Come Holy Spirit: A Beautiful Song and Prayer!
This is a beautiful song and prayer by Tom Booth! Close your eyes, listen, and invite the HOly Spirit into your heart!
St. Theresa of Lisieux on Purgatory
Click the title
"One does not need to go to Purgatory" ~ St. Theresa of Lisieux
An Encounter with Our Lady, or Just Wishful Thinking!
As I tell this story, keep in mind that the name, Maria, in Hebrew, means the star of the sea.One day this past summer, I was playing with my three year old daughter on a beach not too far from my home. Regan was having fun digging in the sand as I stood over her watching her delight as she created her sand sculptures. It was then that a young woman, whom appeared to be in her mid twenties and dressed from head to toe in a blue and white makeshift dress of some sort, walked past us in silence. It was a very warm and sunny day and I could not help but think that this woman was way overdressed for the weather conditions, but at the same time I found the woman’s modesty to be rather refreshing in a culture that has become almost devoid of modesty. There was something peaceful about the woman that was hard to describe!
As I continued to play with Regan on the beach, I saw that the woman was walking back toward our direction. Upon reaching our location, she stopped, and pointing to Regan, said something like, ‘She is so beautiful!’ I thanked her for the compliment. She then said, “I’m a Catholic missionary.” Although I thought it strange for someone to initiate a conversation in such a manner, I welcomed her words as an opportunity to discuss my Catholic Faith and my interest in evangelization!
I responded, “I am a Catholic also. Aren’t we all called to be missionaries? The world is our mission field, isn’t it?” The woman seemed pleased with my response and smiled as she nodded her approval. I noticed that the woman spoke with an accent, so I asked her where she was from. She replied, “I am from Mexico.”
The woman went on to explain that she was on a mission at a local girl’s boarding school where some girls from her country were taking part in a summer program. We engaged in a very brief conversation about her mission at the school. As the woman spoke, I was drawn by the peace she seemed to radiate! At the end of our conversation, I asked the woman for her name and told her I wanted to include her missionary efforts in my prayers, to which she responded, “My name is Maria.” The woman then said goodbye and continued walking up the beach and eventually out of sight.
It did not strike me until I was driving home, especially since the woman had identified herself as Maria, that for whatever reason, I may have had an encounter with the Blessed Mother, not to mention the fact that the woman’s physical appearance reminded me so much of just about every image I have ever seen of our Blessed Mother during my lifetime. But why me? I don’t know! I only know that for the remainder of my life, I’ll always remember the day I encountered a woman who may have been the “Star of the Sea”!
An encounter with our Blessed Mother, or just a case of wishful thinking?
Time for Catechesis
Catechesis should be of primary concern to the Roman Catholic Church when Catholics provide answers such as these when asked whether or not they regularly attend Mass, and if so, why?
‘I don’t go to Mass because it’s not a sin anymore.’
‘I think you don’t have to go.’
‘ I have to because I go to boarding school. I do it to keep my parents happy.’
‘I go every Sunday because my grandmother and my family go, but if I were on my own I would not go.’
‘I go because my parents go, but I don’t really know any other reasons for going.’
‘I’m just not interested.’
‘It’s boring. I used to go with my grandmother because it made her feel good.’
‘I don’t have to go to church to pray. I can pray at home.’
The aforementioned answers were given to Michael Voris of RealCatholicTV.com as he randomly interviewed Irish Catholics on the streets of Dublin on June 29, 2011. What makes these answers so alarming is the fact that Ireland, where 84.7% of the population is Catholic, has been a bastion of the Catholic Faith for nearly 1500 years. What has existed in Ireland for 1500 years has been nearly totally destroyed in less than 40 years. But this attitude toward Mass is not unique to Ireland!
The bottom line is that Catholics need to be informed of the reasons for attending and participating in the Mass, the most important of which is the fact that Jesus is present at Mass and longs to give himself to us in the Eucharist! For this reason alone Catholics should be knocking down the doors to churches to get in!
Priests should take every opportunity to reinforce the importance of the gift God has given us through the sacraments, especially Holy Eucharist at Mass! The importance and the reasons for participating in the Mass should be taught and reinforced at every level of catechesis.
I cannot imagine the faithful thinking that Mass is “boring” if they truly knew what happens at each Mass. It is far from boring when the Creator of all that is “seen and unseen”, humbles Himself to become truly present under the appearance of bread and wine in order to give Himself to us, so that we may experience Him through all our senses and share in His Divinity! That is exciting and AWESOME, not boring!
Let us pray that others will come to know what the Mass is all about! Let us take every opportunity to share what we know about the awesome treasure that we call Mass!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)