Sunday, June 6, 2010

Mass experience



Today, I realized something at Mass as I was looking at the crucifix.
It's really something obvious, and kind of one of those "duh!" moments...but it hit me hard today.

Let me start off by saying we all have friends, and friends come and go. Sometimes we will even mistreat each other. I've had my share of good friends, and bad. Friends can be a good thing, of course--if their morals are good.





And maybe it's part of my cynical views, but I believe no matter who you know...good or bad...there's going to be a chance of someone hurting you in some way. Things change, break-ups happen, friendships sometimes end, and fights happen.

It's not fun, but that's all part of life.





As humans, we were made to love. We want to be loved, and love back.



It's normal, because that's how God created us! In a way, He kind of wrote "love" upon our hearts. He created the universe, and all the animals, but he created US to get to know Him, love Him, and serve Him. With his infinite love and mercy, he is the perfect friend.



And yet, why don't we treat Him as such? Why is it so hard for us to keep close to Him?

Is it simply because we can't see Him, or hear Him? How silly that is. If you pray, you begin to know Him. Keeping a prayer life is not always easy, so we need to pray for perseverance. If you read scripture, you hear Him, because that's His word. Can you see Him? In a way-- through the Eucharist. The Eucharist is ALL of Him. Body, blood, soul and divinity. Yes, it may appear as bread and wine, but as Catholics...that's not what we believe. We believe that it's the TRUE presence of Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit works through the priest to give us the bread of life.





I speak of the Eucharist because of the feast of Corpus Christi. Every time we go to Mass, we experience the last supper & Christ's passion. It's not like taking a time machine into the past, no. We're actually experiencing it NOW. We are present with all the angels, with all the Saints, and with Mary at the foot of the altar just as she was at the foot of the cross.

At Mass, we are given the greatest opportunity to really get to know our friend by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. We receive an opportunity to fall in love with our friend. This friend is God. At Mass, we join the angels in Heaven with unending praise.
It's beautiful...to have a friend that loves you, and that you can love back.
“I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10). This is what Jesus desires the most: to fill us with the fullness of His life. It is by His presence in the Eucharist that Jesus best communicates to us His divine life: “in him, in bodily form, lives divinity in all its fullness” (Col 2:9).

We have a God that is standing there, waiting with open arms, to embrace us.
It doesn't matter how bad you have sinned, He STILL loves you. His love is unconditional, and we can't even begin to fathom how great it truly is.
If everything seems to be changing in your life, remember that His love never will.



So, basically..what I realized is this: if you're ever feeling lonely, or just went through a break up, or lost someone, whatever it is.... just remember that you have a friend that's always waiting for you. Someone that will love you unconditionally, and will never leave your side. We're all in this together, and we all need to encourage one another to strive to get to Heaven. To to daily Mass if you can. Pray, go to adoration with someone, join a rosary group, there is endless possibilities. Bottom line is just to really get to know God, love God, and serve God, so that we can be with Him in the next life.
We have the best friend there is. That should be enough.
As long as you're living, don't ignore Him.
He thirsts for our love.

“I so ardently thirst to be loved by men in the most Blessed Sacrament that this thirst devours me”
-(Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary)






2 comments:

Jolieann11 said...

I love this. We had Communion last Sunday it was miraculous. My tears were endless almost. I felt so unworthy however through endless prayer God made it clear to me that I am worthy because I believed he died for my sins, and it would honor him if I did take of the flesh and blood of Christ. It showed that I loved him even more than I thought I did. We gathered in circles all over the church and sung praises to Jesus. We all felt together in Christ. Love radiated from everyone. It filled the Church from top to bottom. We left home with all these wonderful emotions in side of us.

Also very true about friends, life and loneliness. Christ stickith closer to us than a brother. (I say it in my own words I am not stating by scripture)
What a wonderful post!
:)
Peace Love and Happiness
God Bless

Salvatore J Arena said...

Layna,
Do you know who painted and when, the picture of the Mass you have posted here. Is it called Purgatory?