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    LET IT aLL sTART hERE                                                        
 For Catholics who care...

"A lover asked his beloved:  Do you love yourself more than you love me?  The beloved replied:  I have died to myself and I live for you."                          Rumi

1/2/2015

3 Comments

 
It is rare these days that someone you only casually know cares enough about you to invite you to fall in love.   Even rarer, that the same person possesses the wherewithal to successfully orchestrate a meeting through which the lover and beloved can find each other.  Yet, that is what happened to us New Year’s Day during the solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God when our pastor  punctuated his homily with this reminder:   “She (Mary) longed for the birth of Jesus with love beyond all telling, so does she long for us, to fall in love with Him.”    He concluded the celebration by encouraging over two hundred of his parishioners to attend First Friday Holy Hour.  He assured us that by  sitting with Jesus  we can cultivate our love for Him. It is there, during that time of admiration… during that time of quietude and internal dialogue (prayer) that we would get a chance to know Him better.  It is a time of discovery and a way to come to Love? 

                                            *******************

It's the first Friday of the month and I just returned from the Hour of Adoration dedicated to our Lord.  There were less than 25 in attendance; the majority of these "church goers" being the “die-hards” or what I like to call our parish’s “Giants of Prayer”.   They are the same blessed faces that I see regularly at all the liturgies.  But what of the others?  I find myself wondering what keeps people away from Love?  What blocks the desire?  What stops a woman from being curious about this vehicle (Holy Hour) that is capable of heralding her to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ?  What prevents a man from sacrificing an hour of his time to check it out?  After all, doesn’t everyone long to be in love? 

The conclusion I have come to is simple, yet profound.   I discovered the answer lies in these familiar words:  “…forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  (Luke 23:24)  “They know not what they do…” echoes through time and space.  It's the reason Jesus gave nearly 2000 years ago to excuse our killing Love.  Even now Jesus’ observation is tragically timeless.  With those few words He eternally encapsulates the predicament of mankind.    We so often don’t know what we are doing.   We say:  If I had only known?   We say:  I didn't know or I wish I'd known.  We sometimes say it too often.  And then it is too late.

We act or fail to act because we are simply unaware. For example, many don't really know who He is at all.  I know I didn't for longest time.

So, what can be done for the believers who are plagued with their unbelief?  What can be done for the faithful who prefer to meet Jesus on their terms, rather than His? Then, they fail to meet Him at all because they don’t have the time to find Him.  What can be done to avoid 20/20 hindsight?

What can be done?  Why not try this:  Let us all speak knowledgeably and unceasingly about the History of Our Salivation. Educate the “cradle Catholics” who believe they know all there is to know about their faith, but who often possess a “childish” understanding of who God is.  Give them detail after detail so they can connect the dots.  Then… remind, promote, encourage... insist they bring themselves to Church as frequently as possible.  I’m no fan of Woody Allen, but I will always remember his saying:  “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” That is what I did.  That is what I continue to do.  I trust in the Triune God and I keep showing up.  The more time people spend in the company of our “Giants of Prayer”, the more opportunities they get to feel how  the Church exhales The Holy Spirit or vibrates as The Word is made Man, the greater the chance of a successful union with Christ.

Follow this blog to learn about the details of First Friday Holy Hour.  Understand what happens there and then attend an Hour of Adoration.  It's a beautiful experience. Oh... and never under estimate, not for one minute, that Love makes the world go round.

3 Comments
Ellen
1/4/2015 01:54:07 pm

I'm a "Cradle Catholic",I'm happy your excited about our faith,just try to be a little more "open minded",about us "Cradles"and try not to float too far above us with you new found knowledge and Holy Spirit,some of us,mostly the old timers(not me) have "forgotten"more than you or I can ever learn,just saying.Respect Newbee :D .Sometimes... God has us ....doing his work,other things he has called us to,from gifts we have been given... on the same nights as certain parish devotions.I am not the only one who does NOT have the Saintly gift of "Bilocation"!
Remain Calm and keep the Faith! The Holy Spirit is moving and working in many ways through many people in many area's and through many Devotions.Think of us as "with you in Spirit",Church Militant.

Reply
evelyn
1/5/2015 12:07:48 am

Thanks for continuing to read along!
First I want to say that this is not a "scheduling issue".
Then I want to make clear that there is no condemnation here...just evaluation.

The purpose of this blog is to get people to think and consider other options. I want apathy our of the equation. I want to stir people up and make them shift one way or the other. Only then can there be change.

It is true that there are people..."Cradle Catholics" for example, who have forgotten more than I know. ( I happen to be a Cradle Catholics...thank God for that. ) Yet that's the point I am raising. Many of them have forgotten what is vital to their well-being. They are "unaware" of just how necessary the resources are that the Church makes available to them. And whether they "have forgotten" or they never learned it...the point is that the information is not currently in their consciousness. Thus, the reason for my post on First Friday Holy Hour .

We often seek solutions for our problems in therapy offices, gyms, malls, pharmaceuticals.... What I have found is that the answers we are seeking, all of them, are waiting for us inside the Church. You have important insights. I appreciate your comments. Thanks again.

Reply
Ellen
1/5/2015 12:36:32 pm

Thanks Evelyn,
You certainly,"yanked my chain" :D I had a "Spiritual Re-awakening",when I was seventeen.I have learned a good deal about myself and others and the "yard stick" by whom I measure myself.Our faith has helped bring me through many struggles ,if it wasn't for my early formation(Boston Catechism)I never would have found my way back so young..The Lord has loved me to where I am today.I adore him in private,semi-private and publicly when I can,no one knows how much I love Him.I try not to be too "conspicuous"in public,I'm a jealous lover,besides being of Irish decent.I've been given rituals and "tools"to love Him in "public",I've been taught to show reverence.He and I know our communion in private and perhaps my Mother,Husband,Siblings,Grand Daughter,and the "bored silly". priest who gets my "confession" .The Lord has given me my life,He is my Creator! I walk, the way, with him everyday and if it please Him,eternally,I also know I amuse Him.I sometimes even amuse myself.You should hear my "Holy Hour"in the car,in traffic:"now,now,now.Ellen ,your getting upset",I know Lord,but you saw what that "screwball"did,yes,yes I did see it,that doesn't mean you should "lose your mind",he's a very bad person Lord,or he's nuts,Do you want to be "like him",Elle? No.I need a "snickers"Lord! He laughs...He loves me so much :D

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