This is an old idea--one that started way earlier than the last time I used this image, three years ago in the lectionary cycle. 

"Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, 'Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.'”

Want to assist with the project of restoring the communion rail to use in Blessed Sacrament Church? You can give online at https://blessedsacramentkck.weshareonline.org/ Make sure you include a reference to the communion rail in the comment portion of the form.

My rough and ready translation of Father Pro's meditation on the empty tabernacles is corrected and somewhat improved below.

"Lord, return to the Sanctuary! May the Tabernacle no longer be empty... See how on their Calvary so many souls beg for it, O my Jesus!

"Your souls, Lord, crucified in the cross of suffering, torn to pieces by the deepest grief imaginable: the sorrow of your absence!

"Lord of the Sanctuary, you left. You left, Lord, and since then the bells are silent, the churches deserted, the altar bereft of sacrifice, the choirs silent, sanctuaries without flowers, the candles mournful without their golden flame, the cavernous naves grieving and empty, though a fluttering prayer stirs mysterious wings; all immersed in silence and drowsiness, everything quiet and sad, full of trouble, death, and forgetfulness.

"Lord, why did you leave? There, before the Sanctuary in the mysterious encounter of love, to the trembling light of the lamp that left the altar in shadow, came the pilgrims of life, the enormous caravan of those that carry in their wounded souls the perpetual fright of the day to come; those carrying the cross of the present, bearing the corpse of the past like a dead weight pressing down upon their broken hearts; the grieving, the aging, the orphan, the worn, the ill and weak and hungry, and all the many captives of sin, the whole legion of suffering...

"They used to go to You, Lord, their star and beacon; and they found in You blessing and consolation, in their abandonment, refuge; resignation and balm in their grief. What pain could not be forgotten in the presence of the love of a God that gave his bodily life on the cross, for the happiness of ungrateful sinners? 

"What sadness could endure, what harsh grief would not fade, what unspeakable pain could not be consoled, by a God that weeps with us, that suffers for us and keeps watch, imploring, day and night in the Sanctuary? But you are not there; we do not meet you there in our sweet meeting place; in the desolation of our affliction we inquire: Lord, where should we go?

"A hellish breeze roams the streets; the restlessness peaks, and before the threating mist, all hope of brightness is extinguished. Souls are alone, the barque of Peter seems to have wrecked, and the divine figure of Jesus of Tiberias does not break through the black night, neither holding back the fury of the waves nor calming the devastating storm.

"Why have you abandoned us? Lord, if You forgive the one that acknowledges his fault and repents of it, have mercy on your Mexico... she knows the enormity of her sins and praises you in all reverence as her King. Those who offended You yesterday, now contrite they turn their eyes to You..."

Las meditaciones y oraciónes de Beato Miguel Pro SJ: https://www.morderlarealidad.com/2021/11/24/beato-miguel-agustin-pro-9-9-oraciones-y-meditaciones-del-p-pro/

«¡Señor, vuelve al Sagrario! Ya no esté el Tabernáculo vacío... Mira que en su calvario lo piden tantas almas, ¡Jesús mío!

«Almas tuyas, Señor, crucificadas en la cruz del dolor despedazadas por el duelo más hondo en la existencia ¡el dolor de tu ausencia!

«Tú te fuiste, Señor de los Sagrarios. Tú te fuiste, Señor, y desde entonces mudos están los bronces, los templos solitarios, sin sacrificio el ara, mudo el coro, los altares sin rosas, tristes los cirios de la llama de oro, tristes las amplias naves solitarias, sin que agite sus alas misteriosas un vuelo de plegarias; todo en silencio y en sopor sumido, todo callado y triste, todo tribulación, muerte y olvido...

«Señor, ¿por qué te fuiste? Allí junto al Sagrario en la cita de amor y de misterio, a la trémula luz del lampadario, que dejaba en penumbra el presbiterio, iban los peregrinos de la vida, la inmensa caravana de los que llevan en el alma herida el sobresalto eterno del mañana; los que arrastran la cruz de su presente y cargan el cadáver del pasado como muerto que pesa enormemente dentro del corazón despedazado; el triste, el viejo, el huérfano, el cansado, el enfermo y el débil y el hambriento, y todos los cautivos del pecado, y toda la legión del sufrimiento...

«Iban a Ti, Señor, estrella y faro; y encontraban en Ti dicha y consuelo, en su abandono amparo; resignación y bálsamo en su duelo. ¡Qué pena no se olvida con el amor de un Dios que dio su vida corporal en la cruz! ¿Por la ventura de todos los ingratos pecadores?

«¿Qué tristeza perdura, qué duelo no mitiga sus rigores, qué indecible dolor no se consuela cuando hay un Dios que con nosotros llora, que sufre por nosotros y que implora y noche y día en el Sagrario vela...? Pero no estás allí, no te encontramos en el dulce lugar de nuestra cita; en la desolación de nuestra cuita inquirimos: Señor, ¿a dónde vamos?

«Soplo de infierno en el ambiente vaga; la inquietud en su cenit culmina, y ante la cerrazón de la neblina, toda esperanza del fulgor se apaga. Las almas están solas, parece que naufraga la barquilla de Pedro, y la figura divina del Jesús del Tiberíades, no rasga de la noche la negrura, ni serena la furia de las olas ni calma las deshechas tempestades.

«¿Por qué nos abandonas? Señor, si Tú perdonas a todo el que su culpa reconoce y de ella se arrepiente. Ten piedad de tu México... Conoce toda la enormidad de sus delitos y como a Rey te aclama reverente. Los que ayer te ofendieron, ya contritos a ti vuelven los ojos...»

"One needs to open one’s heart to the abundance of grace and to allow the word of the Redeemer to act with all its power: ‘Duc in altum!’ Whoever opens his heart to Christ will not only understand the mystery of his own existence, but also that of his own vocation; he will bear the abundant fruit of grace."

Pope Saint John Paul II, 2005 World Day of Prayer for Vocations

[The Church needs] a change of mindset, particularly concerning laypeople.  They must no longer be viewed as ‘collaborators’ of the clergy, but truly recognized as ‘co-responsible’ for the Church’s being and action — thereby fostering the consolidation of a mature and committed laity.

Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Clergy, 2009

If we believe in God we should not say, “I believe in God,” but rather, “God believes in me.”

Nicolas Gomez Dávila, Scholia on an Implicit Text, 1128

There are those who, while they recognize the glory of God as well as the importance of man and the call addressed to him in general, believe in false humility, that the call is meant for all others but not for their own person. They deem their own person too wretched to dare assume that they may refer the divine call to themselves. They would hide in a corner and play the part of mere onlookers. The sight of their wretchedness impels them to exclude themselves from the great dialogue between God and man. This ostensible excess of humility, for all the diffidence it involves, is not free of an element of pride. For here, once more, man presumes to decide himself where he stands, instead of leaving that decision to God. Yet, this is precisely the test of true humility, that one no longer presumes to judge whether or not one is too miserable to be included in the call to sanctity but simply answers the merciful love of God by sinking down in adoration.

Dietrich von Hildebrand, Transformation in Christ 

We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam. Even fireworks, for all their prettiness, come from the chemistry of the earth. Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on flowers and fireworks, without completing the cycle back to reality. Do you know the legend of Hercules and Antaeus, the giant wrestler, whose strength was incredible so long as he stood firmly on the earth? But when he was held, rootless, in midair, by Hercules, he perished easily. If there isn’t something in that legend for us today, in this city, in our time, then I am completely insane.

Professor Faber

The passage read as the spiritual sense of the Gospel of this fourth Sunday of Advent is 2 Samuel 6:1-19

"Although nothing is to be seen, the soul senses very sharply the presence of an evil power which wants to influence it to give up: the sins are too many and too horrible to allow any hope.  But it also senses another spiritual power present.  It may be the guardian angel soothing the soul, reminding it, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: reminding the soul of the bottomless mercy and love of the heavenly Father whom it is to meet very soon now."

Read the Baroness' journal entry about her near-death experience:

https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/spiritual-life/preparing-to-be-called-to-account.html

Take time to read Pope Saint John Paul II's encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, available on the Vatican website.

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html