Happy Birthday Jesus

 Happy Birthday Jesus! 

When you look upon the Sacred Host after the consecration at Mass, or you kneel in front of the Sacred Host displayed in the Monstrance in the chapel, you look upon Jesus Himself, the Son of God.  We believe the bread and wine have ceased to exist after the Consecration, so that it is the adorable body and blood of the Lord Jesus that from then on are really before us under the sacramental species of bread and wine, as the Lord willed it, in order to give Himself to us as food and to associate us with the unity of His Mystical Body.

During this season of gift giving please take a few minutes to find a quiet place to sit and free your mind of all the clutter of secular Christmas; sincerely thank Our God for the priceless gift of His Divine Son.  It’s a gift the true value of which cannot be fully appreciated this side of Heaven.

So if you’re asked ‘What did you get for Christmas?’; I hope you would respond ‘I received the gift of greatest value anyone on earth could hope for!’

Where's Your Treasure

 Where’s Your Treasure?

Day and night Jesus dwells in the Blessed Sacrament BECAUSE OF HIS INFINITE LOVE FOR US!  “Behold I will be with you always even to the end of the world,” because “I have loved you with an everlasting love, and constant is my affection for you.” (Mt 28:20; Jer 31:3)

The specific way Jesus asks us to love Him in return is to spend ONE QUIET HOUR WITH HIM EACH WEEK in the Blessed Sacrament.  “Where your treasure is, there is your heart …”  “Could you not watch one hour with Me?”  (Mt 6:21; 26:40)

Advent is a wonderful time to reevaluate where your treasure is; if not in the right place you have time to make it right.

How Can You Say NO To Jesus?

How Can You Say NO To Jesus?

Is Jesus important enough to you to set aside one special hour each week to be with Him?  Just one hour once a week is all He is asking.  It’s a simple matter of putting first things first.  “In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success” (Prov 3:6)

Because we can’t see Jesus, we often take His love and Presence in the Blessed Sacrament for granted.  Many people are hesitant in making a commitment for a specific hour because they let everything else in their lives come before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.  An hour with Jesus could be the most important thing you do this week.

This concept of importance is reenforced in the book In Sinu Jesu where Jesus is quoted telling a Benedictine Monk “Nothing in your life is more important than the time you spend in adoration before My Eucharistic Face.  Your energy and your capacity to do other things efficiently and in due order will grow in proportion to the time you consecrate to Me alone.”

Don’t wait until you’re out of ‘time’; we will all be there at some point.  Prioritize now and heed the words of Jesus when He said “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” (Mk 14:37)

Let Advent be your starting point - commit to one hour of Adoration in the chapel each week.  If you’re already a committed adorer say a prayer to the Holy Spirit the next time you’re in the chapel that more people will take to heart Jesus’ request to spend an hour with Him.  Better yet - don’t wait until you are in the chapel .. say that prayer now!

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

"I do believe ... but"

 “Help My Unbelief”

Three weeks ago we quoted Fr John Hardon SJ saying “the simplest way to express what Christ asks us to believe about the Real Presence is that the Eucharist is really HE.  The Real Presence is the real Jesus”.  Two weeks ago we reminded everyone that the Council of Trent in 1551 declared that Jesus Christ is really and truly present in the Eucharist, and the Council declared this a Dogma of Faith.

‘Dogma’ is defined as that part of doctrine which has been divinely revealed and which the Church has formally defined and declared to be believed as revealed.  So this is not what the Church is telling us to believe; this is what God Himself is telling us to believe.  Recently a Pew Survey reported that 69% of declared Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence.  Imagine … 2 out of 3 Catholics don’t believe what God Himself tells us is true.

If you’re one of the non or half hearted believers it may be time to commit to praying during this Advent period asking the Holy Spirit for the grace to increase your belief in the Real Presence.  You’re encouraged to visit the chapel; kneel before the Holy Eucharist and pray the prayer the father of the son harboring the demon prayed before Jesus as told in Mark 9:21-24; “I do believe; help my unbelief”.

Jesus told that father “All things are possible to him who believes”.  Your belief in the Real Presence won’t go from cold to hot over night … you won’t hear thunder or feel the earth shake … but know every prayer is answered.  If you want to succeed you have to show God you’re sincere, and don’t quit asking until you get what you want.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi