” she said. “I’ve been parenting for 20 years now, so it’s integrating this in our life. If it’s the full Rosary in one sitting, or if, as I was saying we had a five o’clock Mass and dinner, but we still gathered for a decade of the Rosary, talked about our week, lifted up our prayer intentions and really connected as a family. So family prayer is something that, however it works for your family, you’ve got to make it a priority. And what better way than to pray the Rosary?”

But maybe praying the Rosary aloud with your family doesn’t feel authentic to you. If you feel uncomfortable with prayer, Jaminet pointed out there are tools that can help you learn and grow more comfortable with prayer.

“I recommend the Relevant Radio App,” she said. “Right there on Relevant Radio you have your audio prayers. So if you’re an adult uncomfortable leading the Rosary, what better way than to say that we’re going to pray along with the Relevant Radio App. Start building this habit, one decade at a time. And you’ll find that you will all of a sudden we longing for that daily Rosary and seeing how nicely it fits into your schedule.”

Most importantly, we must remember that faith is a gift. And so if we desire to live a more authentic faith life we must ask the Lord to increase our faith, and better discern His will in our life each and every day.

“Bring it to prayer,” Jaminet encouraged. “Tell the Lord, ‘I want to pray the Rosary daily. Give me the grace, show me how to do it.’ And He will lead you always to His mother, as His mother always leads us to Jesus.”

Listen to the full conversation with Emily Jaminet below:

Morning Air can be heard weekdays from 6:00 – 9:00 a.m. Eastern/3:00 – 6:00 a.m. Pacific on Relevant Radio and the Relevant Radio App.