SPIRITUAL GROWTH

If we want to grow in our spiritual lives we must do the following:

Truly participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass:

Many people attend Mass in a distracted frame of mind. Yet in the Mass we encounter Christ in a unique and unsurpassable way. We must be fully present and prepared. We should not rush into Church thinking of a thousand things.

We must enter Church filled with joy and gratitude, knowing that we go to meet our great love. Our time at Mass should be suffused with prayer.

It should also be filled with anticipation, for during Communion Christ comes to us and lives with us and offers us infinite love. After Mass we should linger before the tabernacle filled with thanksgiving for what we have so graciously been given.

Take advantage of confession:

Sinfulness is part of the human condition — one that separates us from Christ. Christ offers us a way to put our sins behind us and to experience once again his loving embrace through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

What possible reason can there be for ignoring this? If we stay in our sins we push Christ away from us and we have no hope of growing in the spiritual life. Our sins should weigh heavily on us; we should yearn for confession, which offers us Christ again.

Learn to love our Blessed Mother:

Through Mary we meet Christ; through Mary’s prayers we are brought closer to Christ. The Blessed Mother is our mother. She should be our constant companion in the spiritual life.

Develop a life of prayer:

Every moment is an opportunity for prayer. How often do we take advantage of these opportunities? Read Father Groeschel’s book Praying Constantly: Bringing Your Faith to Life.

Here Father Groeschel shows that prayer can pervade our lives, that it can come in many different and unexpected forms, that we never have to be far from a moment of prayer. Each time we pray we draw closer to God. Every moment of prayer, whether it involves the Rosary or the Liturgy of the Hours or simply a few spontaneous words of our own is a conversation with Christ.

Encounter Christ in the Scriptures:

Reading the Scriptures meditatively can be of enormous help in coming to know Christ. Here we find his earthly words, his actions. Here we see again and again his enormous love for us, his great sacrifice for us. Through the Scriptures we come to know Our Lord in a deeper and deeper way and thus our relationship with him grows.

Learn from those who came before us:

The Church has canonized innumerable saints. These are our examples. They have walked the road of holiness, and their lives show us the many ways that closeness with Christ can be achieved. We must learn about the saints; we must study their lives, read their writings and pray for their intercession.

Improve our relationship with others:

Spiritual growth transforms the outer life. There are some people who pray regularly, who go to Mass nearly every day, who are punctilious about every religious rule and regulation. At the same time they are indifferent to the needs of others. At times they may even be cruel. This is a tragic failure. Their relationship with Christ is damaged.

Perhaps they only believe it exists. When we are in real relationship with Christ, we come to see that each human being is created in the divine image and is of infinite value. To grow in the spiritual life is to grow in the love of others — to find Christ in them and to serve Christ in them.

These are only a few of the most obvious ways for a Catholic to deepen his spiritual life, yet many of them are not thought to be very important today. For the Catholic they are essential. Your spiritual life is not truly Catholic if such things do not play a large part in it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MASS AND THE EUCHARIST

St. Thomas Aquinas

(1225-1274)

Hymn:

"Bread of Angels,

made the bread of men;

The Bread of heaven

puts an end to all symbols:

A thing wonderful!

The Lord becomes our food:

poor, a servant, and humble.

We beseech Thee,

Godhead One in Three

That Thou wilt visit us,

as we worship Thee,

lead us through Thy ways,

We who wish to reach the light

in which Thou dwellest. Amen.

"Panis Angelicus by St. Thomas Aquinas

 

The Bible on the Eucharist (Holy Communion):

As Catholics one of the truths that we hold that has been handed down from Jesus and the apostles is that Jesus is really (not just symbolically) present in the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion.

“The Church has always and everywhere held and continues to hold, that the four Gospels are of apostolic origin. For what the Apostles preached, in fulfilment of the commission of Christ, afterwards they themselves and apostolic men, under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, handed onto us in writing: … the fourfold Gospel, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John”. “… the four Gospels just named, whose historical character the Church unhesitatingly asserts, faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ, while living among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation...” (Sections 18 and 19 of Dei Verbum, a Vatican II document.)

Below are some passsages from the New Testament regarding the Eucharist, which we Catholics believe are literally true because this is the understanding that has been handed down to us through the centuries from the apostles as part of the deposit of the faith. Even though they may seem incredible or miraculous, they are not unreasonable, because we also believe that Jesus is God who not only knows all things but is all powerful and can do all things. We believe this because Jesus taught it and our faith is in Jesus. Jesus loves us so much that He wants to be as united to us as possible and this is one way He decided that we could be united to Him not only in spirit but also receive Him literally into bodies.

Scripture Verses on the Eucharist:

Jesus said in John 6:48-65: " 'I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.' The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?' Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.' These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Then many of his disciples who were listening said, 'This saying is hard; who can accept it?'

Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them,

'Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.'

Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, 'For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.' "

Matt. 26:26-28: "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.' "

Mark 14:22-24: " 'And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, Take; this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.' "

Luke 22:19-20: "And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And likewise the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.' "

1 Cor. 10:16-17: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."

1 Cor. 11:23-29: "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, 'This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself."

EUCHARIST

By Scott P. Richert

Definition: The Eucharist is another name for Holy Communion . The term comes from the Greek by way of Latin, and it means "thanksgiving." It is used in three ways: first, to refer to the Real Presence of Christ; second, to refer to Christ's continuing action as High Priest (He "gave thanks" at the Last Supper, which began the consecration of the bread and wine); and third, to refer to the Sacrament of Holy Communion itself.

Many people refer to the Mass as "the Eucharist," but such a use is incorrect. The Mass is made up of two parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Mass is more than simply the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

Pronunciation: YOO-ca-rist

Examples:

"In the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the priest consecrates the bread and wine, which becomes the Eucharist."

WAITING UPON GOD

Isaiah promises that if we wait upon the Lord, we shall renew our strength and 'soar up to Heaven on eagles' wings.' What, exactly does it mean to 'wait upon the Lord?' Is waiting upon God something that we do passively or actively?
by Lorraine E. Espenhain | Source: Catholic.net

In the book of Isaiah, we are instructed as follows: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." [Isa 40:30-31].

Waiting upon God is a principle which all who are in Christ must learn to embrace and apply to their lives if we are going to overcome. This principle is not just for those who are going through trials and hardships, as many suppose. There are times in my life when things seem to be so still, so boring, so tedious, uneventful and monotonous, that I just want to scream as I wonder about the purpose of such times.

I have found that waiting upon God is a principle that I must be willing to apply to my life moment by moment even in the midst of those seemingly still and uneventful times. Even though things may seem still and uneventful, God is never still. He is always at work in the lives of His people, refining, molding, shaping, pruning, sanding, cleansing, purging, correcting, and training.

So...whether we are enduring a difficult trial or simply experiencing endless days of tedium, waiting upon the Lord is a principle we all must learn to apply. But what, exactly, does it mean to ‘wait upon the Lord?’

Usually, whenever we hear the word ‘wait,’ we immediately think of passiveness and stillness. But waiting upon the Lord is not something that we do passively; on the contrary, it requires steadfast action on our part.

Several years ago, a friend of mine was going through a very depressing time in her life. I called her up on the telephone to see how she was doing. "I’m just sitting here waiting upon the Lord until He comes along and rescues me from this pit of depression," was her response. Because she was so depressed, she stopped praying, stopped reading the Bible, stopped going to church, and stopped ministering to others using her spiritual gifts. She would resume those spiritual activities once again after Christ rescued her and revived her once more. In the meantime, she was simply going to sit and stare at a wall until He came to her spiritual rescue. In her frustration, she wondered what was taking Christ so long?

My friend is not alone in the way she was thinking during that time. Many of us have the same tendency to do this when going through frustrating or difficult times even though we may not come right out and say it.

Our actions tend to speak for us, don’t they? To wait upon the Lord means we must continue to do all of the things that we’ve been doing in our spiritual lives while we wait for God to answer our prayers and move in our lives. We are to spend time with Him in prayer each and every single day. We are to spend time in His written Word, reflecting and meditating on it. We are to go to Mass, where we can gather with other believers and be encouraged as we celebrate the Eucharist together. We are to serve others in love using the spiritual gifts God has given to us, and we are to yield our lives to the Holy Spirit moment by moment, in order that He might make us more like Christ. We are to do all of these things while we ‘wait upon the Lord’ to move in our lives.

Waiting upon the Lord doesn’t mean that we simply roll over and die until Christ comes along and answers our prayers. It doesn’t mean a cessation of all spiritual activity in our lives while we wait for Heaven to finally come through. It means that we keep on ‘keeping on’ while we wait for God to move in our behalf.

Unfortunately, when we are going through a difficult or frustrating time in our lives, usually, the last thing we feel like doing is opening up the Bible or sitting at the feet of Christ to pray. It’s much easier to sit in a chair, worry, fret, and stew. It’s much easier to turn on the television or to distract ourselves with some other form of entertainment so that we don’t have to think about our situation. But these things cannot strengthen us spiritually.

They have no power to take us through or to change and renew us. These activities profit us nothing in the way of spiritual strength. Have you ever watched an eagle (or any large bird) soar higher and higher up into the sky? How does he do it? Do we see the bird flapping its wings frantically and furiously against the wind as he desperately attempts to reach a higher altitude? No. He gracefully opens up his wings and skillfully uses the wind to enable him to mount higher and higher. The very winds that have power to serve as an obstacle to the eagle’s flight are skillfully used by him to take him up higher and higher.

And so it is with those who have learned how to wait upon the Lord. No matter how the winds may be blowing in our lives, God has given us the ability (through the power of His Holy Spirit) to stretch out our wings and use those winds to renew us, change us, and to mount up closer and closer to Him. Isaiah promises that when we wait upon the Lord (actively and not passively), we will soar on wings like eagles.

It’s up to us, however, to yield our lives to God’s Spirit so that these things can be accomplished. If not, we can expect those winds to continue to keep us down, as my friend had been doing. No matter what you are facing in your life right now, I want to encourage you to actively wait upon the Lord. Time spent with God in prayer and daily Bible study do not change our circumstances; these things change us. They renew us. And as we are being changed and renewed, we receive supernatural strength and are able to mount up to God on eagles’ wings higher and higher. Keep serving others in love while you wait upon the Lord. Keep going to Mass. Keep yielding your life to the Spirit of Christ moment by moment so that you will become more and more like Him. This is what it means to wait upon the Lord. This is what it means to pursue faith.

When I find myself teaching the Word of God to others, even though I may be going through a difficult time in my own life, it is because I am doing so in the power and strength of the Lord.

My strength fell by the wayside long ago. Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is no different with you. God has given each of us gifts, talents, skills, and abilities which He desires us to use in order to edify others and build up His Church. The Bible doesn’t instruct us to serve others in love only when our lives are devoid of trials, hardships, and difficulties. We are to serve others always, just as Christ did. But if we do not learn the principle of actively waiting upon the Lord, we will find our service to Christ, our prayer and devotional lives, and our attendance at Mass being interrupted time and time again. In these last days, we cannot afford to allow Satan to break our stride. God has a purpose for our lives. We have a destiny to fulfill - a potential in Christ to reach. But we can only fulfill that purpose and destiny if we learn to embrace and apply the principle of waiting upon God in our daily lives.

God has given us a promise. They that wait upon Him (actively, and not passively) shall renew their strength. Let’s make up our minds to believe. Let’s take the Most High at His Word, and let’s open our wings... ...and fly.

COMMUNION IN HAND

Question: I know the practice is optional, but where did Communion in the hand come from? Don’t you think it encourages disrespect?

Answer: Communion in the hand was the norm for most of the first millennium. Because of the dangers of misuse and the growing concern for reverence, the practice of giving the Host on the tongue was introduced about the ninth century.

The present practice of giving communion in the hand dates from 1969, when Pope Paul VI opened the way for episcopal conferences who wished to reintroduce the practice. Permission was granted to the U.S. bishops in 1977.

In my opinion, there is nothing intrinsically more reverent about reception on the tongue or less reverent about receiving in the hand. Reverence or irreverence are generally determined by other factors: the spiritual attitude of the recipient, the demeanor of the one giving communion, the adequacy of eucharistic understanding, and the manner in which the eucharistic elements are treated both within and outside Mass.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem in the fourth century offered a powerful catechesis on the mode of receiving communion in the hand that is still applicable today: "When you approach, do not go stretching out your open hands or having your fingers spread out, but make the left hand into a throne for the right which shall receive the King, and then cup your open hand and the Body of Christ, reciting the ‘Amen.’ Then sanctify with all care your eyes by touching the Sacred Body, and receive it.

But be careful that no particles fall, for what you lose would be to you as if you had lost some of your members. Tell me, if anybody had given you gold dust, would you not hold fast to it with all care, and watch lest some of it fall and be lost to you? Must you not then be even more careful with that which is more precious than gold and diamonds, so that no particles are lost?"

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