Eucharistic Reflection - He Will Do The Rest

 

                             Photo ©Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. Used with Permission)

"In our self-centered culture and classic American emphasis on work, we often feel we have to accomplish something during our times of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. We rate our experience by how 'good' our prayer was, how heartfelt our devotion was, or how focused we could remain.  Yet prayer and contemplation are fundamentally God's work, in which we are invited to participate. We need only to give Him the opening, and He will do the rest. By coming to Adoration, we are handing Him the keys to our hearts, allowing the rays of His love and grace to bathe our souls in the light of His Presence, as the rays of the sun bathe our bodies in light. If we can take the time to pull away from the busyness and distractions of life and just sit at His feet, He will lead us."  (Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, excerpted from Manual for Eucharistic Adoration)

Monday Musings - It Pains Me So

 

(Image Source: Wikipedia Commons)

Father, you did it again!

You are so gifted in so many ways.

Your sermon was right on. The poem you shared was a shock to the heart and soul.

But when you refused to hold up our Blessed Lord’s Body and Blood while the bells were rung three times;

When you so irritatingly directed the Extraordinary minister of the Cup as to where she was to stand;

When you interrupted the distribution of Holy Communion to encourage communicants to stop and pick up a copy of  the poem you read at Mass and which you had placed on the altar rail;

When you just threw our Lord into my wife’s hands.

This is all too much.

There was nothing reverent and Sacred about the manner in which you distributed Holy Communion today. No one's belief in our Lord's Real Presence would have been enhanced.

It was offensive...

Father…please pause…take a close look at what others see…and adjust what you do.

Eucharistic Reflection - Saint Michael - Guardian Angel of the Eucharist

Dear Saint Michael:

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

What sweet delight it is to call upon you as the Guardian Angel of the Eucharist! Dear and faithful sentinel, we believe that you always attend to our Eucharistic King, Jesus, wherever He is pleased to dwell among us. 

Please help us grow in imitation of your boundless love for Jesus in this Sacrament of His Divine Love. Confirm and strengthen our faith in His Real Presence. Obtain for us the grace of receiving the Holy Eucharist worthily, mindfully and reverently each time we are blessed to approach His Sacred altar. Amen. 

(Carol Puschaver from Lovingly Do I Call to You - Prayers to Saint Michael the Archangel. Used with permission)

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - May 22, 2025

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.

David G. Bonagura, Jr.

"It has become fashionable in certain circles for parents to put off their child's baptism until he or she is older and can make a personal decision. This is a colossal mistake. To deprive a child of Baptism is akin to depriving him of an education or health care.

Parents would never make teeth brushing handwashing or school optional for their children. Likewise, they should never make God and His grace optional. God is essential and Baptism is the means by which human beings begin to encounter God in His fullness.”

(From 100 Tough Questions for Catholics -  Common Obstacles to Faith Today.)

 

St. Alphonsus Liguori

"St. Augustine says, that to prevent the sheep from seeking assistance by her cries, the wolf seizes her by the neck, and thus securely carries her away and devours her. The Devil acts in a similar manner with the sheep of Jesus Christ. After having induced them to yield to sin, he seizes them by the throat, that they may not confess their guilt; and thus he securely brings them to Hell. For those who have sinned grievously, there is no means of salvation but the confession of their sins."

(From The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori)

 

Carol Puschaver

“How very quickly I can grow impatient, annoyed; even angry and resentful, o dear Saint Michael! Even right after Church! One has only to steer a full shopping cart into the express lane ahead of me, talk during a movie or hurt someone I love. I feel so ashamed - and discouraged. How very tempted I am to shy away from others and avoid life's challenges altogether!

But that is not the way of the authentic Christ- centered life I want to lead. And so, dearest Archangel St. Michael, please help me to my feet, as many times as I may fall, please help get me back up. Pray for me that I may become more patient and tolerant as I would want others to be with me. Help me to see God in my neighbor and to be an ambassador of His love and mercy to all I meet this day.

Thank you. AMEN.

(From Lovingly Do I Call to You - Prayers to Saint Michael the Archangel. Used with permission.)

  

Eucharistic Reflection - Be Aware, Deeply Aware

“Receive Communion…and be deeply aware of the One who visits you, infinite love, divine madness; of One who not only became man like ourselves, but who became bread. After you receive Communion, ask Jesus, the God you hold prisoner in your soul, to stay with you throughout the day so that you may love Him and give Him thanks.”

 (St. Teresa of the Andes , excerpt from Letters of Saint Teresa of the Andes, Michael D. Griffin, o.c.d., tr.)

Monday Musings - We All Have A Natural Desire for God

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - May 8, 2025

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. 

Raoul Plus, S.J

"That is the essential word: mission. Everyone who is baptized, if he understands the part he has to play, is a missionary. He may not be called upon to go to foreign lands; his apostolate may be destined only to affect his near neighbors. But he must understand that wherever he may happen to be, he has a function to perform there: he not only has to save himself, but he also has to sanctify and save his brethren."  (An excerpt from How To Pray Always)

St. Francis de Sales   If during vocal prayer your heart is drawn to mental prayer, do not restrain it, but let your devotion take that channel, omitting the vocal prayers which you intended to say: that which takes their place is more acceptable to God, and more useful to your own soul."  (From Introduction to a Devout Life)

Thomas à Kempis "Jesus has many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few cross-bearers. Many desire His consolation, but few His tribulation. Many will sit down with Him at table, but few will share His fast. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few will suffer for Him. Many will follow Him to the breaking of the bread, but few will drink the bitter cup of His Passion. Many revere His miracles, but few follow the shame of His cross. Many love Jesus when all goes well with them, and praise Him when He does them a favor; but if Jesus conceals Himself and leaves them for a little while, they fall to complaining or become depressed. They who love Jesus purely for Himself and not for their own sake bless Him in all trouble and anguish as well as in time of consolation. Even if He never sent them consolation, they would still praise Him and give thanks. Oh how powerful is the pure love of Jesus, when not mixed with self-interest or self-love!"  (From Imitation of Christ)

 

Eucharistic Reflection - Make Your Heart A Heaven for Him!

 

“Here is a good thought which is not often mentioned: receive Communion not only for yourself, in order to have this immense grace, but for Jesus, in order to respond to His desire to come down into you, to give Him the joy of descending into your heart, which is a heaven for Him. Perhaps you will say, ‘What, My poor heart, so miserable, so unworthy, a heaven for Jesus?’ Yes, if you call upon Him to make your heart a heaven for Him.

Listen to little Therese: ‘I offered myself to Jesus, not as a person who desires to receive His visit for my own consolation, but on the contrary, for the pleasure of Him who gives Himself to me. It is not in order to remain in the golden ciborium that He comes down each day from Heaven, but in order to find another heaven, the heaven of our souls, made in His image, the living temple of the adorable Trinity’.’’

 

(From I Believe in Love, as quoted in I The Lord Am with You Always – Prayers and Mediations for Eucharistic Adoration)

Monday Musings - It's All Gift!

You created us Lord in your image, to know love and serve You on this earth and to be with You eternally. You remain here with us in the Consecrated and Sacred Hosts hidden behind locked tabernacle doors. This is all gift! None of us deserve this Divine generosity.

You desire that each of us become more like You - to always be Christ-like. My response over my lifetime, Lord You know, has been inconsistent, and at times, pathetic and traitorous!

You want me “to disappear so that You may appear in me.” “I must vacate my territory,” You tell me, “ so that You may fully occupy it.” But this can only happen by Your grace and by my being obedient to Your every command and prompting.

On the few occasions when I have obeyed Your promptings Lord, I received a glimpse of what You were calling me to be. Oh, how glorious Lord were the times I obeyed: returning to Your Church; participating in RENEW, Cursillo, Prison Ministry, Lay Dominicans, Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, and praying for the salvation of souls.

I did not always keep my eyes focused on Yours nor did I entirely surrender my will to Yours. Far too often Lord, I did not obey You. Yet when I look back on the times of my deepest anguish, I see now that You sent me Your light and Your angels - a lifeline - to pull me out of the pit of despair and back into Your loving arms. You allowed me to succeed because I placed my trust in You. I admitted my sinfulness and inability to go on any further unless You picked me up and carried me.

Let me never forget that You promised those who obey You, that their trials and tribulations would pass and that there was no reason to be afraid. You have always had my back. I was the one who has failed to consistently say ‘Yes,’ Fiat,’ Your will be done’.

Jesus I frequently pray that “I Trust in You.” Please breath life into those words so that I will have the courage and wisdom to obey You at all times and under in all circumstances, not just when it appears comfortable for me to do so.

 

Holding On To Anything?

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

 The little that we have – be it in material goods, time  or talents – is sufficient for God’s work if, when He asks, we would just give whatever that is to Him. Take notice in today’s Gospel what He did with five loaves of bread and two fish! On the surface, it looked like Jesus was asking His Apostles to do the impossible – feed thousands of  people. He wasn’t. He was asking them to give Him what they had and He would make the impossible possible. God will never give us a task, no matter how daunting it may first appear, without giving us all that we need to complete it.

The first step is our total surrender to, and trust in, His will for us.

So let’s ask ourselves: Is there anything I am still holding on to and unwilling to give Him?