PRAYERS of the HEART

  O Blessed Host, in golden chalice enclosed for me, That through the vast wilderness of exile I may pass - pure, immaculate, undefiled; Oh, grant that through the power of Your love this might come to be.         O Blessed Host, take up Your dwelling within my soul, O Thou my heart's purest love! With Your brilliance the darkness dispel. Refuse not Your grace to a humble heart.         O Blessed Host, enchantment of all heaven, Though Your beauty be veiled And captured in a crumb of bread, Strong faith tears away that veil. - from the Diary of Saint Sr. Faustina (Kowalska) of the Blessed Sacrament, titled  Divine Mercy In My Soul .  

God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a wonderful Sacrament hath left unto us a memorial of his passion: grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit of his redemption; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit ever one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

How much of ourselves do we give to the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? A priest I heard of, if he sees people leave early, stops them and reminds them that only one person left the Last Supper early!  Well, I am not going to do that, but I am tempted to do what St. Philip Neri did: He saw someone leaving church right after Communion and he sent servers with candles and bells to accompany the man.  The guy stormed back into the church and confronted the priest. "What kind of joke is this?" he demanded.  St. Philip Neri said, "It's no joke. The rules of the liturgy say the Blessed Sacrament should be treated with reverence. You left the Church immediately with no prayer of thanksgiving. You were carrying the Blessed Sacrament within you. So, I asked the boys to accompany you to honor Him."  After Communion, you and I are tabernacles - the physical presence of Jesus continues in us for a brief time. That's why we have the Commu

SCRIPTURE READING: Because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being proud. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,* in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.  ( 2Corinthians 12:7-10) REFLECTION: We have to face the fact that we will always have to face worry and anxiety. Yet despite these two thorns in our hearts, Jesus is telling us to set our hearts on His kingdom and on His love. Yes, each day has enough trouble of its own. Yet each day God will also give us enough grace to live a life of love and to attain peac