Catholic in Brooklyn: Help Yourself to Jesus

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Help Yourself to Jesus - Part II

A couple of weeks ago I posted about my visit to a church in which two lay people came in, walked up to the Tabernacle and removed consecrated hosts. I was completely shocked by this, and also by the fact that the key was left in the Tabernacle, which leaves it wide open to anyone who may want to take hosts.

Well, I was back at that church today. As I reported previously, the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in a side altar. There is an altar railing in front of that altar, so I took advantage of that to pray there. As I was kneeling there, one of those same people from a couple of weeks ago came in, opened up the Tabernacle, took some hosts and proceeded to leave. I stopped him on his way out and asked why the key was left in the Tabernacle. His response was that I was talking to the wrong person, I needed to ask the priest. He said he assumed so that everyone would not need their own key! I wanted to ask why lay people were allowed to go into the Tabernacle, but instead said, there are black masses you know, and anyone can come in and take these hosts . He responded, "I know."

Is there doubt in anyone's mind that reverence for the Blessed Sacrament in the Catholic Church has reached an all time low? I really wonder how many actually believe in the Real Presence. I have seen polls that say as little as 30% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence. I have to say I have grave doubts about whomever is the pastor of the Church I was at today. Why does he leave this Tabernacle and the Blessed Sacrament completely exposed, with no protection whatsoever? Does he care so little of this greatest gift we have been given - the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread?

Lord Jesus, have mercy on us all.

1 comment:

plato11/28/14, 11:28 AM
OMG! Did you ever talk to the priest? ormaybe write to Cardinal Dolan and ask him..or something...
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Disclaimer

I, like most other people, am a work in progress. In my younger years, and even now in my not so young years, I thought more than once that I had found the answer to all my questions, only to find out I was wrong. One thing I do know and which I will never let go of is that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and He will never leave me. But I am a sinner and my sins block my view of Him. Sometimes I think I see Him but it turns out to be only a creation of my own mind. I am trying to take The Little Flower's advice to make myself small, but I fail more often than I succeed.

My writings here reflect where I am at the time I write them. I reserve the right to amend everything written here as Our Lord becomes clearer to me. When you read what I have written, please understand these thoughts to be a reflection of where I am right now. I am, just as it says at the top of this page, "One Catholic searching for truth in a world gone mad."

The Road Ahead by Thomas Merton

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following
your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

Joy

"Joy, which is like the sign of a Christian. A Christian without joy is either not a Christian or he is sick. There's no other type! He is not doing well health-wise! A healthy Christian is a joyful Christian. I once said that there are Christians with faces like pickled peppers [sour faces – ed] ... Always with these [long] faces! Some souls are also like this, this is bad! These are not Christians. A Christian without joy is not Christian. Joy is like the seal of a Christian. Even in pain, tribulations, even in persecutions". Pope Francis

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

St. Francis de Sales, Patron Saint of Writers

"This is what purifies the eye of the heart, and enables it to raise itself to the true light: contempt of worldly cares, mortification of the body, contrition of heart, abundance of tears . . . meditation on the admirable Essence of God and on His chaste Truth, fervent and pure prayer, joy in God, ardent desire for Heaven. Embrace all this, and continue in it. Advance towards the light which offers itself to you as to its sons, and descends of itself into your hearts. Take your hearts out of your breasts, and give them to Him who speaks to you, and He will fill them with deific splendour, and you will be sons of light and angels of God. " St. John Vianney, Cure of Ars

Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth

St. Augustine says that whatever we may say in praise of Mary is little in comparison with what she deserves (G. M. p. 92). Pope Pius IX in defining the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception says that her sanctity exceeds that of all the Angels and Saints put together, and that it is so great that only the mind of God can comprehend it. (Papal Bull of Pius IX Ineffabilis Deus). St. Thomas Aquinas says: "From the fact that she is the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin has a certain infinite dignity, derived from the Infinite Good Who is God, and on this account cannot be anything better, just as there cannot be anything better than God." (Summa Theol. Ia. qu. 25 art. 6, ad. 4).

Prayer for Those Who Carry Their Cross

O my God, I thank you for this cross you have allowed me to carry. Please give me the strength and faith to persevere so that I may bring glory to your name while withstanding the burden of its weight. Thank you for offering me a share in your suffering. I know that you have always been, are now, and ever will be, at my side every step of the way. Thank you also for every "Simon" that you have sent to help me bear this cross.

I have prayed so often that this thorn in my flesh would be removed, but I trust that your grace is sufficient. Change my heart's troubled cry of --"How long, O Lord", into words of trust: "However long, O Lord". May I seek only to do your will and to unite my sufferings with your passion. Help me to not get lost in my own self concerns, but may I find in these trials a way to greater virtue, a call to prayer and a path to trust in you alone. Permit me not to waste my pain, but to make of these struggles a sacrificial offering for others.

Lord, when I am weary and I fall, exhausted under the weight of this cross, please give me the courage to press on as you did. Lord Jesus, I embrace with love my cross, as a share in your own. By your grace, may I carry it all the way to the vision of your glory. I abandon myself totally to your will. Christ Jesus, I trust in you. Amen