Becoming Faith “first-responders”
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“Unless we recover the zeal and the spirit of the first century Christians – unless we are willing to do what they did and to pay the price that they paid, the future of our country, the days of America are numbered.” (Servant of God Fr. John Hardon SJ)
With the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus having drawn to a close, it is good to reflect upon the sequence of mysteries God has brought us through the wisdom given to His one true church: Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi, and the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The month of July is dedicated to His Precious Blood which He shed for each of us personally. If any one of us were the only human ever created, Jesus would still have gone through his Passion and Crucifixion just for us. But to help others come to believe He loves them this much, we must first believe it ourselves.
“Devotion to the Precious Blood is not a spiritual option, it is a spiritual obligation, and that not only for priests, but for every follower of Christ.” (Fr. John Hardon)[i]
We receive that Precious Blood each mass, and yet 70% of Catholics do not know or believe that the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ[ii]. 40% [iii] of Americans raised Catholic permanently leave the church not understanding what they leave behind. In his reflections, Fr. Kubicki explains “If we are concerned for them, how much more is Jesus, who shed his Precious Blood for them. When we pray, we share our concern with the Lord who shares his concern with us. Sharing in this way, we are drawn closer to Jesus. […] Our continued prayer brings grace into their lives and it changes us so that our witness is more consistent.” [iv]
Fr. McCloskey aptly explains our ongoing role in the lives of those around us: “We are the Emergency Medical Technicians of the faith, called to perform cardiac resuscitation. We must also prepare to be care givers of long-term rehabilitation. Providentially, our fallen-away Catholic relatives, friends, or colleagues are normally only one good confession away from reconciliation with Christ here on earth: one heartbeat away from entrance into the Father’s loving embrace. We have to stay with them till the end with our prayer, sacrifice, and friendship.” [v] We must become Faith ‘first-responders’.
But to do this we ourselves must first desire to live by our true conscience, the Holy Spirit moving within us. Desire is important in prayer, and we must ask God for such a desire to bring others back into the fold that we will gladly eat as much humble pie as it takes to do so. Our own growth occurs in direct proportion to the number of servings of humble pie we are willing to endure. And we cannot choose the flavor!
These leads then to our responsibility in mental prayer, which is to be totally honest with God. Dr. Ralph Martin writes of how easily we rationalize our mortal sin, [vi] yet perhaps it is more common that we rationalize our venial sin. It is in the small stuff of life that we find God and growth happens. God desires to be included in the small stuff of our day. We must desire that too and, of course, the examen is the tool to illuminate how we can do that better. [vii] These are the steps to becoming vessels of His Grace to others.
“If there be two souls equally holy in their lives, the one who receives this sacrament with more worthy dispositions is by that reception made more perfect and, as a resplendent sun, he will shine forever more brightly than the other and will be united with God in a more wonderful union.” (Fr. John Tauler)
Continue to pray for our nation, Pope Francis and our worldwide church.
Prayer for the world: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, send now Your Spirit over the earth. Let the Holy Spirit live in the hearts of all nations that they may be preserved from degeneration, disaster, and war. May the Lady of All Nations, the Blessed Virgin Mary, be our advocate. Amen.
God has already abundantly blessed America; may we honor Him in our thoughts, words and deeds, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. 😊
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[i] Fr. John Hardon and other writings on the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/07_1.cfm
[ii] PEW 2019 report https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/05/transubstantiation-eucharist-u-s-catholics/
[iii] PEW 2015 report http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/09/15/half-of-u-s-adults-raised-catholic-have-left-the-church-at-some-point/
[iv] Fr. James Kubicki reflection upon Pope Francis’ July prayer intentions http://www.apostleshipofprayer.org/reflectionsmonthly/
[v] Fr. John McCloskey on bringing Catholics back to the Church http://www.catholicity.com/mccloskey/recoveringcatholics.html
[vi] Dr. Ralph Martin on moral reasoning http://www.hprweb.com/2017/06/considering-culpability/
[vii] Excellent Examen aid https://rcspirituality.org/sitting-in-the-side-pew-conference-video/