Transubstantiation and Divine Consolation

I am always the biggest sinner in the room.  I have no saintly characteristics, but sometimes I am given the consolation of saints. When it happens, I am certain that it is because I am so weak, that, like Saint Thomas, I cannot believe without seeing.  What I have been given is the scent of saintliness, the  sight of Divine Mercy pouring out from the altar, and sometimes the smiles or frowns from our Blessed Mother.

How does this happen?  A friend of mine once loaned me a relic of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.  As I prayed with it in my hands, a beautiful scent of flowers rose from the relic.  My friend said I could keep it as long as I liked, but with that consolation, I knew I could carry on.

I once sat in Mass waiting for the consecration of the Eucharist.  As it happened, I saw in my mind waves of blood and water flowing from the altar throughout the congregation.  I knew my parish was healed of all ills, if it would only accept the Love of Christ.

Sometimes, when I pray before the statue of the Blessed Mother in any church, I see her smile or frown at me.  I know it is her guidance that causes the change.  My niece sees it as well in prayer.  What a gift to be guided by Mary!

I haven't been given these consolations for at least a year.  My Pastor says we are given consolation to prepare us for the tough times ahead.  Yes. Yes. Yes.

Adore Christ in Eucharist.  Visit him, in mind and heart if you cannot in body.  Love Him.  Wait for Him.  He will come.

Beginning to Pray: Prayer and the Great Divorce

Beginning to Pray: Prayer and the Great Divorce: "'Hell is a state of mind -- ye never said a truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of creature within the d..."

Adoration in Ordinary Time

It's easy to come to Jesus in the Eucharist through Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter.  In those times we can imagine the Blessed Mother expecting her Son, holding her Baby, watching her Son prepare to suffer, and the the excruciating experience of watching Him suffer.  We can enter into that in a kind of regular way.  Not everyone experiences it that way, but if you are a mom, you can approach it in a meaningful way.

But most of the year is spent in Ordinary Time.  Parables,  miracles, and travels mark ordinary time.  How does a mom enter into these with the same reverence that we can ascribe to our experience of having a baby leap in our whom, or the death of a child.  But entering into the parables, miracles and travels of our children will help us to more deeply relate to our children and their experiences.

Children tell stories all of the time.  When we first moved into our new home, my son told me that he saw dark shadows scooting across the ceiling in his bedroom.  The parable he told was that we had moved to a place where he would not feel as safe as he had in our little home.  But at our new home, we were caring for my mentally-retarded brother.   That was more important.

The change from toddler to child seemed to happen in a blink while we adjusted to the many changes.  First I tried to work full time, thinking money would make everything better.  Then I realized time was what was needed, so we changed our lives again.  Did Mary and Joseph make those adjustments?  After losing Jesus in the Temple, did they say, someone needs to pay more attention?

Mary and Joseph were gifted with a greater faith than I can ever hope to have.  But they most certainly had some doubts.  Didn't they?  I need them to have questioned once in a while.  Does that make me blasphemous, faithless, and weak?

I finish with a favorite quote from Mariette in Ecstasy, by Ron Hansen:

"And Christ still sends me roses.  We try to be formed and held and kept by Him, but instead He offers us freedom.  And now when I try to know His will, His kindness floods me, His great love overwhelms me, and I hear Him whisper, 'Surprise me.'"

January 2011 Newsletter

Holy Father’s Prayer Intentions for January 2011
General Intention: That the riches of creation be preserved, valued and made available to all, as  precious gifts from God to mankind.

Missionary Intention: That Christians may achieve full unity, bearing witness of the universal fatherhood of God to the entire human race.

Thoughts on Adoration

"How sweet, the presence of Jesus to the longing, harassed soul! It is instant peace, and balm to every wound." - St. Elizabeth Seton, about Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, January 4
"When the bee has gathered the dew of heaven and the earth's sweetest nectar from the flowers, it turns it into honey, then hastens to its hive. In the same way, the priest, having taken from the altar the Son of God (who is as the dew from heaven, and true son of Mary, flower of our humanity), gives him to you as delicious food." - St. Francis de Sales, January 24
"The holy Eucharist contains the whole spiritual treasure of the Church, that is, Christ himself.... He who is the living bread, whose flesh, vivified by the Holy Spirit and vivifying, gives life to men," - Vatican II

"The Bread of angels has become the Bread of mankind; This heavenly Bread puts an end to all images; O wonderful reality! The poor, the slave, and the humble can eat the Lord."- St. Thomas Aquinas, January 28
"Do you want many graces? Go and visit the Blessed Sacrament often. Do you want few graces? Visit the Blessed Sacrament rarely. Do you want none at all? Then never pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament,"- St. John Bosco, January 31

When the weather or other obstacles make it impossible to visit Christ in the Tabernacle of Saint Cecilia Cathedral, you may visit Him online at:

http://savior.org/

http://therealpresence.org
http://www.perpetualadoration.org/

Excerpted from:

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE BENEDICT XVI
CELEBRATION OF THE WORLD DAY OF PEACE

“At the beginning of the new year I offer good wishes to each and all for serenity and prosperity, but especially for peace. Sadly, the year now ending has again been marked by persecution, discrimination, terrible acts of violence and religious intolerance.
“…At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith. Many Christians experience daily affronts and often live in fear because of their pursuit of truth, their faith in Jesus Christ and their heartfelt plea for respect for religious freedom. This situation is unacceptable, since it represents an insult to God and to human dignity; furthermore, it is a threat to security and peace, and an obstacle to the achievement of authentic and integral human development.
“Religious freedom expresses what is unique about the human person, for it allows us to direct our personal and social life to God, in whose light the identity, meaning and purpose of the person are fully understood. To deny or arbitrarily restrict this freedom is to foster a reductive vision of the human person; to eclipse the public role of religion is to create a society which is unjust, inasmuch as it fails to take account of the true nature of the human person; it is to stifle the growth of the authentic and lasting peace of the whole human family.
“…The right to religious freedom is rooted in the very dignity of the human person, whose transcendent nature must not be ignored or overlooked. God created man and woman in his own image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27). For this reason each person is endowed with the sacred right to a full life, also from a spiritual standpoint. Without the acknowledgement of his spiritual being, without openness to the transcendent, the human person withdraws within himself, fails to find answers to the heart’s deepest questions about life’s meaning, fails to appropriate lasting ethical values and principles, and fails even to experience authentic freedom and to build a just society.
“…Religious freedom is at the origin of moral freedom. Openness to truth and perfect goodness, openness to God, is rooted in human nature; it confers full dignity on each individual and is the guarantee of full mutual respect between persons. Religious freedom should be understood, then, not merely as immunity from coercion, but even more fundamentally as an ability to order one’s own choices in accordance with truth.
“Freedom and respect are inseparable; indeed, “in exercising their rights, individuals and social groups are bound by the moral law to have regard for the rights of others, their own duties to others and the common good of all”.
“…If religious freedom is the path to peace, religious education is the highway which leads new generations to see others as their brothers and sisters, with whom they are called to journey and work together so that all will feel that they are living members of the one human family, from which no one is to be excluded.
“The family founded on marriage, as the expression of the close union and complementarity between a man and a woman, finds its place here as the first school for the social, cultural, moral and spiritual formation and growth of children, who should always be able to see in their father and mother the first witnesses of a life directed to the pursuit of truth and the love of God. Parents must be always free to transmit to their children, responsibly and without constraints, their heritage of faith, values and culture. The family, the first cell of human society, remains the primary training ground for harmonious relations at every level of coexistence, human, national and international. Wisdom suggests that this is the road to building a strong and fraternal social fabric, in which young people can be prepared to assume their proper responsibilities in life, in a free society, and in a spirit of understanding and peace.”

Favorite Sources for Eucharistic Adoration

Since I began putting together newsletters for our parish's Eucharistic Adoration, I have relied heavily on sites where others who have greater knowledge collect thoughts and meditations from Saints and Catholic leaders.

If you are interested, click on the links below.  When I can't get to the church to pray, these sites bring Christ to me at home.

http://therealpresence.org

http://www.perpetualadoration.org/

http://savior.org/