Vol.5 No.42 DoM E Message
Spiritual Gift of the Week
We pray for the grace to “set our face” towards our destiny-our Jerusalem. We ask for the grace to seek your will-not our own-each day in all that we do and say. We ask for Mary’s intercession, that we may “shake off” and forgive those who have caused doubts and conflicts in our past. We ask for the wisdom to recognize your voice, and to act according to your Spirit of freedom within us as we move resolutely forward as your true disciples in this present age.
Spiritual Instruction of the Week
Lord, give us the grace to pray with gratitude and love during the Eucharistic Celebration.
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Dear Beautiful Daughters of Mary,
We are grateful to God for Fr. Norbert Jurek, who has served as parochial vicar of St. Ignatius Parish. His deep faith and joy has been contagious. We have learned from him, as a homilist, as a confessor and as a friend. On Tuesday his words on Eucharist were received with open minds and hearts. Cindy Warner is preparing the video of Fr. Norbert’s presentation for all to enjoy. Until that time, please reflect upon the following notes taken from Fr. Norbert’s presentation. Although these notes do not capture his humor or holiness, they do offer the major points of his reflection. His words are filled with depth and meaning.
“I want to talk about the Eucharist, the greatest prayer—the most beautiful prayer that we have. No other prayer is as powerful or amazing. No other prayer is as perfect. The saints teach us this. Devotion to Mary is connected to devotion to the Eucharist. A few things that are important to know and experience when we go to the Eucharistic celebration.
First, Daughters of Mary is great preparation for discovering Jesus in the Eucharist. As you reflect upon God’s Word each Tuesday, you are preparing yourself for Eucharist and for the Word of God at Mass.
Many times when we go to Eucharist we want to be active. Many think we are too passive, but during Eucharist we are meant to be passive. We come to Eucharist passive, it is right to do this. We come to Eucharist with nothing. Everything that we are and everything we have is God’s gift and grace. When we participate in Eucharistic liturgy we learn to receive. First, we receive his Word, and then, we receive his Body. Christ tells us “Take and eat— Take and drink.” Listen, receive, take—-this is what happens in Eucharist. But we want to be active, we want to be author of our lives, we want control. So we remember, during Eucharist we should give God control and we should receive.
Eucharist is a school of love. As we learn to receive we learn to give. We learn to give because Christ gives himself for us, so that we can give our lives for others. We want to be able to give and share ourselves especially with those who are difficult. We need to receive first from Christ, and then we are able to give to others.
There are many distractions during Eucharist. Distractions show what is in our hearts. If you are thinking of our husband, it means we are to pray for him. Distractions don’t disturb our prayer, they show us where our prayer is going. Distractions are important to teach us what is going on in our hearts. We should concentrate on distractions, use them, and include them into our prayer. They show the truth about us.
There is one thing we can give during Eucharist. We offer our intentions. We offer Eucharist for someone who needs our prayer, for our deceased or for living loved ones. Prepare. Think ahead. Plan what we will put on the altar, and then offer it from our hearts. We can always ask ourselves, during the offertory, what will I offer? God will transform our heart and our offering—just as he transforms the bread and wine into his own Body and Blood.
Give thanks after the Eucharist. The word itself, eucharistia, means thank you. We are thanking God for his Son Jesus Christ who gives himself for us. We have nothing, except to ask forgiveness. We have nothing better to give to God than Jesus Christ his Son. We should find personal time to say thank you. I am impressed by some young people who are able to stay after Mass and pray in thanksgiving. There is something beautiful about staying to talk to Jesus and to reverently thank him at the end of Mass, rather than talking to one another.
So the Eucharist, the most perfect prayer, calls us to be passive and to receive. We receive love, that we may learn to love and to give love. We focus on our distractions as a way to learn what is going on in our hearts, and we bring those distractions into our prayer. We offer the intentions of our hearts so that God will transform us. And finally we give thanks to God for his Son. All of this will make our celebration of Eucharist the perfect prayer for us.”
Dear Beautiful Daughters of Mary, as we pray to receive the graces God offers to us in the Eucharist, let us also pray for Fr. Norbert. We pray with confidence that God will continue to guide and protect him as he begins his priestly ministry in Auburn, Alabama. Fr. Norbert, you will be greatly missed. Thank you for spending time with us, for loving us, and most of all for your amazing love for God. You are a gift from God for us. The Daughters of Mary love you dearly. Godspeed.
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One more note on Eucharist as the most perfect prayer. It is most perfect because when we receive the Eucharist, we receive Christ. Let us do so with confidence in God—as Pope Francis has said— “Let us allow God to fill our hearts with his goodness and mercy…”
Veni, Spirito Santo, la misericordia di Dio ci salva—
Come Holy Spirit, it is by God’s mercy that we are saved,
Deb
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