plea for reverence

As some of them are still aware, I still check out what the Tumblr Catholics are up to every now and then.
So, a shout out to all of you; you're all, always, in my prayers.

Scrolling down Jess' tumblog, I cam across this post from a convert who is in the RCIA program; her name is Olivia. I've just copy-pasted the Original Post here. Since all my block quotes are italicised, I have changed what Olivia had in italics to this font instead.

Please, please, please heed what she's saying. Please. For the love of God. No, really, for the Love of God Incarnate, under the form of Bread.

I’ve been sitting here for a good 5 minutes trying to think of a good way to lead into what I want to talk about….I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no easy way to say this.
We, as a people, as a Catholic people, are irreverent towards the blessed Sacrament. We are irreverent towards JESUS. I know what you’re thinking. Olivia, you’re not even Catholic yet, what could you possibly know about the Eucharist. 
Well I will tell you what I know. I know that Jesus IS the Eucharist. I know that when I wake up on Sunday morning (or any morning I get to go to Mass) I’m going to a celebration. I’m going to experience the meeting of Heaven and Earth. I’m going to witness the most intimate of all encounters with Christ. I’m going to be in the presence of Jesus Christ, my friend, my savior, my love, my Father, my everything.
What is it that people don’t understand? It is physically painful for me at Mass to watch SO MANY people casually walk through the communion line, casually receive the Eucharist, casually consume it, and casually walk back to their seats. RECEIVING THE EUCHARIST IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE DONE CASUALLY. Do you realize that when you walk in that procession you are walking towards the living God? The creator of you, of the universe? You are walking towards He who suffered for you. He who weeped for your soul. He who gave his life so you could live more abundantly?!
Please, my dear friends, I am begging you, think about that next time you go to Mass. It is not your priest saying to you “body of Christ” it is Jesus offering his body to you just as he offered it to the disciples at the Last Supper.
I fear for the day we answer for our irreverence  Again I beg you, spend time contemplating the Real Presence. I pray that it is your prayer for the Eucharist to become as real to you as your priest standing before you. Realize my brothers and sisters that when you go into a Church you are in the literal presence of Jesus Christ.
Heavenly Father, who is an endless font of Mercy, look upon your people with compassion and love. Help all of us to become aware of the reality of the Eucharist and of your REAL PRESENCE. Help each one of us to grow in reverance towards your most Holy body and blood.

[original post, here]

Other Tumblr Catholics you should check out:

• Callum @ Catholic Splash
• Niko @ Niko's Nature
• Q @ Intellect & Romance
• Phillip @ Grace & Caffeine
• Catholic Soul @ Totus Tuus
• All About Mary
• Jean @ Signum Crucis

The Church of the Meek

Hat Tip: The Catholic Breadbox

It will be hard-going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek … The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism on the eve of the French Revolution – when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain … But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret.


And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death.

--Pope Benedict XVI, predicting our current situation back in 1969 

Sanguis Christi, inebria me

This past week has been so full of blessings.

Although this actually stretches back further than a week, I will only start last Sunday because I want to do something like justice to what my Lord has been doing for me. I will start by offering a few quotes which sum up my feelings, thoughts and experiences; then, I will outline briefly what's been happening; finally, I will offer some other thoughts on these matters, some questions.

***

Firstly, I must quote Emily who yesterday morning summed up the week in this manner:

When you get retreat knees from spending all week with your frineds; without having been on a retreat!

 From Callum, on his blog Catholic Splash:

O Mother most Pure, hold us in your arms, just as you did hold your dearly beloved Son’s fragile and wounded Body.
O pray for me Our Lady of Sorrows, let me share in your sorrows, the sorrows of your Precious Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (x)

From Bishop Giaquinta, founder of the Pro Sanctity Movement:

Every Apostle, indeed every Christian, must rest on the heart of Christ. The Church, aware of her birth from the heart of Christ, needs to return to His heart in order to be truly faithful. (x) 

 We must correspond with all of our strength, that is, to the maximum, to this love of the Father and of Jesus, accepting and actuating the message received. (Ibid.)

The three dimensions of holiness are personal, fraternal, and societal. As Pro Sanctity, we must be convinced that holiness is the only possible solution to social problems. This, however, does not mean our personal holiness is the only thing we are responsible for, but rather, we are called to be active in the second and third dimensions as well. (Quoted here)

From St John Vianney:

...the more we know of Him, the more we love Him. (Quoted here)

***

Sunday 9th:

Holy Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception; Lunch; Adoration and Holy Conversation at the Parish of St Bernadette; Theology of the Body and St Thomas More's Parish

Monday 10th:
Holy Hour and Holy Mass in the Holy Spirit Chapel at UNDA; Conversations about the Faith afterward

Tuesday 11th:
Adoration at All Saints' Chapel; Work, concluding in a lesson on music history which started with Gregorian Chant and finished with a discussion on the Holy Trinity with year fours

Wednesday 12th:
University; Holy Hour & Holy Mass at St Therese's Chapel with CYM followed by supper and fellowship; Holy Hour at the Parish of St Bernadette 

Thursday 13th:
University; Work; NDSSJ Sleep Out, including Divine Office, the Holy Rosary and other prayers, and fellowship

Friday 14th:
 Waking at UNDA; Divine Office - Lauds & Matins; Angelus & Holy Mass at St Therese's Chapel with CYM; catching up with my Spiritual Director; Eucharistic Adoration at Sacred Heart Parish

Saturday 15th:
Rosary Walk around Lake Monger; Holy Mass at the Parish of St Bernadette; holy Conversations followed by All Night Eucharistic Adoration at the same

Sunday 16th:
Holy conversation and walking prayer; Young Adults Gathering at the Redemptorist Monestary of Our Lady of Perpetual Help; Holy Mass in the Church of Sts Peter and Paul

***

What return can I make to the Lord for the good that He has done to me? What shall a man give in return for his life?

How do I live in a manner worthy of these gifts which he has so generously given me?

How do I become a Saint?

Father's Love Letter

My Child,

You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented
by those who don’t know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4

And I’ll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7

I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…
Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad
Almighty God

Father's Love Letter used by permission Father Heart Communications
© 1999-2011 www.FathersLoveLetter.com

Catholic Women! There is something you MUST know.

You are amazing, and beautiful
and Our Lord and God, our Brother and our Spouse
considers you His own beloved
individually and coroprately
He wants nothing other than your happiness
Supreme and Eternal

Give Him what He desires
Give Him yourself
So that He can transform you into Himself
and, thus,
make you infintiely happy
and happy in the finite, too.

Duty of a Christian

How long, oh Lord? How long?

Have you ever had the feeling of your heart been torn, very slowly, both out of your chest and into pieces?
Have you ever wanted to give a complete stranger a bear-hug and tell them that everything's alright and that they don't have to go through their pain anymore?
Have you ever wanted to cry, but not had the tears?
Have you ever asked God to allow you to suffer some horrible fate, rather than allow an injustice to occur?
Have you ever wondered what type of good He must be bringing out of a great evil, while thanking Him for that good?
Have you ever wanted to run away screaming, yet found yourself unable to tear yourself away?
Have you ever gone to speak, but no sound would come out of your mouth?
Have you ever wondered what their pain is like, and wished you could take it away?
Have you ever longed for them to stop, and been unable to show them why they ought to?

How do you say "I love you and I want the best for you" to people who don't want you to speak to them?
How do you piece your heart back together after the one you've loved has been torn apart?
How do you continue to get up in the morning, when the whole world seems to be against the love you long to show?
How do you give to the next person, when you've emptied yourself entirely for this one?
How do you explain what drives you to do it over and over and over again?
How do you explain why you are there and how you can stay there all day, without others around?








I just sat down to blog about today's experience of praying and side-walk counselling, but I don't know where to start or what to say. These are my questions.

We Are

Up loaded onto youtube by DefendUsInBattle.
I think this is the same as who comments regularly on blogs I read,
namely 'Joe@DefendUsInBattle'.

We Are Catholic.
It isn't something we 'do', it is who WE ARE.
We are something positive, wonderful, and special.
We are loyal to the Church, to the Pope, our tradition, and our God.

Spare Change

Life is changing.

Life is always changing.
It just appears to be changing more rapidly than before.

Is that because I'm revisiting previous decisions and re-discerning them?
Or is it just that I have so very much to do and almost all that I have to do has a deadline that is closer than I would like?