Looking Within

15 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic Adoration, Faith, Fear, Love

Tags

Adoration, Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic Adoration, Fortitude, Justice, Looking Inside, Looking Within, Love, Prudence, Self Revelation, Silent Retreat, Temperance, Virtue

A couple weeks ago my gracious wife gave me the latest music CD from Jerry Jeff Walker. His mellow baritone voice, guitar style, and heartfelt story-songs have appealed to me since the early seventies. Taking my comment that I’d never seen Jerry Jeff in concert as a cue, she checked and found he doesn’t have a tour. But, she did find that he recently produced his first album in ten years. As I listened to It’s About Time, I thought it could be his best album ever.

One particular lyric that caught my attention was from the song, The Rain Song. He wrote:

“The hardest thing a man can do / Is look inside and see the truth / About himself”

That line grabbed me not just because of how simple yet profound it is, but because I’d been thinking much the same thing. There were some things weighing on my heart and I needed to work them out. I just wasn’t sure how to do it.

Then, last Wednesday, our parish offered a day of Adoration with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. hour for that day was void of a regular adorer so I volunteered to take it. Later, as I was driving somewhere, The Rain Song came on my stereo and within moments I heard that verse. It hit me that I needed to spend my time with Jesus in reflection looking within myself. And, since I had nothing else planned for Wednesday, I decided to spend not just one hour but a half day before Jesus in a self-imposed silent retreat.

Those hours spent in prayer, meditation and reflection were some of the best I’ve ever spent. The experience was like having a second conversion. As I prayed for the Holy Spirit to enter my heart and reveal to me the “truth”, I invited Christ to help me work through my fears. I asked Him to lead me, to give me direction, and I promised to follow. I laid it all out and then I shut up and listened. He didn’t disappoint.

Over those four hours I learned a lot about myself. And, when time was up, I knew where I stood. I knew that, to get to where I wanted to be, it would require some hard work and a measure of suffering, both born of love, but the fruits would be worth it. I knew, too, that I wouldn’t have to go it alone, that Christ’s love would be there with me every step of the way.

Jesus said, “Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7). He convinced me last week that if I knock on His door seeking through prayer the knowledge of the Prudent thing to do, Justice in why it should be done, Temperance for knowing the right measure, and Fortitude to make it happen, He will open that door and provide the right answers. With His help it wasn’t all that hard after all.

I’m convinced, too, that the best place for this to happen is with Him in Adoration. Give it a try.

“Jesus, I love you and thank you for your most generous love. Thank you for sending your Spirit into my heart revealing to me that which I needed to hear. Thank you for the grace to come to you in prayer and for giving me the strength to do what is right and just. Amen.”

(Looking Within was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

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The Eucharist – Nutrition for the Soul

09 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Eucharist

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bacon and Eggs, Blessed Sacrament, Breakfast of Champions, Eucharist, Grace, Percent Daily Value

I’m a bacon and eggs kind of guy. For breakfast that is. Some folks are baffled that I can eat the same thing every day. But, I don’t, actually. Some days my eggs are over medium, some days scrambled. Sometimes I make an omelet and use different ingredients depending on what’s in the refrigerator.

But, sadly, some days, like this morning, I don’t have time to fry my bacon and eggs. I slept in a little this morning and didn’t give myself time to prepare a regular breakfast and eat it by the hour-before-receiving-Holy-Communion deadline. I hate when that happens. When it does, I usually just wait until I get home from morning mass to eat breakfast. But, this morning I had some running around to do after mass and thought I’d better eat something before I go.

Looking in the fridge I found a half gallon of milk that needed to be drank before expiring and I thought it would go well with a bowl of cereal. Checking the cupboard, there was a box of my wife’s bran flakes and a partial bag of muesli. So, I filled a large bowl with flakes, topped it off with a good measure of muesli, and added milk to the point where I could start to see it rise up over the edge of the cereal. I knew I could wolf that down with time to spare.

As I munched I started reading nutritional information on the packages. A serving of bran flakes was a cup and a serving of muesli was a quarter cup. Looking at my bowl, I easily had two of each. The calories per serving count were 110 and 140, respectively. So, I had 500 calories roughly. Considering I planned to eat three meals today, and 2,000 calories per day is the government recommended allowance, I thought I’m still doing okay. But, looking at the nutrients, I calculated I was only getting about 30 percent of my daily value of the recommended fiber, eight percent daily value of fats and a minuscule amount of vitamins and minerals!

“What’s up with this?”, I thought. The math didn’t add up. Am I only supposed to eat one serving of just one of the cereals for breakfast? If I have a serving of each will it ruin my health? What if I had two servings of one and none of the other? And, how do the people who think up these rules know what I’m going to eat the rest of the day to round out my nutritional intake to match their recommendations? I didn’t get it.

I really missed my bacon and eggs. I have no idea what a serving of them is, nor their nutritional value, and I don’t care. They fill me up and make me happy.

I drained the last drop out of my coffee cup and jumped in the car and headed to church.

There wasn’t much out of the ordinary at mass except that today is the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, the first actual dedicated church building to be built since Christianity began, and which church still stands and is the official seat or “cathedra” of the Pope.

At communion, I proceeded to the altar to receive the Blessed Sacrament, the Bread and Wine, the Body and Blood of Jesus. As I accepted the sacrament I thanked Jesus for filling me with His love, for putting His Holy Spirit in my heart, and giving me the strength I needed to face the challenges of the day. And, as I returned to my seat and knelt, I thought about breakfast, serving sizes and percent daily values. With a smile, I knew that whether I’d had a whole Host or the smallest fragment, a drop of wine or a chalice full, I had received one hundred and ten percent of my daily value of the grace of God. It was true nutrition for my soul!

“Jesus, You fill me up. You make me happy. Amen.”

(The Eucharist – Nutrition for the Soul was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)