Month: February 2024

60). Covid Communion

     During Covid when the churches were closed and we weren’t able to receive the Sacraments, our parish responded by offering appointments to come to the church singly and receive the Eucharist.  How we missed our daily Mass and the easy access to communion!  What a gift it was for our pastor to make this arrangement to allow us to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament!

     I’m often at church lately when it is empty (one of my favorite times and places 🙂 and the memory of that blessed Encounter always touches my heart.  We had to enter by the front door, one at a time with a designated  appointment. The church was empty and silent; the only person present was our pastor, who sat in the chancel near the tabernacle and awaited each solo arrival.

  

  I arrived at my appointed time and entered the front door.  Before me was the long aisle, with empty pews on both sides – the aisle seemed so long!  The silence was palpable, and my footsteps seemed so loud as I gingerly made my way toward the chancel and the communion rail. It seemed such along way to walk!  Fr Joseph rose from his chair, and awaited me as I knelt down to receive the Blessed Sacrament.  It was a holy moment, with not a breath stirring in the church.  Jesus came to me, from the hands of this holy priest, and I was so aware of the sacredness of this Encounter.  A short pause, and then I exited by the side door as another soul came to receive the Eucharist.

     How grateful I am for this memory, and how I want each reception of the Eucharist to carry the same reverential blessing as my Covid reception! How blessed I am to have an unlocked church where I can come in the quiet of its emptiness and stand there at the entrance, reliving this moment!  

     Lord God, how blessed we are to be able to receive You in the Blessed Sacrament!  Thank you for the creative and generous ways your Church responded to the Covid desert, through the goodness and holiness of your priests!  May I never take the reception of communion for granted, and keep this memory alive in my heart…

59) Lenten Resolution ~ silence

A new season of Lent, another opportunity to draw closer to Jesus, through Mary, to eternity! What resolution might help me on the journey? What came to mind was to commit to posting one “Musing” each week, long overdue. My friend’s weekly postings have been an inspiration and encouragement to do the same, so we’ll start today, and check back in at Easter to see how it went. I believe it will enrich my Lenten season, and hopefully drop a little grace for anyone who might chance to read them :). Here goes for week one:

“Be in the silent heart of Jesus”.   St Mother Terese Couderc.   2/15/24

     The words of St Mother Couderc to Anne Marie Schmidt have been coming to mind for me often lately.  To “be in the silent heart of Jesus.” What does that mean? What does it look like?

     For me, it’s a call to stop “thinking” and just BE with Jesus.  Taking a moment for prayer in the Spirit, and then a few moments of silence, close to His Sacred Heart.  WITHIN His Sacred Heart.  Going to a mental image of a location where I particularly am filled with the sense of wonder and awe at the Beauty of God’s Creation.  For me, this is in the woods Up North, in the Spring when the forget-me-nots are in full bloom and so thick, they look like a lake of brilliant blue in the woods.  Like steams of living water, gently moving with the breeze.

Our Marian Servant community is like the forget-me-nots.  The daisies?  Perhaps the Trinity, with the Saints and our Angels?  We’re all in this together, into eternity.

        How does this relate to “being in the silent heart of Jesus?” I’m reminded of the sacred silence that followed watching the film clip from “Saving Mr Banks.” It touched our hearts, our need for healing, and left us as a group in holy silence – any words spoken would surely have broken this tangible Presence we all felt.  The words from the song, “Mercy is falling, is falling, is falling…Mercy is falling like a sweet spring rain…” embodied the sense we had of God’s Presence, and His healing touch.  I want to spend more time in this precious place.  Not thinking, just Being with the Lord, in silence.     

Father God, help me to spend time with you in the Sacred Heart of Your Son.  In silence, just to BE there with Him.  To listen, to receive, and to bring Your love and mercy to a fearful and hurting world…