The Real Jesus

The Real Jesus!

“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. We are to believe that the Eucharist began in the womb of the Virgin Mary; that the flesh which the Son of God received from His Mother at the Incarnation is the same flesh into which He changed bread at the Last Supper; that the blood He received from His Mother is the same blood into which He changed wine at the Last Supper. Had she not given Him His flesh and blood there could not be a Eucharist.

We are to believe that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ - simply, without qualification. It is God become man in the fullness of His divine nature, in the fullness of His human nature, in the fullness of His body and soul, in the fullness of everything that makes Jesus Jesus. He is in the Eucharist with His human mind and will united with the Divinity, with His hands and feet, His face and features, with His eyes and lips and ears and nostrils, with His affections and emotions and, with emphasis, with His living, pulsating, physical Sacred Heart. That is what our Catholic Faith demands of us that we believe. If we believe this, we are Catholic. If we do not, we are not, no matter what people may think we are”
     (Father John A Hardon SJ)

Pray Until You Hear God

 If You Listen Closely You WILL Hear It! 

“Listen” … that’s the first word Jesus said as he began to preach to the crowd from the boat along the shore (Mk 4:3).  That very word is as important today as it was 2000 years ago.  He has something to say to each of us; and I’m afraid we might miss it if we don’t slow down, unclutter our lives, our minds and hearts, and just ‘Listen’.

Spiritual listening begins small, within intimacy and friendship.  Spending quiet time in the chapel is a good place to open our minds and hearts in an effort to just ‘listen’.  Visit our chapel, and place yourself in the presence of God, entreat him to inspire you by offering this simple prayer:  “Eternal Father I surrender to your presence and action within” - God will do the work - you just ‘listen’.

 

You Can Make A Difference

You Can Make A Difference
Wednesday of this week (Nov 02), is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Soul’s Day).  “Our dear brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents, friends and all those who died in the friendship of God may be waiting patiently for our generous prayers.  Let us not forget that their relief and release from Purgatory may depend upon our prayers, since we believe they no longer can pray for themselves!”
  (In the Friendship of God - Handbook of Devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory)

Change Is Possible With God's Help

 Looking To Change?

If you suffer from indifference, waste, selfishness and/or individualism our Lord Jesus Christ offers you the opportunity of conversion.  Conversion occurs when we spend time with Jesus in the Real Presence of Eucharistic Adoration.  If you want to change indifference to compassion; waste to sharing; selfishness to love and/or individualism to fraternity, join other members of our parish in Eucharistic Adoration who are changing just by being in his presence.  Chapel time is always available, and there is not a single living person who can’t benefit from time spent in the Real Presence of our God.

We Are Beloved Children

 A Beloved Child

“When we adore the Lord Jesus present in the Eucharist, we receive a new outlook on our lives as well: I am not the things I possess of the successes I can achieve.  The value of my life does not depend on how much I can show off nor does it diminish when I encounter failures and setbacks.  I am a beloved child, each of us is a beloved child.  I am blessed by God.  He wants to clothe me with beauty and free me from all slavery.”

“Let us remember this: whoever worships God does not become a slave to anyone.  They are free.  Let us rediscover the prayer of adoration, a prayer that is frequently forgotten.  Adoration … frees us and restores us to our dignity as children, not slaves.”
                               Pope Francis - from a Sept 2022 homily

Truly Present - No Mistake

 Uniquely Present
The fathers of Vatican II point out that Christ is indeed present in a variety of ways - in the very intelligibility of the universe, in the gathered assembly at Mass, in the reading of the Scriptures, in the person of the priest - but he is “really, truly, and substantially” present, that is to say, in a qualitatively different way, in the Eucharistic elements.  Thomas Aquinas gave voice to the same conviction when he said that the power of Christ is operative in the other sacraments, but Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar.  

Experience his true presence by sitting silently in the chapel and letting his Being wash over you.  If you’re not a regular Adorer we, like Our Lord, invite you to visit and feel his presence.  Once you experience it, you’re encouraged to make a weekly appointment to spend an hour with him.  We all know how important compound interest is to our retirement account; but do you realize that time spent in his presence compounds the value of grace we earn in our heavenly account?

The Importance of the Rosary

 Read This … It’s Important.

October 7th (Friday) this week, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  Known for several centuries by the alternate title of “Our Lady of Victory”.  The feast day takes place in honor of a 16th century naval victory which secured Europe against Turkish invasion.  Pope St Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was invoked on the day of the battle through a campaign to pray the Rosary throughout Europe.  The power of the Rosary and the courage of the Catholic navies obtained an historic triumph over the Turks, and saved Christiandom from the advancing Turkish power.

Today, just as in the 16th century we desperately need Our Lady’s intervention through the Holy Rosary to turn back the moral, spiritual and physical threat we face as a State with the proposed passing of the Reproductive Freedom for All initiative, Proposal 3.  This Proposal, if passed, will codify abortion-up-to-birth and partial-birth abortion in our state constitution.  As Christians this is something we have to do all possible to stop from happening.

Won’t you join the thousands of Catholic Michiganders who signed up and are praying the 54-day Rosary Novena aimed at defeating Proposal 3 on the ballot.  This is something you can join anytime so don’t even think ‘it already started, so I won’t’.  Every single rosary is important and Our Lady will overcome this treat if we turn to Her in confident prayer and courageous action.  To be counted, and to get text reminders, text “FightLikeHeaven” to 84576.

Make the commitment.  It will cost you about 20 minutes a day; which is insignificant compared to the possibility there could be a fetus in its mother’s womb who will benefit from what you are doing.  Jesus is keeping track.