A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
It's Sunday, the one day many Catholics get to Mass. It would be wonderful to drop the "many" and be able to just say "Catholics," or even "most Catholics," but, as we know, most Catholics no longer go to Mass every Sunday. Somewhere along the line, the 3rd Commandment - "Remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day" - has been reinterpreted to mean, "You don't have to go to Mass anymore on Sundays. Let's hope you're not one of those who buys into this modernist perversion of our Sunday obligation.
Anyway, here we are, on this 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (new calendar), aka the 15th Sunday after Pentecost (old calendar), either on our way to, or having returned from Holy Mass. At my parish, we have to park in a lot that's packed to the gills. We live in a residential neighborhood of a big city and there's just not a lot of space for parking. The result: Everyone's got to scoot when Mass ends and get to your car so you can get out of the lot, or you wind up blocking someone else in the lot (a cause of much consternation, as I learned the one time I didn't scoot fast enough).
I'm bringing this up because much as I love to attend Mass, most especially to receive (when I'm properly disposed) the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, there's usually no time to spend with Him in conversation on Sunday. So some of us Catholics pay Him a visit from time to time - at least we do when you can find a church that's open during the day. And while we can certainly converse with Him at any time, we remind ourselves that there's something special about visiting Him in the Blessed Sacrament. In the tabernacle, He resides there, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the same manner as He does in the Sacred Host we receive at Mass. He's not only spiritually present, He's physically present.
Okay, now that we've reminded ourselves of some of the fundamentals of our Holy Faith, here's something special I'd like to share with you on this glorious Sunday. It's something you might find useful in those times when you can actually get to a church and pay a visit to Our Lord, especially when you want to talk to Him. Nothing wrong with saying prayers in His Presence, of course, but talking, really having a conversation, is so much more personal, isn't it? After all, He really is our Divine Friend, and like any friend, He enjoys, for want of a more elegant way to express it, just hanging out and talking.
So I came across a wonderful passage from St. Peter Julian Eymard's 9 volume series on the Eucharist. I think you might find it helpful if you're visiting Our Lord and maybe aren't all that sure just how to talk to Him - you know, just what you should say to Him. What I like about St. Eymard's suggestions is the fact that he's helping us to talk to Jesus without talking about ourselves all the time: when we tell Him we need His help for this, that, or the other thing; or we tell Him how things are going in our lives, with out family, etc. That's all fine. But when you meet a friend and all they talk about is themselves, it can get kind of tiresome, no? With that in mind, we turn to St. Eymard. Among other things, he founded the Society of the Blessed Sacrament because of his deep devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Here's what he suggests we talk about when we're with Him in the Blessed Sacrament:
Wouldn't that be something!
Anyway, here we are, on this 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (new calendar), aka the 15th Sunday after Pentecost (old calendar), either on our way to, or having returned from Holy Mass. At my parish, we have to park in a lot that's packed to the gills. We live in a residential neighborhood of a big city and there's just not a lot of space for parking. The result: Everyone's got to scoot when Mass ends and get to your car so you can get out of the lot, or you wind up blocking someone else in the lot (a cause of much consternation, as I learned the one time I didn't scoot fast enough).
I'm bringing this up because much as I love to attend Mass, most especially to receive (when I'm properly disposed) the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, there's usually no time to spend with Him in conversation on Sunday. So some of us Catholics pay Him a visit from time to time - at least we do when you can find a church that's open during the day. And while we can certainly converse with Him at any time, we remind ourselves that there's something special about visiting Him in the Blessed Sacrament. In the tabernacle, He resides there, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the same manner as He does in the Sacred Host we receive at Mass. He's not only spiritually present, He's physically present.
Okay, now that we've reminded ourselves of some of the fundamentals of our Holy Faith, here's something special I'd like to share with you on this glorious Sunday. It's something you might find useful in those times when you can actually get to a church and pay a visit to Our Lord, especially when you want to talk to Him. Nothing wrong with saying prayers in His Presence, of course, but talking, really having a conversation, is so much more personal, isn't it? After all, He really is our Divine Friend, and like any friend, He enjoys, for want of a more elegant way to express it, just hanging out and talking.
So I came across a wonderful passage from St. Peter Julian Eymard's 9 volume series on the Eucharist. I think you might find it helpful if you're visiting Our Lord and maybe aren't all that sure just how to talk to Him - you know, just what you should say to Him. What I like about St. Eymard's suggestions is the fact that he's helping us to talk to Jesus without talking about ourselves all the time: when we tell Him we need His help for this, that, or the other thing; or we tell Him how things are going in our lives, with out family, etc. That's all fine. But when you meet a friend and all they talk about is themselves, it can get kind of tiresome, no? With that in mind, we turn to St. Eymard. Among other things, he founded the Society of the Blessed Sacrament because of his deep devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Here's what he suggests we talk about when we're with Him in the Blessed Sacrament:
Speak to Jesus of His Heavenly Father Whom He Loves so much; speak to Him of the tasks He has undertaken for His Father's Glory, and you will gladden His Heart and He will love you all the more. Speak to Jesus of His Love for all men; that will make His Heart and yours expand with happiness and joy. Speak to Jesus of His Holy Mother whom He Loves so much, and you will renew in Him the happiness of a Good Son. Speak to him of his saints so as to glorify His Grace in them. The real secret of love is, therefore, to forget oneself like St. John the Baptist so as to exalt and glorify the Lord Jesus.Maybe you'll find this useful the next time you pay a visit to Our Lord. On my end, it reminds me how I used to visit with Our Lord once a week in a beautiful church for about 20 minutes, sometimes longer. But when my work location changed, I couldn't get to that church any more. So I stopped visiting. I hope this serves as an encouragement to find a place, and find the time, to pay a visit soon. And I hope that not only will I pay a visit and talk to Him, but, as St. Eymard urges us, leave His Presence "like the angel takes his flight from the Throne of God to carry out His Divine Commands."
Before leaving the Presence of the Divine Master thank Him for His reception of Love. Beg forgiveness for your distractions and irreverences. Then leave the church...leave our Lord's Presence like the angel who takes his flight from the Throne of God to carry out His Divine Commands.
Wouldn't that be something!
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