St. Monica Parish

St. Monica Parish
Why I Pray! Jesus is present in the Tabernacle. He promised to never leave us and his promise is true.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Awareness of the True Body and Blood

For two Fridays I sat in adoration as an 11am funeral Mass was being prepared on the other side of the curtained glass wall in the main church. I have watched in horror as participants in the funeral Mass have come into the chapel, walking and talking in front of the exposed Eucharist in the monstrance with no indication that they are even aware of the presence of Jesus Christ. Two different funerals, two different groups of people and my heart felt broken. Then I prayed that Jesus would give me a heart of love, compassion and understanding and I saw. I saw me in them - not that long ago. No awareness of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist. So no awareness either in the reception of Jesus in Holy Communion where Jesus is true flesh and true blood. How lonely and lost we humans are until we fully understand and discover His true presence. When we eat this fully consecrated bread and drink this fully consecrated wine we become one with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We grow in the life He has prepared for us. We receive the graces and gifts He longs to give us. We are prepared and fully armed for our inevitable confrontation with the evil one. Our desires are changed and we are eager to become less that Jesus might become more. We are open to the detachment and denial of temporal stuff that we might be filled with eternity! May God, who is all Love and Mercy, be with you as you journey through this day! Blessings!!

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Greater than the Greatest Prophet | Word on Fire

Greater than the Greatest Prophet | Word on Fire

The link above is to an audio of a homily by Fr. Robert Barron on the readings from the Sunday Mass, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is only 13 minutes long. In it Fr. Barron speaks to the unity of the Trinitarian God versus the division caused by evil. The evil that we see in everyday life when God does not come first. The evil will trap us in its lies while our loving God will free us in truth. We have only to take the risk and discover the full freedom of God's great love for us! Open your heart this day to God's presence! Many blessings will come!

Saturday, January 31, 2015

The Lord had not Yet Revealed Himself!

These words struck me and made me realize yet another truth! Taken from the book of Samuel, chapter 3: "At that time Samuel was not familiar with the Lord, because the Lord had not revealed anything to him as yet." It made me realize that so many do not yet know the Lord possibly because he has not yet revealed anything to them. Yet, in this chapter we discover that Eli points the way for Samuel. How many of us can point the way for our fellow travelers? How many of our fellow travlers will listen?

The First Commandment!

"I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange gods before me." This commandment is first for a reason. Today we have many strange gods that we put first in our lives, such as TV, sports, food, entertainment, comfort, and the list goes on. We all must ask ourselves each day, "What comes first in my life?" If God, the one true God, comes first then everything else will work for good. All the other commandments, all the choices we make, all the events that impact our lives will work for the good. We know that God comes first when we take time to pray, time in the morning, time in the evening and time throughout the day. The only way to be in relationship with another is to communicate and what better form of communication is there than prayer. God is love and he created us in love. Spend time with him today.