Corpus Christi - 2013



Corpus Christi, (Year C) 

‘Jesus made the crowds welcome …

… we are in a lonely place here.’ (Lk (:11-17)

 

It seems strange to put those words together: to speak of welcome and loneliness almost in the same breath.  JESUS in the midst of it all. 

And so, what can it mean?

Loneliness is a peculiar ‘friend’ – always somewhere on the horizon and sometimes much more nearly present to us.  When  we are small we can be too busy learning and growing to be conscious of it.  But then life begins to settle down … into ‘maturity’ and we discover that we are a mystery to ourselves; that we misunderstand and are in turn misunderstood, and thus we are exposed to this loneliness – never far away and often too too close to bear.

JESUS.  Yesterday was the feast of the Body and Blood of JESUS.  The Feast of thanksgiving to our bounteous Father and His co-eternal Son, for leaving us this gift.  Strange that it should call to mind welcome and loneliness.  JESUS gives Himself to us in a lonely place.  He welcomes us here to loneliness.  Seems strange … what is it that He wants us to see?

In St Matthew’s Gospel, while on the Cross, we read that JESUS ‘yielded up his spirit:’ in the loneliness of the Cross, having surrendered everything to the Father in love, He even had to give up, surrender His very breath, the Holy Spirit – so that it might be ours.

We are never alone.  Loneliness after all is a divine gift that we are invited to welcome.  What happens when we cannot?  It seems as though the consequences are potentially destructive.  By denying or trying to run away from this reality, I cut myself off from others; I become isolated; I become the centre of my own existence and there ceases to be any space in me to welcome others; my thoughts torment me and deceive me into believing that nobody knows me, nobody cares, nobody understands.  What happens?  I persuade myself that nobody experiences this emptiness that is at the core of my being .. this is a lonely place .. and now … I have become alone in it. I cannot face the loneliness, cannot accept it, but .. neither can I fill it – no matter how hard I try.

But JESUS wants us to see that here in this ‘lonely place’ He has preceded us; it is a place where He is … waiting to feed us with His very flesh and blood … welcoming us to be here.  We are not alone.  There is One who knows us intimately; knows how fearful a place this is, because we cannot see Him. … But.  … is it a fearful place?  Maybe after all, … it is a place of purity – a place of truth.  If JESUS is already there before us, waiting there to welcome us … and JESUS is Love … then this ‘lonely place’ is a place of love … and unconditional acceptance.

The feast of the Body and Blood of JESUS:  JESUS is our very life: it cost Him His own life and breath that you might truly and freely live; truly and freely love.  Do not be afraid.  Every time you come to Him to receive the gift of His life and His love in the Eucharist – then: every time .. He reaches and touches that loneliness within you, gently speaking to your heart:

‘I know you;

I love you;

Let me walk with you;

I am only longing to show you the way;

My precious, most beloved child …

Do not be afraid.’

 

St Thomas wrote of this Blessed Sacrament that ‘it was the greatest of the miracles he worked; and he left it as a unique consolation to those who were desolate at his departure.’  Remember in your moments of loneliness and desolation to come to Him here, and feast on His life, who is our strength and our song.

 

 

Novena to St Catherine - Day 7

On this 7^th day of our Novena, I would like to share an extract from “The Life of St. Catherine of Siena by Raymond of Capua”.  Blessed Raymond was St. Catherine’s Confessor and Spiritual Director. It illustrates St. Catherine’s love of the Blessed Eucharist and her frequent reception of it at a time when that was not common practice in the Church.

“All who knew Catherine were well aware of her profound and characteristic reverence and devotion towards the Blessed Sacrament of the Body of our Lord.  She received the Sacrament so frequently that it was popularly reported that the “maiden Catherine receives Holy Communion every day,” and that she lived and kept up her strength on it without taking any other food.  Although in saying this they were not quite correct, still I believe they spoke in good faith, and to the honour of God, who always shows himself wonderful in his saints.  The fact was that Catherine did receive Holy Communion with heartfelt devotion, not indeed every day, but frequently.  For this reason certain people whom I must refer to in the biblical phrase as “satraps of the Philistines” rather than as Christian believers in this regard, murmured against the frequency of  her communions.  But I took up her defence against them and they could not rebut the arguments I gave.  I routed them with the words and the actions of the holy Fathers and of holy Church herself.”

“So great sometimes was her longing for Communion that, on occasions on which she had to go without it, her frail body went through more suffering than if she had been suffering intense pain or fever for days at a time.   All that bodily distress came from anguish of soul.  And this was a suffering that was inflicted on her again and again, over a long period of time, by all kinds of people:  sometimes by misguided superiors of the friars, sometimes by the Prioress of the Sisters of Penance, sometimes even by men or women belonging to the closest circle of her friends.  This was the one reason  why my spiritual direction brought her more consolation than that of any of her previous directors.  No matter what obstacles were raised by those who wished to prevent her from receiving Holy Communion, I always did my utmost to let her have the consolation she sought and found in it.  In this way she got into the habit of saying to me sometimes, if I happened to be present when her soul was stirred with a longing for Holy Communion: ‘Father, I am hungry; for God’s sake give my soul its food.’  For this reason, too, it was arranged, and granted her by a Bull of His Lordship Pope Gregory XI of happy memory, that she could have with her every day a priest to give her absolution and administer Holy Communion to her, with the right to use a portable altar, so that she could hear Mass and receive Holy Communion daily, without let or hindrance from anyone.”

 

 

 

 

50th International Eucharistic Congress

The 50th International Eucharistic Congress opened in Dublin on Sunday the 10th June - Solemnity of Corpus Christi.  Three of our sisters were privileged to be among those who had been invited to represent the diocese of Armagh at the entrance procession - Sr Natallia, Sr Mary Teresa and Sr Mary Cathy returned home all sun burnt!  What a change in weather from last week when  one would think that we were in the midst of winter  - not approaching mid summer.  The photos we share here speak for themselves

Waiting for the bus - with our Pilgrim Bags



Arriving at the RDS







Srs M Cathy, Teresa and Natallia holding banner with image of St Oliver Plunkett



Waiting to Process in

Our Patron Saint speaks to the Congress

With the 'Red Nuns' and Sisters from Canada

At the end of the day - with our Dominican Brothers







Novena to St Catherine of Siena - Day 3

Thoughts on the Eucharist (from the Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena, No. 112; the Father speaking)

Dearest daughter, contemplate the marvelous state of the soul who receives this bread of life, this food of angels, as she ought. When she receives this sacrament she lives in me and I in her. Just as the fish is in the sea and the sea in the fish, so am I in the soul and the soul in me, the sea of peace. Grace lives in such a soul because, having received this bread of life in grace, she lives in grace. When this appearance of bread has been consumed, I leave behind the imprint of my grace, just as a seal that is pressed into warm wax leaves its imprint when it is lifted off. Thus does the power of this sacrament remain there in the soul; that is, the warmth of my divine charity, the mercy of the Holy Spirit, remains there. The light of my only-begotten Son's wisdom remains there, enlightening the mind's eye. [The soul] is left strong, sharing in my strength and power, which make her strong and powerful against her selfish sensuality and against the devil and the world.

Feast of Corpus Christi

Reflecting on the Gospel of John (6:51-58) for this Corpus Christi Sunday, what struck me forcibly was the word ‘life’ and ‘living’. In the Gospel this word appears 11 times. The opening line contains it:

I am the living bread which has come down from Heaven.

And the last line contains it:

anyone who eats this bread will live forever

In his encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Bl Pope John Paul II takes up this theme of life:

The Church draws her life from the Eucharist

and again:

Proclaiming the death of the Lord ‘until he comes’ entails that all who take part in the Eucharist be committed to changing their lives and making them in a certain way completely ‘ Eucharistic’

.

Each day and every day we are privileged to receive this ‘living bread’. I ask myself am I truly and consciously aware of the ‘life’ that should be growing in me, that should be changing me?

If I am receiving this ‘life’ what growth is taking place in me? These questions have challenged me over the last couple weeks.

Jesus himself encourages us to draw life from Him in this Gospel:

As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father,so whoever eats me will draw life from me

And to quote Bl Pope John Paul II again:

From this living bread the Church draws her nourishment (7)

When referring to ‘life’ I have to keep reminding myself that it is supernatural life we are speaking of - the life of grace and not natural physical life.

St. Thomas distinguishes and compares these two types of ‘life’ – the life of the body and the life of the spirit in his treatise on the effects of the Eucharist when he says:

Our spiritual life is sustained, built up, restored and contented by the Eucharist in the same way that the physical body is nourished by food.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him.

People have different views about what ‘life’ and really ‘living’ mean. In the secular world it might include having a good time, having plenty of money, taking regular holidays abroad, having a great variety of entertainment. If only people would give as much attention to their spiritual needs as they do to all their other needs I’m sure they would be happier. Today there is this great lack, imbalance and disorder in people’s lives. We need to reclaim the great truth of the Eucharist as Bl Pope John Paul II expressed so well:

The Eucharist, as Christ’s saving presence in the community of the faithful and its spiritual food, is the most precious possession which the Church can have in her journey through history.(9)

and :

The Eucharist is the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of Himself, of His Person in his sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work.(11)

and:

Truly, in the Eucharist, Jesus shows us a love which goes “to the end” - a Love which knows no measure.(11)

Realizing all this and living out of it and from it is true life. Again St. Thomas reminds us:

How precious and wonderful is this banquet, which brings us salvation and is full of all delight!

No sacrament contributes more to our salvation than this; for it purges away our sins, increases our virtues, and nourishes our minds with an abundance of all the spiritual gifts. (Pg. 31, V.III)

There exists a union between God and people which is thoroughly real and continuous, a union in which Christians share in the life of God, who is the Father’s giving of himself.

We are offered so much of this true life in the Eucharist for Jesus Himself has said elsewhere:

I am the Way the Truth and the Life.

The only way I can gauge that this life is growing in me is if the fruits of the spirit are evident in my life – I ask myself am I growing in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control? (Gal 5:22) Receiving the Eucharist daily I have really no excuse not to.

And so we pray in the second opening prayer of the Mass for this feast of Corpus Christi:

Lord Jesus Christ,
we worship you living among us
in the sacrament of your body and blood.

May we offer to our Father in heaven
a solemn pledge of undivided love.
May we offer to our brothers and sisters
a life poured out in loving service of that Kingdom
where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Feast of Corpus Christi

“Where do you want us to go …?” (Mk 14:12f)

In today’s Gospel, according to Mark, the disciples asked Jesus ‘where do You want us to go to make the preparations for You…?’ Jesus answers them ‘Go into the city…’ and further, when they do what he has told them, they will discover that everything is ‘all prepared’.

When I am in doubt about where the Lord wants me, wondering how it is that He wants me to love Him – how to follow Him – how to know Him – these are statements that it would be well for me to remember.

Where do You want me to go to prepare?
Go into the city. … all prepared

If I ask the Lord in faith for the gift of being able to listen to Him, I believe that somehow He will give me the answer I seek, because what I ask is only Him – I want Jesus, because in Jesus is everything. I want Him to show me the way, so I must have the humility to hear what He is saying to me, and the courage to accept His word.

He says to me – ‘go into the city’ – a bit difficult, because I’m here in a monastery, living as a nun, and I’ve left all things to follow Him, so how can I go into the city? But, maybe the ‘city’ is the place where I am, a city built on a hilltop - whose population is the sisters with whom I live and work and pray and learn to love and follow the Lord. And it’s a busy city. Busy enough at times to distract me from the remembrance of God, even to make me forget that here is where I know the Lord is most close to me. This is where He has invited me to be – to sit with Him and to pray for the life of the world, which is so very dear to Him.

How do I prepare? Especially when He reminds me that here, everything is ‘all prepared’? But my preparation must be within myself – I must prepare to accept this city as it is, because it is His city, which He has prepared. All He invites me to do is to see this city as His gift to me, the place where I will find Him – Him Whom I seek: the Life of my soul. It’s as easy as that! I don’t have to change the people around me, to make them what I think they should be – they are already the children of God, and in each of them He is pleased to make a home for Himself. I have only to prepare to be open to receiving such a gift.

And what happens when I say ‘yes’?

I hear Him say to me … “Take it, … this is my Body. … This is my Blood.”

Today is the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ – let us seek and find Him in the faces of all who cross our path today, and always.