Many years ago, when I was a Jesuit novice, we recited a Latin grace in common before meals. The core of our prayer was these verses from today's Psalm: "The eyes of all your creatures look to you and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing."

It is a beautiful prayer before meals as it extends our praise of God beyond the present food to every gift of God. GK Chesterton, the famous English Catholic convert and writer, once suggested that we should recite "grace" before such an enjoyable experience as a symphony concert. Should we not recite a similar prayer before everything else? Nowadays, of course, we are accustomed to begin our many meetings with a similar prayer. In Catholic schools and other academic situations we may begin classes and lectures with a prayer. Why not extend it: grace before a concert, grace before a picnic, grace before a game of tennis, grace before whatever is good and enjoyable. There are many small empty spaces in our daily timetables, spaces where we can insert a short prayer, a few seconds of praise. There are indeed many simple opportunities to fill our lives with prayer.