Every Cross is Unique

 Palm Sunday

Each of us has a cross to bear; that cross is not the same for any two.  The difference between our crosses is due to God’s will toward each of us.  Our Lord said: “If any man will follow me” let him take up his cross (Mk 8:34).  He did not say: “Take up my cross.”  My cross is not the same as yours, and yours is not the same as any other.  Every cross in the world is tailor-made, custom built, patterned to fit one and no one else.

That is why we say: “My cross is hard.”  We assume that other persons’ crosses are lighter, forgetful that the only reason our cross is hard is simply because it is our own.  Our Lord did not make his cross; it was made for him.  So yours is made by the circumstances of your life, and by your routine duties.  That is why it fits so tightly.

Our Lord deals separately with each soul.  The crown of gold we want may have underneath it the crown of thorns, but the heroes who choose the crown of thorns often find that underneath it is the crown of gold.  Even those that seem to be without a cross actually have one.  There are as many kinds of crosses as there are persons: crosses of grief and sorrow, crosses of want, crosses of abuse, crosses of wounded love and crosses of defeat.

God does not give us a cross then turn his back to let us manage on our own.  He gives us a cross and because he loves us gives us the help we need to manage that cross and turn it into a blessing that will benefit us for all of eternity.

God is present in our Adoration Chapel and ready to help you with your cross.  All you have to do is show up, ask him for his help, then place all your trust in him. 

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

 “I thirst”

“One day Our Blessed Lord said to the multitude: ‘If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink’ (Jn 7:37).  But on the cross, he, from whose fingertips toppled planets and worlds, he who filled the valleys with the song of a thousand fountains now cries, not to God, but to man: “I thirst” (Jn 19:28).  The physical pain of being nailed to a cross, lingering for hours without food or drink beneath an Oriental sun, the parched dryness that came from the loss of blood, now expresses itself not in peevish impatience but in a simple declaration of thirst.

There is nothing in the whole story of the Crucifixion which makes Our Lord seem so human as this one word.  And yet that thirst could not have been only physical, for the Gospel tells us that he said it in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.  It, therefore, was spiritual as well as physical.  God was on the quest for souls, trusting that one of the trivial ministrations of life, the offering of a cup in his name, might bring the offerer within the sweet radiance of his grace.  The Shepherd was still out after the sheep, at the moment when he was giving his life for the flock!” (Seven Words of Jesus and Mary - Fulton J. Sheen)

Have you this lent through your prayers and/or actions been able to quench the ‘thirst’ of Our Lord?  Even a little?

He waits patiently for each of us to come to him.  Why not visit him in the chapel?

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi 

Easter Blessings

 Are You Ready For The Blessings Of Easter?

Pope John Paul II reminded us in an encyclical that the church draws her life from the Eucharist.  Christ promised to “remain with us always, until the end of time” (Mt 28:20), and that promise has been kept in the Eucharist.  Here at IHM, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is an important daily practice and an inexhaustible source of holiness and blessing for the parish and for those who personally participate by spending time in our chapel each week.

“If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the act of prayer, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual conversation, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love, before Christ present in the most holy sacrament?” (Pope John Paul II).  Eucharistic adoration is a primary source of strength, consolation and support, both spiritually as well as physically.

The season of Lent is set aside to help us prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Easter.  Take advantage of the opportunity given through Eucharistic Adoration.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi

Pray In His True Presence

Face-to-Face with God

Praying silently before the Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration Chapel is a time to speak intimately with Our Lord, who makes himself present to us in a uniquely intimate way.  As an audience before the King of the Universe and the court of heaven, we ARE listened to, assisted, and graced with his abiding love.  (DCN Bob Calleja - Divine Child/Dearborn MI)

So if you ever wonder if Our Lord hears you when you pray why not visit him in the chapel where he is truly present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity and praying sitting face-to-face in his presence you know he cannot help but hear your every word.

www.adorationpro.org/ihmmi