Each academic year comes with its own sort of headaches, deadlines and stress. We constantly look forward to the next break — be it a long weekend or a longer holiday — and its promise of relaxation.

But even these breaks are filled with work or studying. We never truly seem to be able to find a break from our constant stream of work.

Amidst this organized chaos, it is easy to forget about faith. Most people I know, myself included, often think, “I’ll go to Mass next Sunday; I’m too busy today.” We often forget the benefit of taking time throughout the week to pray because we are focused on more tangible deadlines. Worship becomes an obligation that quickly gets overlooked.

When I do go to Mass, it is difficult to leave worries and deadlines at the door. Outside of the church walls, multi-tasking prevails. I walk to class with a running mental list of deadlines, assignments, outlines, readings, events that I need to go to, think and write about, remember. When I get home, all of these tasks need to be completed quickly, and well.

The Catholic tradition contrasts this chaos by offering structure. During Mass we are asked to focus, meditate and pray within a structure that can be both comfortingly familiar and shockingly alienating after a week of stress. The abrupt switch can be difficult to navigate.

And if an hour a week seems difficult to spare, other Church events seem impossible. At my college, one of the campus ministers organizes a busy person’s retreat near the end of each semester. It requires participants to dedicate an hour a day for four days: 30 minutes of meditation on a couple of Bible passages and 30 minutes of discussion with a retreat director.

But students tend to have the same reaction when they hear about it: “I’m way too busy for that!”  I had the same thought when I heard about it — that is, until I went to one.

Unlike long weekends or holidays, this was time during which I could not multi-task or study. It forced me to slow down, focus and, ultimately, regain a sense of my true priorities. Though I had difficulty switching from work to the retreat for the first couple of days, I started to value the time that I spent away from my studies by the end of the retreat. I could relax and think for an hour a day without worrying about a deadline. When I did approach my work again, I approached it from a more focused perspective.

Going to Mass or prayer groups regularly helps in the same way. The time spent must be dedicated to the activity at hand completely or the effort is meaningless. Worship and prayer, whether with others or alone, provide opportunities for focus and reflection that is unrelated to work or school. They provide a break from the stress of everyday life and the chance to regain a sense of balance.

Afterwards, the chaos does not seem so unbearable.

(Liska, 22, is an English major at the University of Saskatchewan.)