Eucharistic Reflection - He Never Rests

"It is nightfall...One by one the lights go out in the dwellings of men...Millions of stars twinkle in the vast vault of heaven...But on earth one only star still glimmers - the tiny star of light in the sanctuary lamp. Its feeble rays struggle through the windows of a little church...it moves unsteadily to and fro...until it reaches you...Do you not see it? Jesus sends it to tell you that He never rests, that day and night, year in and year out, His heart is busy loving you, and the poor, and the unhappy - yes, even those who crucify Him." 

(Eucharistic Whisperings - Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

Eucharistic Reflection - Treasure The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

"… I will treasure more than anything else the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is often said that it is the Mass that matters. This means that Mass is the most important thing in the world. It is very true. But I really think that sanctifying grace matters most of all. Still, where do I get that from if not through the Sacrifice of the Cross which is continued in the Sacrifice of the Mass. I am afraid.  I do not think as highly of Holy Mass as I should. And this reminds me of a story I have often read about the Sacred linen in Greenland. It was in the sixteenth century. There had been a religious persecution in the island and all priests had been killed or driven out, so that for fifty years there was no Mass at all in Greenland.

After fifty years, there were still some scattered Catholics left. They used to meet every year for a Christmas celebration in a lonely house almost covered by snow. On one such night they all gathered together in the house. First, they said some prayers. Then an old man arose, went to a bureau, and took from it what used to be a white cloth, like a big, square napkin. Now it was yellow with age and tattered. It was a corporal, that linen cloth on which, during Holy Mass, rest the Body and Blood of Christ. The old man said: ‘Brethren, fifty years ago Mass was last said in this country. I served that last Mass. Let us kneel down and thank God for this precious relic, on which rested the Body and Blood of Jesus. And let us pray that God may send us priests to offer the Holy Sacrifice in our midst again.’

Tears streamed from all eyes as they knelt to pray. And all around me there are now so many churches and so many Masses are being offered. I do not think I value enough the chances that I have to assist at Holy Mass. Where there is a persecution and hearing Mass is forbidden under pain of torture or death, good Catholics nevertheless go to Mass, even if it is in caves under the ground.

Those good people in Greenland knelt down and thanked God for that precious Sacred linen. How happy and how devout they would have been if they could have bowed down before Jesus Himself in the Blessed Sacrament! And I am often so careless and thoughtless in my genuflections and in my way of kneeling or sitting or standing in the presence of my Eucharistic Savior. And it seems that the more I have to do around the Blessed Sacrament, the more like a pagan I become."

 

(The Way to God - Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

 

 

Eucharistic Reflection - The Goal of God's Love Is My Heart

(Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash

"When Jesus remains in the quiet of the altar, in the tabernacle’s shadow, people in their blind carelessness, let Him alone, they forget all about Him. And when He exposes Himself upon the altar, He is hurt to the Heart by the irreverence of so many who either have no faith at all or a faith that is very weak. When He goes through the streets in order to bring unspeakable blessings to His beloved children, He hears curses and blasphemies that make out of His errand of mercy another way of the cross. 

But in the midst of all these bitternesses, one hope sustains Him – the hope of a place of refuge that will offer the love and peace He craves. The bitter chalice which others continually place to His lips He drinks with resignation; for He is sustained by the hope of a loving reception in my heart by way of reparation. One holy hour spent in the enjoyment of my love, and He forgets years and years of suffering… Altar and tabernacle, monstrance and church, are merely the avenues through which His love enters; its goal is my heart; it is there that He would rest. Ah! How it would pain His Divine Heart if I would not let Him in, or if I would receive Him unworthily. What a bitter disappointment that would be! " 

(Eucharistic Whisperings - Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.) 

Eucharistic Reflection - Listen - He Invites You!

(St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, NYC

Listen. Jesus is speaking…

Being in heaven I came down to earth; and then I instituted the Blessed Sacrament in order to be with you always. In Holy Communion I really and truly come to you… 

And you?...When do you come to Me? In Holy Communion I visit you; but, tell me, My child, when do you visit Me? 

Perhaps our Sacred meeting in the morning satisfies you; it does not satisfy Me. I long to see you here in My presence again before evening. My child. That is why I now invite you. Won't you accept the invitation?

(From Eucharistic Whisperings by Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

Worth Revisiting - Eucharistic Reflection - His Goal Is My Heart

Thank you Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb  for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with you and your followers.


Eucharistic Reflection - His Goal Is My Heart

(Originally posted on July 28, 2012)

(St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, NYC)

“When Jesus remains in the quiet of the altar, in the tabernacle’s shadow, people in their blind carelessness let Him alone, they forget all about Him. And when He exposes Himself upon the altar, he is hurt to the Heart by the irreverence of so many who either have no faith at all or a faith that is very weak. When He goes through the streets in order to bring unspeakable blessings to His beloved children, He hears curses and blasphemies that make out of His errand of mercy another way of the cross.

But in the midst of all these bitternesses one hope sustains Him – the hope of a place of refuge that will offer the love and peace He craves. The bitter chalice which others continually place to His lips He drinks with resignation; for He is sustained by the hope of a loving reception in my heart by way of reparation. One only hour spent in the enjoyment of my love, and He forgets years and years of suffering…

Altar and tabernacle, monstrance and church, are merely the avenues thorough which He enters; its goal is my heart;it is there that He would rest. Ah! How it would pain His Divine heart if I would not let Him in, or if I would receive Him unworthily. What a bitter disappointment that would be!"  

(Eucharistic Whisperings, Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

Worth Revisiting - Jesus The Beggar

Thank you once again, Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb  for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with you and your followers.

The late Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. is a treasure you must discover:

Jesus The Beggar

(Originally posted November 4, 2012)

“Jesus loves poverty with a very special love – so much so, indeed, that, because He could not find it in heaven, He came down and sought it here on earth.

He took nothing along with Him from heaven. The tiny bit of glory that He gets on earth is the free gift of the few generous hearts that are trying to show how much they love Him. He is at His lovers’ mercy! Were merely a little wafer of bread denied Him, He could not remain in our midst on earth – He, the Lord of the Universe!...

Jesus begs. I wonder for what? 

He [Jesus] begs for one little word of kindly considerate greeting when I pass by a church… for a short ejaculatory prayer from time to time…for at least one loving aspiration when the bells ring out from the church towers…for a thought, one only thought, when I am alone. A word surely…at least a word I would not even refuse the most despicable criminal. But for Jesus?...Have I a word for Jesus?...How many?

He begs for a little company. For hours and hours he is all, all alone. Oh, what a longing – one that is well-night a necessity – he has for my presence! It would cost me so very little to give Him a few minutes every day; and still, rather than pay him a brief visit, I yawn and try to while away the weary hours. Rather than sit at His blessed feet, I would quite tire myself out in searching after the pleasures of the world and its miserable distractions!”

Jesus begs for a little love.

Contemplate Him, O my soul!...Not far from Him there stands another; also he would have something of you...it is Satan!"

(Eucharistic Whisperings, Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

Worth Revisiting - Why Did You Not Tell Us?

Why Did You Not Tell Us?

(Originally posted on February 11, 2019)

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

No caring person would allow an inattentive soul about to run off a cliff to do so without shouting and attempting to warn them of that danger and of their imminent demise. 

Should we not do the same for those Catholic politicians and public officials who legislatively support intrinsic evils, who remain silent in the face of the dismemberment and sale of infant body parts, or who consent to the killing of children born alive?

We would if we cared about them since there is nothing more important than the salvation of souls. Yet most of us are rarely reminded of this truth.

Satan relishes his success in having convinced so many that hell does not exist and that no one inhabits it – even using the mouths and/or silence of some Catholic priests and Bishops to get his message out.

"There is no such thing as sin," we are told. Are you prepared to tell that to Jesus Who suffered and died to redeem us from our sin? "Why," don’t you know, "we should have a reasonable hope that all men are saved?" "Why, a good and merciful God would never condemn anyone to an eternity of torment." Or so we are told. 

It is not cool to discuss hell. Consequently, many will find themselves there.

But if we love God and our fellow man, we must. Here is one  forgotten voice which needs to be heard:

“I am sure many lost souls in hell right now would cry out to preachers and writers if they could: Oh, why did you not tell us more about the horrors of hell? Why did you not strike such fear into our hearts by your realistic description of hell that we would have made greater efforts to avoid it?...Why did you spare our feelings in a matter of such eternal moment? Oh, why did you not make hell a thousand times hotter than you did, then perhaps we would not be here today?"

(Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. from The Way to God)

Monday Musings - But I Do Know!

[Oh, how so many of us take our Lord for granted by ignoring His Presence here among us. In doing so we offend Him Who is the Source of Love and, at the same time, deprive ourselves needlessly of His love, grace and support. 

May the following quotation from Stirring Slumbering Souls - 250 Eucharistic Reflections open our eyes, minds and souls to our neglect]:

 

"I recall the strange and touching story of Saint Alexis. When he was young he left home and then, because God inspired him to do so, came back to the house of his parents in Rome dressed up like a poor and unknown beggar. There he lived in some miserable old corner of the house for seventeen years; and his parents never knew that it was he.

But when he died they found out. It seems he left a note or something telling them what he had done in penance for his sins, because God wanted him to. How that mother wept when she found out that the beggar was her son. She had missed him so much and had so longed to see him. In agony, she cried out: ‘0 Alexis, my son! My son Alexis! Had I only known it was you! How I would have loved you and enjoyed your company! Now, alas! it is too late.’

This is a sad story. But I am afraid that if I do not appreciate my Eucharistic Savior here on earth, where He is hidden away in  the poor  tabernacle, where  He is in my very midst and I do not seem to know Him, the time will come, after my death, when I will cry out, seeing His adorable beauty in the life to come: ‘0 Jesus, if I had only known it was You!  How I would have loved You, Jesus all beautiful!.  How I would have enjoyed Your company! Oh, if I had only known!’

But I do know.

Faith tells me.

And I make so little of it…

(The Way to God - Father Winfrid Herbst S.D.S.)

Worth Revisiting - Praying Before The Tabernacle

We thank Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You   and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb  for hosting Revisiting Wednesday, each week. It is a privilege to share our work with them and their followers. Stop for a visit now.

Here is my contribution:

Monday Musings - Praying Before the Tabernacle

(Originally published on January 14, 2017)

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

"I think there was a certain Bishop Curtis who said that when he prayed before the tabernacle he liked to picture himself as a faithful and devoted dog lying at his master’s feet. Both are glad to have each other; both are silent. It is a rather unusual way of looking at the matter but it strikes home. Prayer is not in words only. It is also in tears and sighs and heartaches."

(From The Way to God by Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

Worth Revisiting- Praying Before the Tabernacle

Another Wednesday and another opportunity to thank Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for their weekly invitation to re-post our favorite posts on Worth Revisiting.

Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let an interesting group of Catholic bloggers nourish you in your Faith journey.

Visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of each week.  You will enjoy your visit. 

Here's a brief reflection:

Monday Musings - Praying Before the Tabernacle

(Originally published on January 14, 1917)

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

"I think there was a certain Bishop Curtis who said that when he prayed before the tabernacle he liked to picture himself as a faithful and devoted dog lying at his master’s feet. Both are glad to have each other; both are silent. It is a rather unusual way of looking at the matter but it strikes home. Prayer is not in words only. It is also in tears and sighs and heartaches."

(From The Way to God by Father Winfrid  Herbst, S.D.S.)

Worth Revisiting - You Are Being Watched

Another Wednesday and another opportunity to thank Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for their weekly invitation to re-post our favorite posts on Worth Revisiting.

Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let an interesting group of Catholic bloggers nourish you in your Faith journey.

Visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of each week.  You will enjoy your visit. 

I thought I would share one of my more recent posts:

Monday Musings - You Are Being Watched!

(Originally published February 13, 2017)

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Contemporary commentators often report that there is not much difference between the manner in which the majority of Catholics act with respect to such issues, for example, as the active homosexual life style, abortion, cohabitation, contraception, euthanasia, and fetal stem cell research, and how the rest of the non-Catholic population acts.

How tragic! 

Has it been the poor example of Catholics that have led others astray? Or have Catholics simply abandoned their faith in order to fit in? An affirmative answer to either of these questions is a damning admission.

Alas, we have forgotten who we are, whom we are called to be,  how we are to live our lives, and where we are going.

Monday Musings - Your Horse or Your Soul?

Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. wrote The Way to God in 1947 at a time when the Catholic Church had not yet lost sight of its primary purpose - the salvation of souls. As will be clear from the following excerpt, however,  not all Catholics back then made the salvation of their souls a personal priority.  

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

“Some people, who do not pray much and who do not make their work prayer by living in the state of grace and doing everything with a good intention, spend hours and hours every day on other things but only a few minutes on their souls.

It reminds me of a priest who asked a man who was caring for his horse how much time he spent every day caring for the animal. He said, ‘About two hours.’ The priest asked him how much time he spent every day caring for his soul. 

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

He said, ‘A few minutes.’ Whereupon the good priest answered, ‘Since that is the case, if I belonged to you I would rather be your horse than your soul.’ 

Some of those odd stories are really thought provoking.”

(From The Way to God by Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

Some observers would suggest that even far fewer contemporary Catholics pay any attention to their souls. Rarely is the need to do so discussed in Church - God being so merciful, you know.

May Father's "odd story" prompt us to pay more attention to our eternal souls today than to our horses and other possessions. Remember, none of us are promised a tomorrow.