Jun 12 Wed - The eighth commandment

 

Jun 12 Wed
The eighth commandment, in Exodus 20, 16, is “You shall not bear false testimony against your neighbor,” from which it has been extended to the generic prohibition of lying.

It looks as if, by giving false testimony against our neighbor, or when we lie “for our benefit,” we only harm him; actually, we harm ourselves.

Lying is one of the actions that most enslaves human beings. Am I exaggerating? Take the test. Make up a lie today, absurd, silly, unimportant, and try to maintain it for the next 24 hours. You will see how difficult it is for you to be consistent; and how you must create new lies to validate the previous one. That’s why lying is a serious sin. Some even think that lying is not a sin, since we all do it.

Sometimes, to commit another sin, it is necessary to resort to lying. How can you steal from an unsuspecting person, if you don’t lie to him first? How can you have an immoral relationship, without saying that you are attracted to that person? Thus, the damage from the other sins is so great, that the lie is diluted, as if it were unimportant.

Lying involves hiding who you are. People who are “pathological liars” show many problems with self-acceptance and self-esteem.

There are indeed ideologies and religions that consider that lying is not bad, as long as it is used for proselytizing; they are enslaving ideologies. We must remember that the Prince of the world is also the Prince of lies. Opening the door to lies is giving him power over us.

When we lie and are caught, we usually do it again – this is how this enslaving ritual is created: we say that it was “a white lie”, or we justify it as if there were sufficient reasons to excuse our behavior, or we maintain the lie despite everything.

We often meet lying children, who can maintain their lies, despite having all the evidence against them, or children who establish their relationships with others based on fantasies.

Why are parents so worried about their children lying? They know that if their son lies, he will do a lot of harm to himself, and to those close to him. He will be someone who is easily rejected by others and by himself.

Lying harms us, and prevents us from leading a full life. Not in vain did Jesus say explicitly, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn, 8, 32), therefore, since freedom is indispensable, and lying enslaves us, lying attacks our being children of God.
Excerpts from Nacho Calderón Castro in Exaudi

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Jun 11 Tue - Why Is there Peace after the Forgiveness of Sins?

 

Jun 11 Tue
Why Is there Peace after the Forgiveness of Sins?
Peaceful souls are neither pessimists nor neurotics. They are not smug optimists, but have a wise and legitimate optimism, based on the heart of Jesus, for they know that nothing happens but what God wills, and that for the one who lives in faith, everything is foreseen by God, everything is for the best, everything is love. Mild temper, patience, goodness, and serenity grow only in peace.

Notice that it is not by keeping you away from temptations and struggles that our Lord will guard you. Saint Paul believed this when after he had been transported to the third heaven, an angel of Satan buffeted him in order that he might not take pride in himself so he prayed three times for deliverance. But Jesus answered him, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Elsewhere Saint Paul cries, “The good I want to do, I do not; but the evil that I don’t want to do, that I do. Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?" And he was not delivered from it.

Remember that the grace of Jesus is sufficient for you and that it will never be lacking. It is so important to find calmness right away again after each fall! With one look toward him, say to him, "Jesus, one tear from your eyes, one drop of your blood on my soul, and everything will be purified and my soul will be in peace."

We know, says Saint Paul, that to those who love God, all things work together for good. "Even their sins," adds Saint Augustine. Trouble, sadness, and bitterness after a sin often come from offended self-love, from a lack of humility. We regret less the sin as such than the fact that it humiliates us. Peace does not necessarily mean sensible joy. But it is the happiness of him who knows he is where he ought to be and who asks for nothing but what he has, who is always joyous because Jesus, who is all his joy, is always with him.

Peace results from unconditional dedication to God.
Previously, we must enter a war, in the first place, against ourselves: against the pride and disordered self-love that rob us of peace. Each of us must struggle “to attain complete unity between our faith, morals, and deeds. Then, come what may, you'll have, joy with peace, a serenity that will lead you to work ...It will lead you to order, obedience, poverty, chastity, loyalty, and to get the necessary rest, all in Christ's charity."

Without a determined effort to practice these virtues, there can be no true interior peace. For we would lack “the spirit of penance needed to live Christian perfection amid our everyday tasks."

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Jun 10 Mon - To understand, one must first take a stand.

 

Jun 10 Mon
To understand, one must first take a stand.
Indecision. Much has been said about the Millennials' indecision towards commitment. They marry later than previous generations – if they marry at all; have driven the birthrate to dangerously low levels; are more likely to change jobs; and are less likely to own a home than their older counterparts.

And if we turn from sociology to faith, this same indecision towards commitment is driving younger people away from religion. The most cited reasons for rejecting “organized” religion are doubts about religious teachings and God, dislike of religious organizations, and poor experiences with religious people – all of which are often symptoms of a more basic unwillingness to give oneself to other persons or causes.

They demand mathematical certainty to believe.
The desire for certainty is natural. Jesus Himself acknowledged it: “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28)

However, commitment does not function on the level of technical knowledge. It belongs to another field of knowledge: belief. Joseph Ratzinger makes clear that belief “is ordered not to the realm of manufactured things… but to the realm of basic decisions that man cannot avoid making.” Questions like: Whom I should marry, what I ought to do with my life, how many children should I have, where I should live, and what I should worship? The answers are fundamental decisions that defy mathematical certainty or scientific scrutiny.

Belief is entrusting myself to that which has not been made by myself and never could be made … That is, to do and understand anything, I have to first take a stand on some ground, which is what the Hebrew word Amen signifies.

We cannot “make” our own faith but understand it.
The modern world tries to lull us into believing that we can create the meaning of our life, our ground to stand on. The opposite has been proven correct by increases in drug addiction, suicides, and generational dissatisfaction. Surveys show that people are less happy than ever.

Meaning, that is, the purpose of our existence, cannot be made but only perceived. Without the humility to admit that we are not our own gods, our demand for certainty will continue to drown us in uncertainty. Without the courage to take a stand on a ground that is not of our own making, we will make nothing of ourselves. Without the audacity to step outside the cave of technological knowledge, we will not know the love that God wishes to rain down on us.

To understand, we need to stand on it.
The tool we have to find the truth of our existence is not knowledge but understanding: understanding the commitment to which we should entrust ourselves. But, alas, that ‘understanding’ must be preceded by ‘standing on it,’ not apart from it.

If we dare to commit to Christ, all the other commitments acquire meaning in the light of eternity. But this reality we will only understand if we first take a stand.

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Jun 8 Sat (bis) - Pope Francis and polarization

 

Jun 8 Sat (bis)
Pope Francis and polarization
In 1973, there was a contrast among the Jesuits between a group that prioritized action based on academic and intellectual reflection, and another that focused on popular religiosity and proposed a faith close to the people, especially the poor.

Bergoglio attempted to reconcile these groups by combining the best aspects of each. For example, he required novices to dedicate hours to study while also engaging in social work in disadvantaged neighborhoods. However, this strategy did not resolve the tensions, and when new superiors were appointed in Rome in 1986, they began to dismantle the measures implemented during his tenure.

In his first book on metaphysics, Guardini proposed a third way to overcome the Hegelian dialectic of "thesis, antithesis, synthesis." The goal was to ensure that differences do not hinder progress in coexistence and dialogue.

Guardini explains that while there are irreconcilable oppositions, such as good and evil or beauty and ugliness, other oppositions do not necessarily lead to separation. These oppositions are connected by a "tension" that can bring fruitful outcomes. They are opposite realities, but one cannot exist without the other. For example, the concepts of "individual and community" or "word and silence" are considered "polar oppositions" because the tension between them opens up a broader meaning. If these oppositions are treated as "irreconcilable," and a choice is made to favor one pole or seek a synthesis that eliminates the tension, the growth potential is destroyed. The drama of polarization lies in mistakenly confusing a "polar opposition" with an "excluding opposition," which forces a choice between the two poles. This misconception "demands a choice" between the poles and oversimplifies reality into strict binaries.

This "polar tension" also applies to people: just because someone does not share my opinion does not necessarily make them an adversary. It is through this tension that we can collaborate and build something better.

Francis encapsulated four principles that help distinguish between "oppositions" and "contradictions":

- The first principle is that "Time is superior to space." This refers to the tension between 'time,' representing a broader epoch, and 'space,' representing the present moment. Prioritizing space leads to an obsession with resolving everything in the present. Prioritizing time means focusing on initiating processes rather than seeking immediate resolution.

- The second principle is that "Unity prevails over conflict." It is important not to become trapped in conflict but rather find ways to resolve it. This does not mean promoting syncretism or absorbing one faction into another, but rather preserving the valuable strengths that arise from conflicting polarities.

- The third principle is that "Reality is more important than the idea," emphasizing the importance of avoiding the separation of ideas from reality. Reality is always much more complex than any idea. This principle addresses the problem of ideologies.

- The fourth principle is that "The whole is superior to the part." It cautions against absolutizing what is secondary and encourages attention to the bigger picture to avoid getting caught up in trivial matters. It emphasizes the need to stay grounded and practical.

A conflict cannot be resolved by ignoring it, as it will eventually escalate, nor can it be resolved by allowing one party to prevail, as it suppresses plurality. Most importantly, "we cannot overcome conflict alone"; either all factions involved must transcend it, or it will remain latent.

According to the theory of "polar oppositions," tensions should not be ignored because they can lead to fruitful outcomes.
With excerpts from Javier Martínez Brocal

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Jun 8 Sat - Top 10 Questions Every Catholic Must Know and Answer about the Faith (Part II)

 

Jun 8 Sat
Top 10 Questions Every Catholic Must Know and Answer about the Faith (Part II)

The second part of the questions and the answers that should help you and your questioner.

7. Why do you pray to idols (statues)?

No real Catholic has ever worshiped a statue (it is idolatry). If we cherish the memory of mere political heroes with statues, and that of war heroes with monuments, similarly we may honor and venerate saints: “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Pet 2:17 – see also Rom 12:10; Heb 12:22-23).

8. Why do you call your priest “father”?

Jesus teaches that God the Father alone is ultimately the source of all authority. He shares his fatherhood, for instance, with our biological fathers, and other special persons. In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus presents Lazarus as using the address “Father Abraham” twice (Lk 16:24, 30 – see also Acts 7:2; Rom 4:12; Jas 2:21). St. Paul refers to “our forefather Isaac” (Rom 9:10). He calls himself father (and similarly we apply it to the priests) when he writes, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel (1 Cor 4:15 – see also 1 Cor 4:14-16).

9. Why do you obey the Pope?

Catholics believe that Jesus commissioned St. Peter as the first leader of the Church. “And I tell you, you are Peter (meaning literally “Rock”) and on this rock, I will build my Church … I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 16:18-19). Based on this statement of Jesus himself, Peter is portrayed in the New Testament as the leader of the disciples. A pope can make infallible, binding pronouncements under certain conditions. Infallibility doesn’t mean that absolutely everything a pope says is free from error. We Catholics believe only the truth, and God the Holy Spirit protects His Church from error (Jn 14:16) by means of infallibility, even though sinful, imperfect men are involved in it.

10. Are your beliefs found in the Bible?

All Catholic beliefs can be found in the Bible, whether plainly or by an indirect indication. Everything doesn't need to be clear in Scripture alone, because that is not a teaching of Scripture itself. Scripture also points to the Tradition, and a Church authority, as St. Paul says in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians: “Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thess 2:15 – see also 1 Cor 11:2, 2 Thess 3:6; 2 Tim (1:13-14; 2:2). When the first Christians had a significant disagreement, they didn’t simply open their Bibles (which didn’t even exist at that point) to decide who was right; under the Apostles, they held a council, which made binding decrees (Acts 15:1-29). The very books of the Bible had to be determined by the Church and that didn’t happen until the late fourth century. Therefore, Sacred Tradition is needed to transmit the faith, and the Church’s authority to interpret it.

Jun 7 Fri - Top 10 Questions Every Catholic Must Know and Answer about the Faith (Part I)

 

Jun 7 Fri
Top 10 Questions Every Catholic Must Know and Answer about the Faith (Part I)

We Catholics are often asked tough questions about our Catholic faith and its relationship to the Bible. Here are the ten most asked questions and the answers that should help you and your questioner.

1. Are you saved?

Anyone can have some assurance that they are in God’s good graces. The apostle John states that “you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn 5:13 – see also Jn 5:24). But this “assurance” has to be understood in the light of John’s other teachings in the same book: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 Jn 5:3 – see also 1 Jn 2:3-6). Likewise, St. Paul does not regard salvation as a one-time event, but as a lifetime goal to be pursued, one that can be lost: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12 – see also 1 Cor 9:27, 10:12; Gal 5:1, 4; Phil 3:11-14; 1 Tim 4:1, 5:15).

2. If you died tonight, would you go to heaven?

Catholics have an assurance of salvation if they are faithful and keep God’s commandments (1 Jn 2:3).

3. Why do you worship wafers?

Catholics do not worship wafers; they worship Jesus. A consecrated host (that looks like a wafer) at a Catholic Mass is the true Body and Blood of Christ, real, sacramentally present. In the Gospel of John (6:51-56), Jesus states repeatedly that “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (6:54). St. Paul agrees and writes that those taking Communion “in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27 – see also 1 Cor 10:16). Moreover, in the Last Supper passages (Mt 26:26-28; Mk 14:22-24; Lk 22:19-20), nothing suggests a metaphorical or symbolic interpretation. The Last Supper was the Jewish feast of Passover. This involved a sacrificial lamb and Jesus referred to His imminent suffering (Lk 22:15-16, 18, 21-22). John the Baptist had already called Him the “Lamb of God” (Jn 1:29).

4. Why do you worship Mary?

Catholics do not worship Mary, that would be idolatry. We venerate her because she is the Mother of God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

5. Why do you confess your sins to a priest?

Jesus Christ gave to His disciples – and by extension, to priests – the power not only to “release” sins (that is, forgive in God’s name), but also to “bind”: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loosen on earth shall be loosened in heaven” (Mt 18:18 – see also Mt 16:19). Thus, the Church must know what sins to forgive… or retain. How? The human way: listening to the speaker.

6. Why do you pray for the dead?

The Bible teaches the excellence of prayers for the dead in 2 Maccabees (12:40, 42, 44-45). The apostle Paul also appears to be praying for a dead person, Onesiphorus, in 2 Timothy (1:16-18).

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Jun 6 Thu - Does the Eucharist merely “represent” the Body of Christ?

 

Jun 6 Thu
Does the Eucharist merely “represent” the Body of Christ?
The Lord did not say, “This is a symbol of my body, and this is a symbol of my blood,” but rather: “This is my body ... and this is my blood.” “For what now lies beneath the aforementioned species is not what was there before, but something completely different, and not just in the estimation of Church belief but in reality, since once the substance or nature of the bread and wine has been changed into the body and blood of Christ, nothing remains of the bread and the wine except for the looks, beneath which Christ is present whole and entire in his physical ‘reality,’ corporeally present, although not in the manner in which bodies are in a place.”
This is not something that the Church has invented.

We should examine in detail the words our Lord pronounced, “This is my body.” The word needs not to detain us. Some bent upon escaping the plain meaning of the words used, say that the phrase means “This represents my body.” It sounds very close to desperation! No competent speaker would ever talk like that, least of all our Lord, least of all then.

The word “this" deserves a closer look. Had he said, “Here is my body,” he might have meant that, in some mysterious way, his body was there, along with the bread, which seemed so plainly to be there. But since he said, “This is my body” –this which I am holding, this, which looks like bread but is not, this, which was bread before I blessed it– this is then his body. Similarly, this, which was wine, which still looks like wine, is not wine. It is now his blood.

Of course, if any man had said these same words before a piece of bread, that bread would have continued being so; but it was not any man who said these words. It was God who uttered these words and explicitly commanded the apostles to repeat that action forever.

The Holy Eucharist acts in the soul in the same way that ordinary food nourishes the body. Life in the body begins with generation, and then our body grows to full maturity, while we keep receiving food for our sustenance. Similarly, there is a spiritual generation into the life of grace: the sacrament of baptism. There is growth in that life: the sacrament of confirmation. All the while, however, we need spiritual food. In this case, our food is the Eucharist.
 
The external form of food is most appropriate to signify the union with Christ that is effected in this sacrament. However, there is a discrepancy in the comparison of the Eucharist with food. Whereas food is assimilated by the person fed, in the case of the Eucharist the person receiving it becomes assimilated into Christ, and becomes more “like Christ”.

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Jun 5 Wed - True Happiness and its Competitors.

 

Jun 5 Wed
True Happiness and its Competitors.
Some people around us are caught by one of these two currents:
Turbocapitalism is an acceleration of capitalism whose consequences in environmental, ethical, labor, and social cohesion fields are not exactly positive. It is the capitalism of desire, of the unnecessary, that makes us dizzy or perhaps blinds us to the best. It encloses us in an extravagant lifestyle and distances us from what is truly human.
 
Hyper-consumerism. Accelerated hyper-consumers are people interested in making the most of the present moment, without thought, in enjoying at all costs only in the purely material plane without respite.
 
In the end, they find: that happiness is not pleasure.
And happiness, they realize, understood as fulfillment, is not linked to pleasure or the momentary satisfaction of hyper-consumption. The most natural pleasures have moments that should not be squeezed out.  The reason is that lasting happiness is related to a life full of purpose, with an existence open to the reality of one's biography –integrating wonders and pains– but above all full of meaningful people.
 
Some wise researchers agree that full social relationships are the key to happiness. Family life, the life of courtship and married love, life surrounded by friends. Friends with whom you plan activities or simply contemplate the beauty of watching the hours pass together in endless reflective conversations: that is the happiness of fulfillment. Perhaps living your life in an altruistic manner –volunteering– or literary –lots of books and book clubs. Perhaps in civic associationism. Perhaps linked to gratitude for the constant gift of existence. And always in a physically active life that speaks of walking, perhaps running, and also of eating wisely, which is nothing more than eating little and healthy.
 
These researchers agree on the transcendent approach: happiness has to do with a meaningful life, a life with a purpose, that points to religion. Also, community life, religious participation, meditation, a sense of belonging, and commitment, are keys to human flourishing.
 
What about investing in leisure for human flourishing?
I do not understand, naively of course, why there is no market in this direction: products for human flourishing. (The economic returns of this industry may be slow and low). But many young people would enjoy this market to the fullest given their idealism and daring. Cultural excursions, meetings, readings, and lectures inspired by the science of human flourishing. Perhaps a more rural, communal, de-stressed life. Shared life, familiar and discreet, simple and austere and at the same time rich in reflection and wisdom, in serene experiences of beauty and in contemplation where God welcomes those who meditate and search. I know it.
 
But it seems that hedonistic hyper-consumption is more profitable, which besides being very unhealthy, does not provide us with happiness. Family and school have a determining role here: to educate in leisure and for life and human flourishing, which is usually very prosocial.
Some excerpts from Ignasi de Bofarull

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Jun 3 Mon - Why can't women become priests? Part 2

 

Jun 3 Mon
Why can't women become priests? Part 2
The roots of the exclusively male priesthood are neither anthropological (a supposed superiority of men) nor “strategic” (a supposed greater autonomy), but come from Revelation: God has revealed, established, and given us the ministerial priesthood in a masculine form, not feminine, and for this reason the Church does not consider herself authorized to change this disposition, admitting women to priestly ordination.

The twelve Apostles, whom Jesus chose to make them sharers in his priesthood, were men, not women. Later, they continued choosing male candidates.

This was well established from the beginning. When, in the first centuries of Christianity, sects arose that wanted to entrust the exercise of the priestly ministry to women, they were immediately rebuked and denounced as heresies. Even in the following centuries, the Church considered it a binding apostolic practice.

Some may think that this practice was conditioned by the circumstances of the time, in which the figure of women had little public relevance and was viewed in a subordinate position. We must remember, however, that Jesus did not allow himself to be conditioned by the cultural customs of the time, but openly challenged them, also concerning women: he spoke freely with them, he gave them as an example in the parables, he granted them equal rights concerning marriage, he welcomed sinners, etc.

The apostles, for their part, did not yield on this issue either when evangelization expanded outside the Semitic sphere to the Greek and then the Roman world, where, because of the existence of pagan priestesses, the presence of “Christian priestesses” would not have scandalized.

Moreover, the Son of God became incarnate by taking on a human nature sexed in a masculine, not feminine, mode, and it is the virtue of that human nature, which is the instrument of the divine, that is made sacramentally present in the candidate when he is ordained a priest.

In short, the masculine human nature of Jesus Christ is sacramentally “prolonged” in a human “support” that must necessarily be masculine to be a valid support. Let us not forget that the incarnation of the Son of God does not end with his Ascension into heaven: Jesus Christ was male and continues to be male.

Indeed, the New Testament does not explicitly address the question of the non-admission of women to the priesthood. But it is Revelation as a whole –the New Testament data read in the light of the living Tradition of the Church– that expresses the ecclesial faith about the matter.

The Church has officially affirmed this doctrine “to clear up any doubt on a question of great importance, which concerns the divine constitution of the Church herself,” and St. John Paul II reaffirmed “that the Church has in no way the faculty to confer priestly ordination on women, and that this sentence must be considered definitive by all the faithful.” This doctrine “requires definitive assent” because “it has been infallibly proposed by the ordinary and universal Magisterium.”

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Jun 4 Tue - How can I serve God on earth and keep my eyes on heaven?

 

Jun 4 Tue
How can I serve God on earth and keep my eyes on heaven?
Sometimes, we may feel that same desire which St Peter expressed on Mount Tabor: “Lord, it is good for us to be here!" We would like to enjoy the fullness of the vision of God and forget about our task on earth. But now the angels’ question, ‘Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.’ impels us to throw ourselves into our work, to be contemplatives in the challenges of everyday life, to go out to the whole world and teach the good news to all: to travel the world from one end to the other, our hearts filled with God's presence, to make him known to everyone.”
 
“God did not create us to build a lasting city here on earth, because this world is the way to that other, a dwelling-place free from care. Nevertheless, St. Josemaría writes, we, children of God, must not remain aloof from earthly endeavors, for God has placed us here to sanctify them and make them fruitful with our blessed faith, which alone is capable of bringing true peace and joy to all men wherever they may be.”
 
“I have constantly preached that we urgently need to Christianize society. We must imbue all levels of mankind with a supernatural outlook, and each of us must strive to raise his daily duties, his job or profession, to the level of supernatural grace. In this way, all human occupations will be lit up by a new hope that transcends time and the inherent transience of earthly realities."
 
“We must be contemplatives in the world. Inspired by the world, we have to set ourselves to work with still greater energy, since we know our Lord will return, even though we know neither the day nor the hour." This uncertainty cannot be allowed to lessen the urgency with which a child of God acts. On the contrary, it will incite us to live with loving vigilance, to finish everything, whether big or small, as if it were the last thing we do before going to the Father.
 
A great task awaits us, insists St. Josemaría. “We cannot remain inactive, because our Lord has told us clearly, ‘Trade till I come.’ As long as we are awaiting the Lord's return, when he will come to take full possession of his kingdom, we cannot afford to relax."
 
We must continue serving God on earth with our eyes on heaven.
“The same Christ, who encourages us to carry out our task in the world, awaits us in heaven as well. In other words, our life on earth, which we love, is not definitive. We do not have a permanent dwelling place here, but we seek that which is to come, a changeless home, where we may live forever."

Pic: The Risen Savior appears to His Mother -van der Weyden.

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Jun 3 Mon - Can women become priests? Part 1

 

Jun 3 Mon
Can women become priests? Part 1
Recently, a religious leader –kind of surprised– stated that he “had met many women with priestly vocation.”
I have met plenty, ALL OF THEM.

St. Josemaría reminded us that, “All men and women should have a priestly soul, and are called to share intimately in the sentiments of Christ's Heart." This is the BAPTISMAL PRIESTHOOD of all Christians, a participation in Christ’s eternal priesthood.

All Christians, each according to the particular vocation God has given us, must continue our apostolic mission until the end of time, carrying a priestly seal of the Holy Spirit imprinted on our souls. “Do you not know that a priestly mission has been conferred on the whole Church, on the body of the faithful, on you? Listen to what Peter tells the simple faithful: you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart." And because of our divine vocation, we are called to live it with a “truly priestly soul and a fully lay mentality." It is something we have to live to the full in the middle of the world.

We should turn our whole day into a continuous opportunity to unite ourselves with Christ and save souls, as our Mother did. “With the priestly soul which I ask our Lord to grant all of you, you should strive to make your whole life into a continuous act of praise to God amid your ordinary activities: constant prayer and reparation, petition and sacrifice for all souls. And you should do all this in close, purposeful union with Christ Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar."

People with a truly priestly soul have the sense of being co-redeemers. Being light, a guide, and a good shepherd to all. A priestly soul shares the desires that filled the Heart of Jesus: to guide souls, to teach the truth, to give doctrine.

Our priestly soul enables us to spend our whole life as a constant service to God, “not only at the Altar but in the whole world - which is an altar for us. All the works of men are done as if on an altar, and each of you, in that union of contemplative souls which is your day, say in some way ‘your Mass’, which lasts for twenty-four hours, in expectation of the Mass to follow, which will last another twenty-four hours, and so on until the end of our life."

Moreover, Jesus also instituted the ministerial priesthood, by which some men are chosen, ordained as priests, and configured with Christ (it is not a right of all, but a divine vocation). They act in the sacraments – in an eminent way in the celebration of the Eucharist – in the name of Christ and of his Church. Thus, the ministerial priesthood (conferred by Holy Orders) is at the service of the baptismal priesthood of all the faithful.

Icon Hodegetria; the Virgin Mary points to Jesus as the source of salvation for humankind, while he raises his hand in a blessing gesture.

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Jun 2 Sun - The Eucharist is the food for eternal life.

 

Jun 2 Sun
The Eucharist is the food for eternal life.
Today we must give many thanks to God for having remained amongst us, in the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. We should express to him our joy at having him so close to us: “O Godhead hid, devoutly I adore thee,” we will repeat to him many times this day from the very depths of our hearts.

When we visit the Blessed Sacrament, we will be able to say slowly to Our Lord, with love: “I do not see your wounds as St Thomas saw them, but I confess that you are my God."

The Church and the world have a great need for eucharistic devotions. Jesus is waiting for us in this sacrament of Love. Let us not be sparing in the time we spend going to meet him in adoration, in contemplation filled with faith, and let us be prepared to make reparation for the many grave faults and offenses committed against him in the world. May our adoration never cease. Today especially has to be filled with acts of faith and love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

For many years God fed manna to the people of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. This was an image and symbol of the pilgrim Church and of each individual who journeys towards his or her definitive homeland - Heaven. That food given in the desert of Sinai is a figure of the true food for eternal life, the Holy Eucharist.

Today is a day of thanksgiving and joy because God has wanted to remain with us to feed us and to strengthen us, so that we may never feel alone. The Holy Eucharist is the viaticum, the food for the long journey of our days on Earth towards the goal of true Life. Jesus accompanies us and strengthens us here in this world, where our life is like a shadow compared to the reality that awaits us. Earthly food is a pale image of the food we receive in Holy Communion. The Holy Eucharist opens up our hearts to a completely new reality.

Thank you, Lord, for remaining with us. What would have become of us without you? Where would we have gone to restore our strength and to ask for consolation? From the Tabernacle, how easy you make the way for us!

Let us ask Our Lord, then, to make us souls devoted to the Blessed Eucharist, so that our relationship with him brings forth joy and serenity and a desire for justice. In this way will we make it easier for others to recognize Christ; we will put Christ at the center of all human activities. And Jesus’ promise will be fulfilled: ‘I when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself’ (John 12:32) (St. Josemaría).
Excerpts from F. Fernández Carvajal.

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