Greetings on Divine Mercy Sunday!

In the words of Jesus:

"I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls... On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment."

-St. Faustina's Diary p. 699

Here's a beautiful website explaining the devotion, Feast, graces, and more:

www.thedivinemercy.org

Symbols and Realities of Faith

Today is the Feast of the Exhaltation of the Holy Cross. This morning at Mass, Father stated during his homily that "the cross is the greatest symbol of our Faith". He went on to add, "The reason that the Eucharist is not the greatest symbol of our Faith is because it is not a symbol: it is a reality."

I thought it was a point worth repeating!

(For my non-Catholic readers: We believe that the Eucharist is a reality, not a symbol, because we take Jesus Christ at his word in John 6:48-58 and Luke 22:19-20. For more biblical explanation of the Eucharist, visit the Catholic Answers article here.)

Why Am I Catholic? Part 1: The Eucharist

Meshaay asked the following in the comment box recently...

Hey, I've been wondering, what do you believe as a Catholic? What makes you different from a Christian, and why did you choose Catholicism over Christianity? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the question, Meshaay! I need to clarify right off (as some friends did kindly in the comment box) that as a Catholic, I am also a Christian. It's not one versus the other. In fact, Catholics are the original Christians and the largest Christian church in the world with over 1 billion members (1/6 the world's population). The Catholic Church is the one which Christ founded nearly 2000 years ago. All other Christian denominations (Protestant, Baptist, Lutheran, etc.) are the results of "splits", or individuals/groups breaking off from the Catholic Church over the past 500 years. And though these splits often occurred because an individual or group contested with Catholic doctrine, all Catholics do share with our evangelical Christian brothers and sisters a common faith in God as Creator and Father and in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

As far as our differences go, the main ones include the Eucharist, Purgatory, devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Saints, the Sacraments (especially Confession), the Holy Father and Magisterium, and Sacred Tradition as a means of passing on truth along with Sacred Scripture.

Rather than make this a very lengthy post to explain all of the above, I'll do a series and cover one topic in each. Today is the first and foremost: The Eucharist.

As Catholics, we take Jesus at His word. In John 6:51-53, He says:

"'I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.'

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?'

Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

'For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

'This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.'"

Most Protestants hold that Jesus was speaking symbolically in this passage. However, a look at the original Greek shows otherwise. The Greek word for "body" in John 6:54 is sarx, which means physical flesh, and the word for "eats" (trogon) translates as "gnawing" or "chewing." This is certainly not the language of metaphor. (Reference: The Institution of the Mass from Catholic Answers.)

His clarity is further shown by the fact that when many of His disciples left him due to the radicalism of the above (John 6:66), He let them go. He didn't call them back and say "Wait! I was speaking symbolically. The meaning of the parable is...". No — He let them go.

When He said His flesh would give us life, he meant it — literally. Take a look at how many times He uses the words "life" and "living" in the above passage. He even uses "Amen, Amen" to emphasize His words!

Jesus went on to fulfill His promise of John 6 at the Last Supper, when He took bread and wine and turned them into His body and blood. His words "This is My Body" and "This is My Blood" are recorded in three of the Gospel narratives. (Matthew 26:26-27, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20). He commands His Apostles, and us, to "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19).

If I had to name the single most important reason I am Catholic, it is this. The Catholic Church brings me the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of my Lord and God so that I might receive Him physically! If one is receptive, this can be a life-changing experience each and every time it occurs (see Secrets of the Eucharist). I have been blessed to attend Mass and receive Him every day since my First Holy Communion 14 years ago (only missing a few). He is my strength and my sustenance of life, just as He promised in John 6. Not only that, but because He remains fully present in the Eucharist He waits day and night in our churches for His children to come and be with Him. Adoration, or worship of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (the Eucharist), is, after receiving Him physically, one of the most powerful experiences of grace possible.

For more thorough and excellent explanations on the Eucharist, check out:

- Christ in the Eucharist from CatholicAnswers.com
- The Eucharist in Scripture
- The Real Presence from CatholicAnswers.com
- The Eucharist Article Index: Q & A and more from EWTN.com

I would like to welcome any non-Catholic readers I may have and encourage you to explore this topic. I hope that this series may be helpful to your understanding of why Catholics believe what we do. Charitable discussion in the comment box is encouraged!

Secrets of the Eucharist

Let's just continue our Sacramental theme, shall we? :) We hosted a meeting tonight for the parents of our First Communicants at St. Joseph's, and so last week I searched around for a Eucharistic "teaching" film to show them. I found Seven Secrets of the Eucharist by Vinny Flynn.

All of us really need to make sure we are continually re-energizing our understanding of what and Who the Eucharist is. If we don't, it can all too easily become thoughtless monotony.

This talk, based off of Mr. Flynn's book by the same name, does just that: wakes and shakes us up to profound reality of this gift! He highlighted how the effectiveness of the Sacrament is directly proportional to our participation in it. He takes what may sound at first like simple or even obvious points and completely lights them up. For example: the Eucharist is alive. When we receive our Lord, it is not the dead Jesus but the living one! We receive the presence of the whole Trinity as Father and Holy Spirit come to us with Jesus! We receive the presence of all of heaven, angels and saints, as they come to us with Him!

I especially loved Mr. Flynn's explanation of Spiritual Communion. Wow... it's so much more than most of us think! He shares a beautiful prayer: "Jesus, lock me in the tabernacle with You." There is a lot to be meditated on in that tiny little prayer...

What I most appreciated was how everything he explained was based off of writings of the Popes, Saints, and Divine Revelations such as Our Lord to St. Faustina. So solid. So good.

At the very end, he mentions how a whole chapter of Pope John Paul's Eucharistic Encyclical was dedicated to Our Lady. He then goes on to share some of the most beautiful titles for her... such as the First Tabernacle, the first Eucharistic procession (when she bore Jesus and went to Elizabeth!), and the Living Monstrance.

He also drove home how crucial it is for us to enter into communion with Our Lord, not just passively receive Him. It really struck me when he said that one could receive Holy Communion every day of their life, but remain unchanged if they're not desiring and working toward and praying for closer union with Christ!

The summary of it all is this: we can transform both our own lives and life of the Church through the life and power of the Eucharist... if only we desire it.

Sealed in the Spirit

Tonight, the twenty-one students of my Religious Education Class at St. Joseph's in Joliet received the Sacrament of Confirmation at the hands of our Bishop J. Peter Sartain. Preparing them the past two years, and being intimately involved in the Liturgy and celebration has in a very tangible way been somewhat of a "reliving" of my own Confirmation eight years ago. The articles, stories, quotes, and teachings that I've looked up and prepared for my students have been just as much a blessing for me.

I especially love this excerpt which I found in an article on CatholicCulture.org (that website is a gem!):

Confirmation marks one's spiritual growing up. With Confirmation he is launched on the social aspect of his spiritual life, with which goes an even greater obligation to pursue his own sanctification. But self-sanctification is now dependent upon his relationship with all men. With Confirmation, he is equipped, by the strengthening in him of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to look at the world with new eyes, to desire its conquest for Christ with new love. He sees more clearly (if he is helped to see by his parents and teachers) what it means to be a member of the Mystical Body. Like a cell in his own body, he is a cell in the Body of Christ. Each cell is important, a part of a whole. Without it, the whole would be less whole. If one cell is sick (in sin), the whole is less well. Now he begins to see that it is up to him, as well as to the other members of the Body, to work for the total health of the Body; not only that — but to work for the further growth of the Body.

The absolute beauty of the Mystical Body of Christ is something that has, and continues to leave me awestruck — especially in the last year or two. Recently a seminarian friend coined a phrase that I thought summed it up perfectly: the interconnectedness of the Body of Christ. It is so, so much more connected than I think any of us realize. It's incredibly powerful to realize the truth of the above text: we literally and directly affect the life and health of the whole body. Amazing!

It was truly bittersweet to watch my spiritual children receive this Sacrament tonight. It's near the end of our time together so far (only 3 more classes before the school year ends), but I hope and pray that much more than an end, it is a bright new beginning for them. One of my students' mothers asked me tonight if I was nervous. And while I wouldn't describe myself as that, there were plenty of other emotions swirling around my mind and heart this evening.

And oh, but I so love our bishop. I was cheering (silently, of course) from the choir loft as he gave his final message to the youth. With authority and yet tenderness, he said some of the very same key points I've tried so hard to drive home for them this year: Confirmation is not the same thing as graduation. This doesn't mean you are done learning the Faith. This doesn't mean Religious Education is done for you!

Forgive me if I my reflection here is somewhat disjointed tonight. I wish I could summarize here somehow the culmination of graces for me the past few months. I feel as though I've had greater contemplation, and less spoken words than typical for me (perhaps my family wouldn't agree, but it seems so to me!). I am usually one to whom words come fairly easily, even about relatively awkward or in-depth topics. There are plenty of times lately, however, when I'm caught up in a kind of interior thought and find myself not saying much... or it's almost difficult when I do.

It might sound strange, but at times like these there is such a strange mixture of emotion when it comes to writing (at least, to blogging). My head and heart are simply brimming with things about which I wish to write, but interestingly, I'm almost reluctant to do so... as if I'm fearful that I won't have the time to do justice to the beauty or depth of the topic.

The Holy Spirit was indeed present in a very real way tonight. And He has been in many of our classes. There are days when I can stand up in front of those twenty-one seventh and eighth graders and know that He has taken over the words coming out of my mouth. And then I wish the clock would stop moving! I just hope that I have given these young people a glimpse into the treasure chest (rather, the gold mine) that is our Faith.

Father, grasp them in the palm of Your Hand. Son, encircle them in the abode of Your Heart, Holy Spirit, inflame them with the all-consuming fire of Your Love!

"Lord, Grant Me... the Courage to Change"

Many of us would recognize those words from the "Serenity Prayer". Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

How I love that word: serenity. Dictionary.com defines it as "the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness".

Serenity. Tranquility. Peace. Even the very words seem to caress gently, to give an aura of what they imply. This morning, my confessor spoke to me at length about "finding peace". After some of what I've been through and struggled with the past few weeks, his direction in that healing Sacrament was so perfect this morning. (The Holy Spirit is a Master at that, you know? I can't tell you how many times the advice given me in Confession is exactly the balm, or challenge, or admonition I needed at that moment.)

My penance was to meditate on the words Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. And oh, what a mediation those can be.

Lord ...Master, Teacher, Redeemer
make me ...transform, cleanse, create, purify me to become
an instrument ...one who gives forth beauty when placed in Your Hands
of Your peace ...to offer Your greatest gifts to the world.

Father pointed out beautifully the somewhat painful change all around us this season: trees letting go of their vibrant leaves, in order to go through a season of cold and healing in preparation for new and more fruitful growth. Immediately a quote sprang into my mind -- one posted on the sign outside a church a few blocks from our house --

When you are reluctant to change, think of the beauty of Autumn.

The Lord has been doing some pruning on me lately; He's showing me that I need to let go of some of my leaves to allow for new growth later. I may be reluctant to let them go, vibrant as they are. But if I trust enough, Spring, with all its glorious freshness and the burst of new life, will come.

Hands and the Priesthood

Contemplation of the "Hands" reflection, simultaneous with joyful anticipation of this coming weekend's priestly ordination of a wonderful seminarian friend of ours, brought this to me...


A dish of water in my hands is...a dish of water.
A dish of water in the hands of a priest is a powerful weapon.
It depends on whose hands it's in.

A drop of oil in my hands is sufficient for cooking.

A drop of oil in the hands of a priest is a means of healing.

It depends on whose hands it's in.

A piece of bread in my hands is a small snack.
A piece of bread in the hands of a priest is the Body of my Lord.
It depends on whose hands it's in.

A cup of wine in my hands is enough for a toast.
A cup of wine in the hands of a priest is the Blood of my Savior.
It depends on whose hands it's in.

Father, bless our priests who bring Your Life to us!