I've Been Thinking.... About Prayer

A few weeks ago, while I was sitting at Mass I felt like a book wedged between two bookends; two very different bookends, at that. Sitting on one side of me was a family of about 8 (I didn't actually do a head count) and on the other side was a family of 4. 
I must admit both sets of kids were very well-behaved which was nice. (I know I'm starting to sound like a cranky pants with this but it will come in handy further down in the post., I promise). I also want to point out that I didn't sit and stare at all of these people it was just something I observed intermittently throughout the service. The Dad with the larger fam pointed out where we were throughout the Mass, told the kids what pages the hymns were on and really worked at keeping the kids involved and interested in what was going on. The family of 4? Well, they looked like they were being held hostage with no means of escape and with no end in sight. I even snuck a peek at them while saying the Our Father. The Mother was yawning and looking at her watch. The others were equally uninvolved.  Now, I would love to say that I was the attentive parent that taught my son well, but sadly I was the watch monitor to my right during his formative years. Sometimes I did feel like it was a chore bore to get to Mass and trust me, I was raised very well by my parents, I was expected to participate in the Mass as a child,  and was even in the choirs.

Here's the thing, though, Mass is the ultimate form of prayer. It is the ultimate in praise. I can pretty much surmise that if attending Mass weekly is not important to you, if praying at said Mass isn't as well, then there is a woefully shallow chance that you will say daily prayers either. I'm not even going to mention the Bible. That's probably collecting dust on a bookshelf somewhere.  I've been there. I know. Now? I'm one of those people that are like an ex-smoker that will get in your face about smoking or someone who has just found the next great diet and tells everyone how to eat. For me now it's about rattling cages and getting people to open up their eyes to how and for what they are praying.

If you have a home, furniture, heating/a/c, water, electric, a car and a vast wardrobe you have more than Jesus had in life or especially during His ministry days. He had the clothes on his back and the sandals on His feet. That's it. It occurred to me that the homeless, those that do not know where their next meal is coming from, are living a life pretty close to that of Jesus. He even mentions it in the Bible,  "As they were walking along the road someone said to Jesus, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus replied, foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head." Luke 9:58. If I contemplate that it makes me feel very foolish to ask Jesus for anything but I know that should I ask Him for help with say putting food on my table or keeping a roof over my head that He will respond. God knows what we need before we know it and it will be provided be it through our own work or that of another.

Pray with an open heart and without strings, i.e. God, if you let the [insert team name here] win, I will go to Mass this Sunday. Have a daily dialogue with Him. Thank Him for every good thing that you have in life, your health, your home, warmth, food, family. Ask Him for help getting the things that can help you to live a good life here like a job, another job, so that you can not only support yourself and your loved ones but those that are less fortunate than you are as well. Humbly ask him for healing of mind, body or soul for yourself or your loved ones. If it is His will, I assure you He will answer your prayers. If you are meant to live a life of wealth, you will do exactly that. No need to pray to win the lotto.

Pray for your loved ones, your neighbors, your friends. Pray for people that are suffering from health problems or natural disasters. Pray for those that are persecuted and those that have not heard the message of Jesus. Pray for your enemies, your frenemies and even terrorists that they have a conversion of heart. Say morning, afternoon and evening prayers. Say Novenas. Pray the Rosary. Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3:00 P.M. Pray before meals, and after. There are so many things to pray for and that's why it is so important to do it every day. That's why attending Mass is so important too. At Mass we do pray for so many as well as praising God. Trust me when I say that anyone that attends Mass regularly, and participates in it, and prays daily is so much more balanced and accepting of their cross in life than any other person you will encounter. The Holy Trinity is the way, the truth and the light and without them, and a personal relationship with them through daily dialogue, life is pretty dark. Pray for grace. Pray for an increased faith and prayer life. Pray for your own redemption and for others. Pray for peace.

Thank God for every thing in your life, even the little seemingly inconsequential things. I thanked Him just this morning because I was able to print shipping labels on a temperamental printer. (I just thanked Him again because I thought I had erased this blog post. whew.)

I wish that I could turn back time to when my son was young. That is the best time to teach children about prayer and all of the Sacraments, but especially the Mass. I've said it in prior posts, faith has to be nurtured throughout life but the seeds have to be planted by the parent. Wishing won't make it happen; actions will. If you are like I was I implore you to immerse yourself in the Mass next time you go. If your child sees that you are interested, they too will be. They want to emulate you but teach them about how important God is. He answers in His time, not yours, make sure you impart that as well. This way, when He does not answer the prayers right away they don't ask Satan for things. It sounds odd to say that, I know, but that is what the pop star Rhianna supposedly told her followers to do. (SMH).

There is so much evil in the world we have to be secure in our faith and relationship with God the Father, God the son Jesus and God the Holy Spirit to withstand it. Prayer is your armor to do just that. Teach yourself to do it well and teach the children.

Have a blessed and beautiful week.

Mare

Jeremiah 1:5

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

I was reading the Bible yesterday and the power of this one line had such an impact on me that I am still pondering it today. Of course, this is part of the story of Jeremiah, who was a prophet in his time, but think of how that one line resonates with you, and everyone else, today and through the ages. If you think of the magnitude of this statement it is quite overwhelming and, frankly, sad, when you think of life from God's perspective. 

I think of an artist that has created a piece. Sure, it is an inanimate object, but that artist thought about it, sketched it out, designed it with specific colors, textures and objects. He or she made it a specific size and then shared it with everyone so that they too could be moved by it as well. That one piece has a part of the artist retained in it and, as an artist myself, I know that the piece is cherished even if it isn't kept. Usually with artists, no two original pieces are alike. That is the beauty of being an artist; you create pieces that are as unique as the sand granules on a beach or a snowflake.

God has done the same with us. Before He formed us, He thought of how we would look; who we would be; what we would accomplish and what gifts He was going to give us in order to do that work. He designed our senses, our thought process and our perceptions. He knew our hopes and our dreams. He knew what would make us laugh and He knew what would make us cry. He knew what part of the world He was going to put us into, so that we could learn the life lessons that we needed to learn in order for our souls to be enriched or for us to enrich someone else. He had a plan for each one of us. Before we were a twinkle in our parents' eyes, we were a twinkle in God's eyes. God knew us before we were conceived as a life in a womb, and He had great aspirations for us.  

How incredibly heartbreaking it must be for Him to watch us terminate that life with a pill or a procedure. What a very sad society we have become....

Earliest embryo stages in a human life

Eucharist Miracles in New York (of all places)

The world behind me; the cross before me.

I'm not sure how to begin this blog post. I have so many thoughts swirling through my head that I guess I will just delve in, take the plunge and talk straight up, no nonsense about the Eucharist and why we need Jesus.

On December 25, 2011 something happened that transformed my life, yet I never fully understood the message nor the enormity of it until just last night. Christmas was on a Sunday that year and I normally have my adoration hours from noon to two on Sundays. I switched with someone that year and pushed my hour back to one. Shortly after I arrived and sat down (I was alone) I heard a voice tell me to take a picture of the monstrance. I did not hear the voice with my ears. It was received in what is called an interior locution. This was not the first time that has happened to me, so I did as I was told. I happened to have my camera with me to take pictures of the church decorations so I took it out of my purse and snapped away. In all, I took 3 photos. The first time the flash went off. The second the camera was on macro (for close up), and the third was perfect, yet I stepped back to take it. I have shared 2 of the photos on here in the past and will do so again** but this post is about the picture that I never published. It is the one where the flash went off.

Last night, I got some forensic answers and a startling close up of the first photo that I took. I am going to share it here with you, along with one of the original photos, of a changed Host, still in the camera.

The second pic is the original photo, where the flash went off. The first is the same photo that has a forensic analysis and enlargement of the section that the top left corner is pointing to. The square shows the right hand side of the Eucharist, that is not blurred by the flash.

If you are able to see the person in the photo great! If not, look at the July 2017 post which has an illustration too. (You can find it be searching the posts on the top right of this blog).  It is relatively clear and shows the face of a man, dark hair, beard and mustache, with His head bowed in a somber position. It is the right of the host that was not affected by the flash.  The flecks of green across his face are because of the pixels in the photo. You can see the light reflecting off the glass in front of His profile in a few spots above his brow. It took my breath away to see it with my own eyes last night. It broke my heart to see the pain across His face.

This is a forensic analysis and enlargement of the pic follow this one.

Original photo, where the flash went off. You can see there is a figure on the right side of the host and the flash takes up the majority of the left half. That is why I never really paid attention to it before last night. 

A fellow adorer of mine, Ron Gatto, was gracious enough to outline the face of Jesus in the Eucharist. Ron cannot see the image, so his features are larger than those of Jesus' features. It does give you an approximate guide on where to see the face, in profile.

JESUS CHRIST IS PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST. If you are a lukewarm or fallen away Catholic, get yourself back to church. If you are one of those that dash for the doors at Communion time, this is WHO you are running out of the doors from. If you are going up to receive Communion please be in a state of grace. What does that mean? Stop sinning and go to Confession. Say the Act of Contrition while you are on line. Take Communion on your tongue instead of onto your dirty hands. Visit with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Find a local perpetual adoration chapel and commit to an hour with Him. You will thank me for it as it will change your life. *Catholics and Coptic Christians WILL be judged harsher than any other faith. Did you know that? Yeah, it is true. It is because we have Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.  Pray. Pray every day for everyone, including those that you dislike. 

If you are another form of Christianity or of another faith, I hope that this humble post opens your eyes and your hearts. 

Bring yourself to Christ in the Eucharist. He is waiting for you.

**To see the story behind this experience please visit our Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqorS3cCP7Q

Mother Mary, To Thee I Pray

Oh gentle and peaceful Mother
most blessed Handmaiden of God
for centuries our world has been inspired
by the images of your own ecstasy and agony

The image of you, our perfect Mother
in a humble stable
rocking your new born Son in your arms
and gently laying him in a creche
filled with straw of golden hues
On that holiest of nights
the great star shines down and
the angels proclaim
Glory to God in the highest

And

The image of you, our heartbroken Mother
Holding the battered and broken body
of your Son in your arms
While you clutch Him closer
to the heaving grief of your own heart
the ground quakes, the tears of heaven rain down
and the angels are silenced

Dear Mother Mary, to thee I pray

That I may be the all loving Mother that you are
That I may bring the peace and joy of God
to my home and family as you did; and
that I may emulate your strength,
grace and forgiveness
during this life's darkest of days

Amen.

An original poem of Marianne E. Hare 4/17/08