Adoration

At the Boston Eucharistic Congress for young adults, a speaker on the Presence and the Eucharist spoke of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as kissing our Lord. For Communion is the consummation of our marriage to our, the Bridegroom, Christ. This analogy struck me very deeply, in both directions. It has deepened my understanding of Adoration, and the intimacy of it even without being united to Him in the flesh. Likewise it has finally crystallized for me what a pure kiss between a man and woman is meant to be. It is a demonstration of love-- but not merely an action to say I love you, but rather an act of reverence and awe in the presence of a mystery created by God--it is like the woman pouring the expensive oil on the feet of Christ, or breaking the alabaster jar--like Christ washing the feet of His disciples. I was one of those whose feet were washed by the priest at the Holy Thursday Mass. When Father poured the water over my foot and so tenderly wrapped it in the towel to dry it, and then so reverently kissed it--that is the love with which spouses should kiss each other always, whether it be the cheek or lips or hands of their love. The love with which we kiss the wounded hands and feet and side of our Lord crucified; the love with which we kiss the wood of the Cross on Good Friday. That is the love which we all crave, so deeply in our hearts!

He is Risen, Alleluia!!

Excerpts from: Our Lady's Easter

by Albert H. Dolan, O. Carm.

"Regina coeli laetare," the Church sings at Easter; "Rejoice, O Queen of Heaven, because He is risen as He said." Indeed, there is no Easter meditation more consoling, more uplifting and more rich in grace than reflection upon Our Lord's appearance to His Blessed Mother early Easter morning.

This visit is not recorded in the Gospels but is attested by a definite and ancient tradition; by the Fathers, by spiritual writers without exception, and by the faithful who are as certain of it as they are of His appearance to Magdalene and to the Apostles.

We need not dwell long on the fitness of such an apparition. Even if we had no evidence, from tradition, of their meeting, our hearts would tell us that Our Lord would not cruelly neglect His Mother; that if He appeared to the Apostles and to Magdalene, He would surely appear first to her, the companion of His passion, to her who had the strongest claims upon Him, to her in whose heart there was incomparably more faith and loyalty and love for Him than in any other human heart. To Mary's eyes first was His victory to be proclaimed. The fitness of the visit being assumed, let us inquire where and when it occurred and what was in their hearts at their reunion.

After the burial of Our Lord, Mary had been conducted by St. John, the beloved disciple, to the home of one of his friends in Jerusalem. According to tradition, Mary spent Good Friday night, Holy Saturday, and Holy Saturday night in her room in this house in solitary, expectant prayer, filled with faith and hope which approached certainty, a faith which was as strong before as it was after she saw Him risen.

Let us visit Mary just before dawn on Easter Sunday morning. Counting from noon on Good Friday, she is completing her fortieth consecutive hour of lonely prayer. With eyes closed, she kneels in humble supplication, patiently begging God the Father to hasten the hour of the coming of His Son and hers. Although she does not know it yet, her dolors are over; her hours of suffering have passed. The dawn has not yet broken, but it is at hand and will soon break with a splendor the earth has never seen before or since.

Leaving Mary now in the darkness of her room, let us journey in imagination to the tomb of Our Lord. Without, the soldiers are sleeping; within, by His power as God, His soul enters and reassumes His Body. Instantaneously, even while the angels are rolling back the stone from the sepulcher, He is on His way to Mary, for we are not to think that He was less eager than she was for their reunion. Both had traversed such vast mysteries since He had seen her with His bodily eyes that He hastened towards her, as if long years instead of days had intervened since their parting. He longed for her presence.

Let us return to Mary just before His appearance. New graces are just being bestowed upon her – graces to strengthen her to bear the joy of the sight of her glorified Son, for these new graces and powers are necessary, lest joy should crush the Immaculate Heart that sorrow could not break. Just as these graces enter her soul and just as the first faint streaks of dawn brighten the hilltops, a dazzling brilliance fills her room and startles her closed eyelids into opening, and being open, they behold standing before her – her risen Son. The Queen of Sorrow raises her eyes and becomes the Queen of Joy. No other human being has ever seen a sight so glorious; to no other on earth was so much of His Divinity and glory disclosed.

What does she see in Him? Oh, first of all love, love for her greater and more tender than His eyes had ever beamed upon her before. His joy as well as His divinity causes this new brightness in Him. And what is the cause of His joy? Mary – as she is the "cause of our joy." He rejoices at the sight of Mary; He delights in her sweet sanctity; He recognizes again her resemblance to Him, as He exults in her delight at seeing Him. As God and as Man, He rejoices in His pride in her, His Mother, the Mother of His Body; and in His pride in her, His creation, the first and fairest of His creatures. He rejoices in the fresh beauty He sees in her, a new beauty created by her dolors and shining not only from her soul but from her now transfigured countenance.

Did they speak? Not, I think, at first. If there ever was an occasion in which words were needless, it is this; and they remain speechless while they read the messages so plainly written in each other's eyes. Then finally, of course, He speaks, for she is not to be deprived of the joy of His voice, and it is her holy name He pronounces. And in answer, there is heard her voice, and it is His Holy Name she whispers. It is her only word, but what a world of love it contains! As she speaks His Name, she throws herself at His feet in loving adoration and in adoring love. Then He gently raises her and embraces her, pressing her head tenderly against His wounded side. Who will be so bold as to guess how long He kept her there and what He said to her, or how soon and how often He promised to come to her again? We will not be so rash as to speculate further, but in the sight of Jesus and Mary, Mother and Son, re-united in love and joy on Easter morning, we see the end, the termination, the goal of our own earthly trials. If we bear our trials as they (Jesus and Mary) bore them, if we suffer with them and for them, we shall one day have our Easter, wrapped in closest union with them both, in love and in joy which will endure not merely for an hour but for all eternity.

These thoughts, almost heart-breaking in the spiritual joy they invoke, these thoughts of the union of Mary and Jesus, their mutual love and their mutual gladness, are not for Easter alone; rather are they for reflection each time we say the first Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, reminding ourselves always that to suffer with them is to rejoice with them. To endure our Good Friday with them is to spend our eternal Easter with them, united to them forever in unspeakable love and glory and joy and gladness.

Joy of the Resurrection

CS Lewis once spoke to the obligation of all Christians to be as happy as possible. How can he make such a claim? Because we all always have something to be joyful about-- and it isn't a small thing!!!!! The Resurrection is the source of all joy in Christian life; it is the source of hope, of love! It is through the Resurrection that mankind is redeemed, and has received as a gift from God the grace to overcome all sin, to love purely and selflessly. No matter what we go through, we must always keep this thought at the forefront of our minds, for it is our hope that our trials will be redeemed through Christ, and our joy for eternity!! May the triumph of our Lord be always sung by hearts!!

"God loves us, not because we are good, but because He is good." --Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty

Indeed, love is not something that can be earned, it is something freely given. God's love for us is simply from His own infinite goodness.

"This is my body which is given for you." --Luke 22:19

As we celebrate the Last Supper, we must remember that "The Eucharist is the supreme proof of the love of Jesus" --St. Peter Eymard. It is where we consummate our union with Christ, our Bridegroom. He gives His entire self to us, and so in receiving Him we are made more like Him. Through subordination to His love and sacrifice, through receiving His body as He freely gives it up for us and to us, we are cleansed. He has done this that He might present us to Himself spotless and without blemish, His true Bride.

"And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him" --John 12:11

In doing the good work, and spreading Christ's love to people, we too become targeted by the devil for destruction. However, we must always trust in the Lord: "Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear; Though war be waged upon me, even then will I trust...I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:3,13). For the rejoicing in heaven over even one lost sheep returned home is well worth whatever suffering is encountered!

In living out the Theology of the Body in our daily lives, through commitment to the Lord, chastity, and truely loving, we, like Lazarus, call people to return to their Bridegroom and taste of His banquet. We image the likeness of God, making His presence hear on earth even more tangible, which Satan does not like. Satan seeks to destroy this image through lust, hatred of fertility and unforgiveness; we must seek refuge in the joy of our God and persevere. For He tells us,

"I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." (Isaiah 42:6-7)

"Again He gave You thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples and said: Take this, all of you, and drink from it...so that sins may be forgiven"

Upon hearing this in Mass today, I recalled Christ's second prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!" (Mathew 26:42). Christ had free will--every moment of His suffering was chosen; His drinking from the cup was a purposeful action, freely chosen in order that the world might be reconciled to His Father. When He offers the cup to the disciples to drink at the Last Supper--and in Mass to us--it is the cup of salvation. It is the cup of the Passion and the Crucifixion. It is a cup of suffering. We too must drink of this sacrifice in our own lives, that we might be resurrected with Him and all the world; that sins be forgiven and hearts transformed.

"What return shall I give the Lord for all His goodness to me?
I shall take the cup of salvation." --Psalm 116: 13,14

"My soul magnifies the Lord" --Luke 1:46

"Have you ever taken a lens or magnifying glass and focused the rays of the sun through it onto a piece of paper? The paper turns brown, then black, as the concentrated heat acts upon it, smoke appears, and finally the paper bursts into flame. This analogy describes what we as intercessors are called upon to do by focusing the power of God on people and situations through prayer. We do not have any control over His power, and we cannot direct it of ourselves; but we can bring those things for which we intercede within range of this power through our prayers. We should then make ourselves available to God as a 'lens' of prayer, through which He can focus His grace onto these things, so that His power is at maximum intensity. As we do this, we shall see the effects of this power, leading ultimately to the pure pentecostal fire of the Holy Spirit burning within the situation that we have brought before God in intercession. As well as magnifying the Lord before the world, we are also called to magnify the world before the Lord, and, through our prayers, offered in accordance with His will, to set it on fire with His love, grace, and peace. We are instruments in the hand of our God: instruments, moreover, whom He asks to cooperate freely with Him in the building up and extension of His kingdom. Is there any task that could be more satisfying and fulfilling?

"A dirty lens, or one that is poorly ground, is not very efficient at focusing the sun's rays. We cannot expect to be effective 'focusers' of God's power from the moment we begin our intercession. It takes time for a lens to be ground out of a piece of glass, and it will take time for God to form us in accordance with His will, so that our intercession may be correct and pleasing in His sight. Just as a dirty lens needs to be washed clean of accumulated grime, so we too need to be cleansed of our sins and faults by the mercy of God before we can operate effectively in this ministry. This is not to suggest that a slightly dirty lens cannot focus light, or that we cannot intercede if there is still sin in our lives (or else no one would ever be able to intercede); but we should be prepared to turn away from this sin, so as to be able to intercede more effectively."

[This post is entirely quoted from Peter Grant's book The Power of Intercession: Effective Prayer for the Needs of Others, end of Chapter 5]

"Two other sacraments, Holy Orders and Matrimony, are directed towards the salvation of others...

...if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so." CCC 1534

Through living the Theology of the Body, spouses sanctify each other. Through living in that all encompassing complementarity, man teaches woman the meaning of her body and soul, and woman teaches man the meaning of his body and soul. Each comes to a deeper understanding of God, the Holy Trinity, and their relationship to Him. Through God's gift of children, husband and wife are brought closer to an understanding of Jesus' command that we become like children in order to enter the gates of Heaven. Service and sacrifice to each other and their children bring personal sanctification to the spouses; obedience to their parents and service of all of their family bring personal sanctification to the children.

Through living the Theology of the Body, celibate men and women dedicate their lives to witnessing the union with God in heaven that marriage images, as well as interceding for all of the Body of Christ, and all of the world. Service, both in the form of intercessory prayer and material help, brings personal sanctification to each of them as well.

"Through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink."-Eucharistic Liturgy

"I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing." --John 15:5

The wine we offer at the Mass is indeed fruit of the vine... in so many ways! In His creation, the grapes of the vines are made into wine, and through His goodness we have wine to offer that His Son might become present to us. But we also, as the branches and fruit of Him, the vine, are made into new wine through Christ's Resurrection, the "good wine" of the Wedding of Cana, saved for last. Through the fully God and fully human hands of Christ, we attain this living water, our spiritual drink!

"My soul magnifies the Lord" --Luke 1:46

This speaks of the gift of femininity: to conceive, nurture and bear forth new life! Mary's soul in so many ways magnifies the Lord, not least of all in the gestation of His one and only Son! The body is the expression of the soul--Mary's soul magnifies the Lord so perfectly, that He is formed in her womb, and is brought forth to the world as it's most precious babe.

"seek to serve him constantly" --Ps 105:4

We must serve the Lord constantly, continually, ceasing never! How is this possible, when our minds are so distracted, when we must attend to the day to day business of living? Through our bodies!! As body persons, our bodies are united to our souls; they are our very being in this world. And in every moment of every day, we are our bodies! If we always do good with our bodies, then we can always be serving the Lord, and always giving praise and glory to Him. If we are truly integrated, body and spirit, then every action becomes a prayer to Our Father, and we cannot help but serve him constantly!

"the truth will set you free" --John 8:32

When Jesus says this, He is saying that He will set us free, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He will set us free from the bondage of sin, as the Truth sets us free from the lies of the devil.

"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him...

...they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God." --Daniel 3:95

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego yielded their bodies to a furnace rather than commit idolatry and worship a false god. But how many of us today are willing to do so?

In our culture today, that false god is sex. It is worshipped through lust, the desecration of the marriage bed, pornography, prostitution, promiscuity... it is everywhere! We must be willing to yield our bodies to the fire of the Holy Spirit that we might be cleansed. We must yield our bodies--and by our bodies our very selves!--to purity, chastity, and therefore worship Him who created us. We must trust that He will send His angels to bring us through the trials, and that it is possible to acheive this purity through His grace and power! Through chastity, the sexual union of marriage becomes a means by which we glorify Him, and celebrate His plan for union with us in Heaven. We celebrate His gift of His Son, our bridegroom, who has suffered, died, and risen that we might become His spotless bride.

"Do you want to be free? Lift your chains, I hold the key, All power on Heav'n and Earth belong to me. You are free." --Casting Crowns

God sent His only Son so that we could be freed from our sins. Freed from the chains of the devil who binds us to this earth and the flesh, and keeps us from an integrated body and soul. We live in the age of historical man, the fallen world. But we live in redeemed historical man. We can choose to be set free. All we must do is offer our chains to Christ, and say "Jesus rescue me... Set me free of the chains holding me." For He holds the key, and all the power on Heaven and Earth!!

"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? ...

... She replied, 'No one, sir.' Then Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.'" -John 8:10-11

A friend wrote me excitedly that when meditating on this passage he "was struck by how Jesus addresses her as 'Woman.' He's not just speaking to her here, but to Woman, to all women throughout history!" How powerful this is! Not one person was able to throw the first stone to condemn the woman caught in adultery because they too were all in sin. The world cannot pass judgment on those it has misled into sin. Judgment is passed so quickly on a woman who has committed a sexual sin--she is mocked by both the "righteous" men and those men who are guilty with her. But is her confusion in seeking for fulfillment in the wrong places not caused by the lies of the men and the world? Jesus tells Woman, "Neither do I condemn you." Jesus knows what it is that she is seeking. Sexual sins are most revealing of the person's deep longing for God and the need to find Him, for sexual union is meant to be the sign on earth pointing us to union with God in Heaven. He tells her, "Go, and from now do not sin any more," to take from Him a living water to quench her thirst. He untwists and affirms her desire, revealing to her that her longing and ache is for Him, her true Bridegroom.

This is what we must do for the women in the world today. Their desires for protection and love too often drive them to date the "bad boys," ignoring their bad in the hopes that their attention and physical strengths will provide what the woman's heart seeks. But they use her and then throw her away. That ache for "shelter and affection" can only be fulfilled by God, and can only be protected by a man of God. And to bring them to that love! To bring them to the forgiveness and protection of Our Lord, that they may be washed clean and have the infinite hole their heart filled! For as in Hosea, Our Lord desires to unite Himself to us, and as in Ephesians, to present us to Himself as His spotless bride!

"She is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
She is trying
But the canyon's ever widening
In the depths of her cold heart
So she sets out on another misadventure just to find
She's another two years older
And she's three more steps behind.

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away.

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

If judgment looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we've never even met her.

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?"
--Casting Crowns

Sloth

"Sloth is not, as many think, simple laziness (although that is usually a side-effect). Instead, it is a sadness about the good set before us, a boredom with the things of God, a failure to respond with the proper repentance, joy, zeal or love to God's works and goodness. Sloth is a spiritual "ho-hum" or "whatever" in the face of Christ crucified. Once this spiritual languor sets in, we can easily become lazy louts — because we see no reason to make an effort." --Fr. Scalia

Vast love

God's love for us is so vast!! In comparison to us, our sins are a suffocating burden that we cannot carry. This leads many in sin to refuse to admit they are doing wrong--if they were to face the truth of the sins they have committed, it would crush them. But in comparison to God's love, our sins are infinitesimal!! All we must do is give them over to Him and accept His transforming love, and His vastness will engulf our sins. All that remains is His love.

"provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old" --Luke 12:33

In all things, we must love the incarnate soul that is the other. A body can grow old. A habit can grow old. Expressions can grow old. But the soul of a person, so intimately expressed through the body--this can NEVER grow old. The mystery of each person is so deep, one can never claim to truly know and understand the other. A person can never get old, may never be discarded but only loved ever more as their mystery unfolds. When a man or woman enters a relationship based on his/her physical attraction to the other, the other will get used, used up, and discarded. The physical is finite, and cannot sustain a relationship. But when a relationship is entered because the man and woman have entered the mystery of the soul of the other, then there is infinity to discover! This is the purse that never grows old and sustains a lifelong relationship.

God as Mystery

Understanding God as mystery does not mean that God is incomprehensible. Rather, it means that God is infinitely comprehensible. Because He is an infinite being, it is impossible for us as finite beings to fully understand God--but we can understand each finite piece that He gives to us. This is why all of the metaphors He has put in creation for us to discover are so powerful; they express pieces of infinity! What better analogy to express His infinite nature than the never ending mystery of a person? What better analogy to express His never ending delight in us and desire for union with us than the marriage of a true man and true woman? Or the love a father and mother have for their children? He is constantly drawing us closer and deeper into His infinite nature, deeper into His eternal love.