Catholic Faith Space
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I’m currently reading a book called, Heart of the Christian Life: Thoughts on Holy Mass, by Pope Benedict XVI. The book has been filled with countless pieces of wisdom and many statements to reflect on. One passage towards the beginning of the book that jumped out as I was reading is, “The Sunday precept is not, therefore, an externally imposed duty, a burden on our shoulders. On the contrary, taking part in the Celebration, being nourished by the Eucharistic Bread and experiencing the communion of their brothers and sisters in Christ is a need for Christians, it is a joy; Christians can thus replenish the energy they need to continue on the journey we must make every week” (Benedict XVI 13). If attending and participating in the Mass weekly is essential for our journey, why are the churches so empty?
There are likely a wide range of reasons why so many Catholics choose not to attend Mass. But I think it really comes down to ignorance about the “source and summit” of our faith-the Eucharist. How many Catholics either just don’t know or don’t believe? Because once one knows that Jesus Christ is truly and fully present at the altar, how could anyone skip out on Mass? How could anyone who knows and believes in the Real Presence turn his/her back on Him? People can know and believe every single teaching of the Church. But if they don’t know or believe the truth about the Eucharist, then everything else loses its significance. Because in reality, it is the Mass and the Eucharist that transform everything- our faith, our hearts, our souls, and our lives. And if we are not going to Mass, we are missing out on the greatest gift He has given us. The world is a broken and hurting place. There is a lot of suffering and weariness. But God doesn’t leave us to walk through each week alone. He gives Himself to us completely in every single Mass. It is in the Mass where we can find hope, peace, joy, love, strength. It is where we are nourished and replenished for the journey. It takes faith to believe that Jesus is present under the appearances of bread and wine. And when we have that faith, we have to share it with others, so that they too would come to know and believe. As the Eucharistic Revival takes place across the country over the next several years, pray that lives would be changed, faith renewed, and hearts filled with love for Jesus in the Eucharist.
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Last Wednesday was the first session of faith formation. As we worked through the first class of the year, the moments of quiet were few and far between. Most of the students just kept talking and having side conversations. Eventually, we began working through the first lesson in “Encounter: Discovering Jesus”, which is an exercise/experience provided by the Diocesan Office of Discipleship Formation. It is meant to be a reflective experience that shares the core message of the Gospel. And as this first lesson of the reflective experience unfolded, I was amazed at how God so clearly revealed Himself. How often do we find ourselves forgetting the power of God, especially in the small, ordinary moments of our days? Do we remember that God is working, even if it’s hard for us to see?
Teaching eighth graders, it can sometimes feel like talking to a brick wall. Are they really hearing anything that is said? Do they even care? So many of the students seem to be so resistant to faith and God in general. The first lesson we worked on that night was “God is love and has created me for relationship with Him.” The class went through the scripture passage and the guided reflection questions. Then, we made it to the song. As the song played, they were asked to reflect on a letter from God. The letter detailed God’s love for each of them individually. They continued to talk during this part of the exercise. But what happened after is what convinced me that even if it seems like they are not listening to what I say, they are hearing what God wants to say to them. There were a wide range of reactions and emotions to this portion of the exercise and I truly believe that they were being hit with the realization of the deep love God has for each one of them, whether or not they wanted to accept it. I looked up towards the end of the song as one of the girls was crying, asking if she could leave to go to the restroom. I didn’t know what was happening at first, but felt moved to pray before dismissing her from the room. In these next moments, the room was silent. For the first time in the whole class period, every single student was quiet. Everyone suddenly stopped with the distractions and extra conversations and turned their focus away from themselves and to their classmate. God broke through their resistance in those moments, as the class lifted up the girl in prayer. They opened up their hearts and allowed God to use them. Maybe you have family members, friends, co-workers, or neighbors who are resistant to faith, the church, and a relationship with God. God’s love can touch and soften the hardest of hearts. If we don’t believe this, we are doubting the power of His love. Continue to share God with others and just know that He will reveal Himself. God is more powerful than we can even imagine and will draw others nearer to Himself. Trust that He has the power to break down walls that people have put up around their hearts. All in His own time and in His own ways. A few weekends ago, we painted our living room. Now, we are preparing to paint the kitchen this week. Over the weekend, we moved stuff from the kitchen to the living room and to other parts of the house so that we could get the ceiling done. Our kitchen table chairs are in the living room and everything else is also out of place. There are old sheets spread out on the floor, serving as drop cloths, paint supplies and materials sitting out, and the house is just a bit chaotic to say the least. It’s one of those times that you just hope no one shows up at your door. Who wants guests in the midst of mess and chaos? Maybe we’ve had this thought about our relationship with Jesus and about letting Him into our lives? Maybe we sometimes feel like our lives are not in order and question why Jesus would want to come into the mess. Maybe we sometimes feel unworthy. We ARE unworthy. But Jesus gives Himself to us anyway.
In today’s (Monday) Gospel, we read about the Roman Centurion asking for his ill servant to be healed. He says, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed” (Luke 7:6-7). With deep trust, faith, and humility, He acknowledges his unworthiness for Jesus to come into his home and asks that Jesus heal his servant just by speaking. We echo this line of the Centurion right before communion. Every time we go to mass, we say, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” In that moment, as the priest holds up the consecrated host, and as we are about to go up to receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist-body, blood, soul, and divinity, we acknowledge that we are in the presence of Jesus, and that we are unworthy of His sacrifice, unworthy to receive Him. We acknowledge our weaknesses and our sinfulness and trust that Jesus can come into the mess and chaos and strengthen and heal us. We are unworthy of this deep encounter with Jesus. And yet, He allows us to receive Him in this way because He loves us and wants to dwell within us- to heal us, strengthen us, and nourish us. With deep faith, we must humbly acknowledge His presence and trust that He can heal us. Our lives may be chaotic and out of order. We are weak and sinful. Just open the door of your heart. We are not worthy. But Jesus wants to come in anyway. Last month, as I sat at the front of the church basement as my parish held the annual meeting, I hoped that someone else would volunteer to be a new nominee for treasurer. Not to my surprise, no one jumped up to volunteer or to nominate anyone else for the position. Instead, I was voted in for another two years. No one asked if I wanted to continue or even gave me the option; the vote just happened so quickly. I don’t mind doing it, but I just didn’t really want to. Was it selfish to have these thoughts? Was not wanting to serve another term saying “no” to God? These are questions I’ve reflected on over the last several weeks. When we are involved in our parish, we are saying “yes” to God. And sometimes, we may not really want to do something we are asked to do. How do we remain generous with our gifts and time while also keeping in mind that we cannot do everything?
Serving on your parish’s finance/parish council, taking part in other parish committees, volunteering at church events, teaching religion, being involved with retreats, just to name a few things, are all ways we can be involved in our parishes. All of these areas are opportunities to serve God. But we cannot do it all. God calls us to be generous and giving and to share our time, talent, and treasure. We are asked to make sacrifices to serve and to give of ourselves. But how do we discern the line between being generous and involved and saying “yes”, and doing too much that it isn’t helping our relationship with God? How do we discern how much to give and serve but also set boundaries without being selfish with our time? Imagine that you are at a potluck with tons of options. There is so much food available, you want to try it all. You have a plate in front of you. You start adding food to the plate. At first, it is manageable. Everything is side by side on the plate, only taking up small spaces. Pretty soon, you start adding more and more. You start piling it on. As you stack everything up, the plate is no longer visible. There is just a mountain of food and it is too much. This is what we can so often do in our lives. Our parishes, communities, and other organizations we may be a part of have so many options and opportunities to be involved. Maybe we want to try it all or maybe we are asked to volunteer for many different areas. Maybe one week, we have three different meetings, two events we are volunteering at, countless projects we are working on, and more. What are meant to be good things that allow us to serve and that may nourish our faith can quickly become tasks to get done simply for the sake of accomplishing them. As we add all of these things to our plate, piling them higher and higher, God gets pushed to the bottom, no longer visible. We lose sight of our foundation. God is the foundation in our lives and all that we do. We must be generous with our time. This often means making sacrifices to serve and give. We must “give without counting the cost.” Whether we are helping with the things we really enjoy or the things we may not really want to do as much, we need to remember why we are doing it and Who we are doing it for. If we lose sight of God in all of the meetings and events, nothing that we are doing matters. My prayer for today is that we would all have the ability to discern how to give generously, while keeping God and our relationship with Him at the forefront. |
AuthorStriving to share hope, joy, God's love, and all of the good stuff, one blog post at a time. Categories |
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