Corpus Christi

This year's Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, yesterday, June 14, 2009, marks the fourth anniversary liturgically of my blog. While all entries aren't visible, I am reflective about the past four years...where I've come and how far I have left to go.

During Father Rutten's homily at 10am Mass on campus, I thought about how poignant it is to put this feast and the tradition of a Eucharistic Procession where it is in the Liturgical Year. Over the course of a year, we experience all of Salvation History. It begins in Advent not only preparing for the Feast of the Nativity, but exploring the very beginning of the Bible. All too quickly the year passes and brings us up through the Paschal Mystery and Pentecost. Yesterday, we celebrate the Church of today...bringing Christ out into the world by means of Eucharistic Procession, witnessing to Him as we were taught 2,000 years ago.

Throughout the summer we celebrate the leftover mysteries that didn't fit particularly well...but they are anything but leftover! Saints feasts, the Assumption, the Triumph of the Holy Cross, All Saints and Souls Days, etc.

I attended the Archdiocesan Procession from The Little Sisters of the Poor Holy Family Residence to the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul, Minnesota. After thirteen years, the bugs had all been worked out and I was duly impressed with how smooth the whole event ran. Bishop-Elect Lee Piche presided over the procession, a poignant beginning to his episcopacy. (He is officially consecrated on June 29...more to come.)

All praise and glory be to Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!

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The Year of the Priest begins Friday overlapping with the Year of Saint Paul for 11 days. What am I going to do with my blog banner? Time to get creative.

Spiritual Practices

I've been told from a very reliable spiritual source never to change a spiritual practice in times of desolation. Always keep striving through the spiritual practices. As you may or may not know, I began writing here as a spiritual exercise to organize my thoughts, practice writing, etc., not really caring who saw it, just writing entirely for my own benefit. Recently I have taken a break as school started again and the semester began in full force…maybe to not pick it up again?

Well that all changed with a conversation over dinner at Scooter's when I find there are people who have discovered my writing and check frequently! And so here I am, motivated to write again…a kick in the pants from Our Beloved Lord Jesus Christ.

In keeping with the theme of spiritual practices, I have a story from my Catholic Studies class last Tuesday. My professor, Dr. Jonathan Reyes, shared a story of his family that fit in with our study of Genesis and the Creation. We were discussing the significance of six days of work and a seventh day of rest. Dr. Reyes and his wife felt a calling a few years ago to truly organize their family around observing Sunday in a special way. This included a dinner Saturday night once the vigil began and quality family time. After while of this practice, Reyes was putting his daughter to bed when she said, "Daddy? I think I figured out what Heaven is like. Heaven is like Sunday only it's every day."

When we make our time God's time and let Him control everything, He works wonders in our lives. As the semester, work, or whatever responsibilities we have pile up and our lives become hectic, let us remember to find Christ in all things and realize His powerful work in every second that is His.

We are United in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!

Persistence

Back at school, J-Term is unlike any other time during the school year. I only have one class to worry about for three hours four days a week. I'm working in Campus Ministry and finding time to just relax…read a book, watch a movie…or write.

I'm still trying to clear out all the clutter from my life. My problem usually consists of getting too busy and unfocused. Then the responsibilities pile up and I cannot focus on the most important time of my day, prayer. It is the center of everything! Why doesn't that idea stick with me? As Mother Theresa said, Everything starts with a prayer.

I visited the Missionaries of Charity in Minneapolis on Tuesday for the first time since last May. Sister Justus was very happy to see me. After working with the children in the after-school program, she invited me to stay for their Holy Hour of Adoration. It was one of the most beautiful experiences I have had in a long time. It was the simple idea of praying quietly before Our Lord's Sacred Presence. How beautiful!! Satiate His Thirst! His for me and mine for Him!

In the stillness of winter, as we prepare to settle into Ordinary Time, may we stay focused on the miracle of Christmas and strive to satiate His thirst. May we persist through our emotions and feelings and be able to hear Christ in the silence.

We are United in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!

The Proclamation of the Birth of Christ

Today, the twenty-fifth day of December,
unknown ages from the time when God created the heavens and the earth and then formed man and woman in his own image.

Several thousand years after the flood,
when God made the rainbow shine forth as a sign of the covenant.

Twenty-one centuries from the time of Abraham and Sarah;
thirteen centuries after Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt.

Eleven hundred years from the time of Ruth and the Judges;
one thousand years from the anointing of David as king;
in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel.

In the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;
the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome.

The forty-second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus;
the whole world being at peace,
Jesus Christ, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,
desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming,
being conceived by the Holy Spirit and nine months having passed since his conception,
was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary.

Today is the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.