Authentic Eucharistic Revival

 

Eucharistic Reflection - An Oasis

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

"Catholic Churches are intended to be sacred places – different from all other structures in which we spend time – a silent prayerful oasis of quiet, comfort, solace and grace. The stark reality that we have lost that sense and our belief in the Real Presence, is enough to make Our Lord cry."

(From I Thirst For Your Love)

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - June 23, 2022

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth is my simple and inadequate way of providing nuggets of spiritual wisdom for you to chew on from time to time.

 

 

Antony The Great

“Antony said, ‘Just as fish die if they stay too long out of water, so the monks who loiter outside their prayer chambers or pass their time with men of the world lose the intensity of their inner peace. So, like a fish going toward the sea, we must hurry to reach our prayer chamber. If we delay outside, we will lose our interior watchfulness’.”

(From The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers)

 

Father Peter Hannah, O.P.

"[Pope Benedict XVI reminds us]: Truth should be spoken with charity; but charity demands that one is actually speaking truth. Charity, Benedict wrote,  ‘is of fundamental importance in human relations’, but ‘without truth, charity degenerates to sentimentality…more or less  interchangeable with a pool of good feelings, helpful for social cohesion but of little relevance’ (Caritas in Veritate, #3).

Benedict’s warning deserves attention. There can be a temptation, when desiring someone to come over to one’s own view - in this case, not one's own view only, but the Catholic faith - to forsake critical aspects of the faith so that they become more ‘amenable’ to the person receiving. But then one is actually not persuading the other of the truth but enervating and misrepresenting the truth in order to elicit acceptance and encourage ‘good relations.’ This was not the vision of John XXIII [when he convened Vatican II]; nor is it the way of Our Lord. In the Gospels we see Jesus ready to receive anyone who approaches Him with a genuine and open disposition. But He does not alter the message itself when His audience is confused or taken aback.

When Jesus speaks maybe the most important truth of all so far as the Church’s life goes - His own flesh as the life of the world - those around Him are immediately offended. ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ (John 6: 60). Our Lord's response is not to respond by feeding His followers half-truths that they can accept, ‘adjusting Himself’ to their sensibilities, and leaving the full truth out of it. He rather repeats it, fully aware of their difficulty in accepting: ‘Do you take offense at this?...no one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father.’ Then, we are told, ‘many of His disciples drew back and no longer went about with Him (John 6: 66). Jesus is ‘inclusive’ of all who are open to the truth; but also realizes not all will accept it and discover the life He brings."

(Excerpted from May-June 2022 edition of Light & Life – Voice of the Rosary Center & Confraternity)

 

Venerable Luis of Granada, O.P

"Certainly God, who is so merciful, takes no pleasure in our afflictions, but in His love He sends us these necessary remedies to cure our infirmities. Thus suffering purifies the stains of sinful pleasures, and the privation of innocent gratifications expiates unlawful indulgence. He punishes us in this world, that He may reward us in the next; He treats us with merciful rigor here to save us from His wrath in eternity. Hence Saint Jerome says that God's anger against sinners is never more terrible then when He seems to forget them during life. It was through fear of such a misfortune that Saint St Augustine prayed, ‘Here Oh Lord burn, here cut, that Thou mayst spare me in eternity.’

(From The Sinner’s Guide)

Eucharistic Reflection - Stay Before The Blessed Sacrament

“Many priests who have set up perpetual adoration in their parish testify to a growing demand for the sacrament of reconciliation as a fruit of Eucharistic adoration. The growth is not only in quantity but also in quality. One cannot stay before the Blessed Sacrament without the light of Christ profoundly illuminating the soul and enlightening the conscience.” 

(Father Florian Racine from Could You Not Watch One Hour With Me?)

 

A Question This Corpus Christi - How Much Do You Love God?

[I wrote this more than 10 years ago. It seems both appropriate and necessary to share this post again today, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.]

 

Too often we have taken God for granted. So sometimes He asks others “to shake things up.” Today may be one of those days.

Here is a question worth pondering now and in the days to come:

“What if God loved you only as much as you loved Him?”

(Father Francis Hudson, S.C.J.)

Have you ever loved someone so much that you could hardly wait to hear from them, to speak with them and to see them? How often have you looked forward to a visit from someone you deeply love only to have that person not come? How hurt have you felt when you were ignored and your love not returned?

Imagine then how God - Who is Love – Who loves us more than words can describe - feels when we fail to demonstrate our love for Him? He waits in our churches hour after hour just to hear our voices and to see our faces.

Yet, few of us come to be with Him.

God is the sole source of real peace amidst the chaos, challenges and trials of our daily lives. But the noise and busyness that surrounds us prevents us from experiencing that peace as God intended we do.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminded us that attendance at Sunday Mass is simply not enough. Adoration should never have been de-emphasized. It is a real reminder that Jesus is always here with us in the Blessed Sacrament.

“To really communicate with another person”, the Pope wrote, “I must know him, I must be able to be in silence, close to him, to hear him, and to look at him with love.” 

(Corpus Christi Homily 2012)

On another occasion, the Holy Father had this to say:

“In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; …. By remaining silent we allow the other person to speak, to express himself; and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested. In this way, space is created for mutual listening, and deeper …relationships become possible…"  

"If God speaks to us even in silence, we in turn discover in silence the possibility of speaking with God and about God.” 

(World Communications Day 2012)

Why go to Adoration?

God deserves it. He is entitled to it. He has asked us to watch one hour with Him. You find the time to be with the one you love.

According to the Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament, every hour we spend in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament:

- deepens our union with Jesus, transforms us into the very image and likeness of God Himself, and makes up for those who do not know Him or do not love Him;

- draws the world and everyone in it closer to Christ;

- lifts up the whole world to the Father for His blessing; and

- saves a soul from going to hell.

Let me hasten to state that time before the Blessed Sacrament is no guaranty of a struggle free life. But He does promise sufficient graces to carry our daily crosses and eternity with Him for those who love Him.

Adoration is for everyone. "But I don’t have the time," you say. Consider these statistics from Father Oscar Lukefahr, C.M.:

If you live to be eighty you would have spent about 3 years reading, 5 years talking, 6 years riding in a car, 7 years eating, 11 years in recreational activities and 27 years sleeping. If you offered an hour of adoration each week you would have given Jesus less than 6 months of your life. Add attendance at Sunday Mass and 5 minutes of daily prayer to your weekly holy hour and you would have given Him a little less than I year of your time.

You have the time. You just have to choose to do it.

“Adoration is not just one more thing to do like going to the store, the doctor, etc. It is an encounter with Christ. His love changes and orders our life.”

(Father James M. Sullivan, OP)

Though still a sinner, I am a much different person today than I was before making a commitment to weekly adoration. I have a deeper and more profound love for God, my wife and my family. I think more often of others before myself. I still offend God but am quicker to seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I love Mass and the Holy Eucharist. I joyfully jump out of bed each Saturday morning at 3 AM to be with Him.

Can I be bold enough to ask you another question:

How much do YOU love God? 

What are you waiting for?

Consider this a personal invitation from Jesus Himself.  

He awaits you with open and loving arms.

If you come to Him with an open heart, He will give you His.

That’s His promise.

 

 

[I have written two books on the Eucharist that you may find useful companions as we begin our journey of Eucharistic Revival: I Thirst For Your Love and Stirring Slumbering Souls - 250 Eucharistic Reflections. Both books received the Seal of Approval from the Catholic Writer's Guild.]

Monday Musings - Too Often Guilty