There are things that make life possible. There are things that make life worth living. Food and water and shelter make human existence possible. But what makes life sweet, and beautiful, and rich? Today’s Gospel holds the clues.
Recently I was at a Mass and ceremony on the 25th anniversary of Profession for a Sister of St. Francis. What an inspiration it was! This was a reminder for me and all of us present about what a gift our Profession is to us. It was a reminder that during our years as Franciscans, we make a sincere effort to make present the charism of our common Seraphic Father in the life and mission of the church.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that when God is present, when God acts, there is always enough. God brings light and life in our darkest moments.
... how grateful I am for the gift of fraternity: “What is truly special and emotional for me, though, is to see how people of different backgrounds, languages, and cultures are so much alike in our love for one another, for God, and for our Franciscan vocation. The Holy Spirit has given each one of us the exact gifts and talents we need to allow us to get along and to be productive. It's a bit of a miracle to see what even a tiny "temporary" fraternity can accomplish if we are open to the Spirit and to one another.”
“It was truly an extraordinary experience,” said Susan Ronan, secretary of the National Executive Council Secular Franciscan Order-USA, as the Eucharistic Congress entered its closing hours in Indianapolis. Tens of thousands of attendees will be commissioned Sunday morning to go out into the world with a renewed passion for Our Lord and to proclaim the Gospel.
Ours is a world drunk with power. Fear extinguishes the flame of virtue. The center of the universe is not God, but ourselves.
“The Eucharist is the real presence of Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity as we adore him locked in the tabernacle, in the monstrance on the altar, or carried in procession,” Cardinal Dolan told the crowd of worshippers.
The 10th National Eucharistic Congress opens today and runs through July 21 in Indianapolis in Expo Hall at the Convention Center.
It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. God had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose God is working out in everything and in everyone.
Fear and anxiety are human constructs, human obstacles when we lack what is necessary to bring forth the good in ourselves and the good in others.