Come Away By Yourselves

On the Feast of Corpus Christi the Church turns her heart to Jesus's real presence in the Blessed Sacrament.   A marvel of love, in the Eucharist the infinite enters the finite, the Creator his creation and the invisible the visible real.  Adoration, devotion, and gratitude should mark our response to this great mystery of our Faith. 

The Bible often encourages us to a silent, receptive stance before God's reality and goodness.  This kind of prayer takes recollection or composure of heart, which in turn requires some trust in God.  Our distaste for quiet prayer can be rooted in an unwillingness to cede control or a fear of the changes it might provoke in us.  Jesus's advice to the busy Martha is pertinent for all times: "Mary has chosen the better part."  Although our lives are rightly busy,  we should also play the role of Mary--quietly listening to Jesus--and we can do this by learning how to pray in silence. 

The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us.  The Spirit dwells within each one of us in the state of grace.   We should ask him for help and rely on his presence especially to live the virtue of charity.  The fruits of the Spirit are the indications of his activity in our life. 

"This is eternal life, that they know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."  These words of Jesus reveal the importance of coming to know God more and more.  We grow in this knowledge in various ways: study and spiritual reading, personal dealings with Him in our prayer life, living in HIs presence.  To know Jesus fully, however, we also have to enter into his own experience of loving and trusting God in and through the trials of our life.  

As we celebrate Mother's Day in the month of May, our minds and hearts naturally go to our Heavenly Mother, Mary.  Devotion to Our Lady should be natural and heartful, as is our devotion to our own mothers.  Mary is a great ally in the Christian life and May, Mary's month, is a great time to increase our love for her and our dependence on her intercession .

St. Peter says we are a priestly people who  offer spiritual sacrifices to God.  What does it mean to have a "priestly soul"?  How can we make our hearts altars of a burning love of God?  How can we be mediators and peacemakers between God and men?

The image of our Lord as Good Shepherd is a challenging one.   It means that we Christians are sheep.  Our pride and self-sufficiency naturally bristle at this image.  Only with deep humility, and contemplating Jesus the Lamb of God, can we embrace being sheep and having a Shepherd.

The two disciples' encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus teaches us so much about prayer and faith.   Jesus walks with us whether we realize it or not.  He is interested in what is happening in our lives and also in how it affects us.  His presence in the dialogue of prayer, in the Eucharist and in Scripture should be places where we regularly seek his companionship and counsel.  

When he appears to his apostles on Easter Sunday, Jesus's first and consistent message to them is one of peace.  The very presence of Jesus brings us peace as it did the fearful Apostles.  Union with the person of Christ is also another source of peace.  This is promised to us by Jesus himself, "Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you."  Trust in God, especially in God's mercy, is a key to receiving this peace from Christ.  

Lent is over and with it comes the expectation of Easter Joy.  Holy Saturday invites us to anticipate the joy and wonder of the Resurrection of Jesus.  The Resurrection is a powerful reality that continues to give life and joy to the world and especially the Church.