Lent for Clarity

To all out there who were checking regularly to see if I had posted anything new, I am sorry.  But at some point, I realized that I just needed to sit back and watch as Lent progressed to Easter and the Easter Season.  By the Grace of God, I received what I was looking for.



What are we here for?

I traveled about 2 hours to the parish where I went for Easter Mass.  It was a parish that I use to attend regularly before I moved.  I was part of the Latin Mass community - a subgroup of parishioners that weren't all local to the parish, but who came and supported the Latin Mass at this parish.  The Monsignor that leads the parish is a faithful man who is very experienced with the Latin Mass, has dozens of altar BOYS and has vocations coming out of this parish.  In a sea of troubles within my diocese, he does all that he can do.

During the Easter Mass conducted in the Tridentine form, I experienced something that I had never realized before.  For the first time in my life, I felt what it must have been like to be a Catholic before the dark times.  I felt what it was like to be a part of something SPECIAL.  I felt the very distinct, and demanding, calling of Our Lord to those of us who follow Him.  I followed the red book (for the Latin Mass) that further explained that a Catholic's whole life was dedicated to serving God and evangelize the world.  

In essence, what I realized is this -- all the changes in the Church, everything that you could possibly list as elements of the Church and the Faith, have been for one reason - to take away everything that makes a Catholic feel special because he believes in the Truth.  

The Mass -- corrupted and Protestantized.

Sacramentals (like the Rosary) -- no longer taught and emphasized.

Real Presence -- denied through actions and "practices".

Catholic Catechesis -- purposely mistaught.  


For the entirety of the Mass yesterday afternoon, I experienced a true ritual from an faithful Priest who treated the Eucharist with the highest deference and respect.  I heard a homily that helped me conceptualize the Lent we finished and the Easter Season we just entered into.  I heard in the homily a Priest actually express a real desire for the laity to have a prayerful experience at Mass.

I felt special, just like every other Catholic since the Apostles followed Our Lord through Galilee felt special for the joy and responsibility that comes from following the Way, the Truth and the Life.  That is what has been stolen from us by many in the Church over the last 60 years who had other priorities (and likely other belief systems).  This is what we must take back.  

Which takes me to what I believe is the Most Important thing that faithful Catholics can do right now:

Eucharistic Adoration


I have the benefit at a parish nearby to be able to take advantage of an adoration chapel that is open 24 hours a day.  For those of you who have never experienced the absolute silence and calm of an adoration chapel with nothing between you and the presence of GOD, you have no idea what you are missing.  

Beyond the complete peace that enters your mind, body and spirit, you can feel, in the slightest way, what Heaven must be like.  There you have the opportunity to pray to Him, to be silent on Earth, away from this world and enter into the eternal world, and to allow Him to work in you.  It is different from receiving him worthily in Mass.  

And I believe that Eucharistic Adoration will save the Church.  Only the presence of God on earth will save us from the judgement of the Father for all that we have done against Him. Remember, Christ is our advocate to the Father, pleading mercy to the Father instead of the judgement that we deserve.  

If the devil rules this world, our only hope is God in this world.  The Eucharist.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I haven't read enough to know where you stand with regard to the church... evidently you believe that the real presence exists in the services you attend. I don't think it does, if you are still with the church as is now. Born protestant; after a circuitous route converted into the church via RCIA which always seemed... somehow not right, saw that the services at the historic Our Lady of Peace Cathedral in Honolulu were more protestant than I remembered growing up in the Episcopal Church, and left. www.novusordowatch.org, www.truerestoration.org, www.cmri.org, www.sgg.org, www.traditionalcatholicsermons.org, and the treasure trove of Catholic reading and listening material - the motherload: http://www.traditionalcatholic.co/ ... plus other sites!

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