The Bread That Sustains Us Through Life's Journey

Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash

God gives us the bread that sustains us through life's journey. I have family members who will say that being out in nature is going to church for them. They say they speak to God when they are in the mountains/out in nature. My comeback to that is that you can't receive the Eucharist without participating in Mass. 

In 1Kings 19:4-8 Elijah had given up. He just wanted to die, but God sent an angel twice with bread and water to sustain him on his journey. God is continuously offering us the living bread and water to sustain us on our earthly journey. He offers Himself daily. Unfortunately, there are those of us who are not able to participate in Daily Mass due to work obligations. On those days, we can pray a Spiritual Communion.

What is a Spiritual Communion?

A Spiritual Communion is giving your whole self to God when you can't receive Sacramental Communion. It's having the desire to receive Christ but not being able to physically receive Christ through Holy Communion. In a Q&A from Our Sunday Visitor, Father Francis Hoffman, J.C.D. defines a Spiritual Communion as "a personal devotional that anyone can pray at any time to express their desire to receive Holy Communion at that moment, but in which circumstances impede them from actually receiving Holy Communion." He explains that the circumstance may be anything from being home-bound to being on a mountain top. He goes on to say that "your soul receives grace to the degree that you have true hunger for the Holy Eucharist".

Even though a lot of Catholics may not have heard of a Spiritual Communion, it has actually been around for centuries. In the late 16th Century, the Catechism of the Council of Trent devoted a whole section to Spiritual Communion. Pope John Paul II spoke of it in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharitia. Many saints made Spiritual Communions numerous times during their day. Padre Pio, even though he celebrated Mass every day, made them during his day. St. Catherine of Siena, concerned that her Spiritual Communions were lacking, had a vision of Jesus with a gold and silver chalice. In the gold chalice were Sacramental Communions, in the silver were Spiritual Communions. He then told her that both forms of Communions pleased Him. Other Saints who prayed Spiritual Communions include St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Alphonsus, St. Teresa of Jesus, and St. Josemaria Escriva.

The Spiritual Communion doesn't have to be a formal prayer. You can simply ask Jesus to come into your heart since you can't make a Sacramental Communion at that time. The RCIA attendees are encouraged to make Spiritual Communions since they are not in full communion with the Catholic Church yet, and as such are not able to receive the Sacrament.  For those who prefer a formal prayer, this is the prayer that St. Alphonsus Ligouri prayed:

"My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things and I desire you with all my heart. Since I cannot receive you now sacramentally, I ask you to come spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already in my heart and unite myself to you completely. Please do not let me be ever separated from you."

As you may know, I work for a school system. My schools have a moment of silence after the Pledge of Allegiance every day. (Yes, there are still schools out there who do this!) What a perfect time to ask my Angel to go to any Mass that may be celebrated throughout the world at any given time. 

Send Your Angel to Holy Mass

O, holy angel at my side,

go to the church for me.

Kneel in my place at Holy Mass,

where I desire to be.

At Offertory in my stead,

take all I am and own,

and place it as a sacrifice

upon the altar throne.

At holy consecration’s bell,

adore with seraph’s love,

my Jesus, hidden in the Host,

come down from heaven above.

And when the priest Communion takes,

O, bring my Lord to me,

that his sweet heart may rest on mine,

and I his temple be.

Then pray for those I dearly love,

and those who cause me grief,

Jesus’ love may cleanse all hearts

and suffering souls relieve.

Pray that this sacrifice divine,

may mankind’s sin’s efface,

then bring me Jesus’ blessing home,

the pledge of every grace. Amen.

— Author unknown

The Bread That Gives Us Strength

In John 6:41-51 the word "bread" is said 6 times. Do you think He's trying to tell us something? My parish priest said the partaking in the bread we are offered at Mass "gives us the strength and courage to do the will of God; to get over ourselves and to spread the Word of God." He said that, just as in the Gospel passage, we at times come into Church mumbling and murmuring, but the bread of life is HERE. Here is where we take the bread of life into our bodies and are called to take it out into the world. 

As Catholics, what a gift we have been given! To be able to receive the Precious Body & Blood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ to sustain us on our life's journey. I don't know how my Protestant friends sustain their strength. There have been periods in my life when I did not regularly attend Mass. Looking back, I felt weak at those times. There was definitely something missing. Sacramental Communion definitely gives me the strength to continue on as God wills. Not only that, but I feel that I am able to carry out His will and to accept things that may not go as I want them to. 

I love being Catholic. I love that my parents gave me this gift and I chose to accept it. It's hard to imagine what my life would be like and how difficult this journey of life would be if I wasn't able to eat the bread of life that sustains us.

For more information on Spiritual Communion:

The Efficacious Practice of Spiritual Communion

The Value of a Spiritual Communion

Follow the Saints: Make a Spiritual Communion

Those Unable to Receive Eucharist Can Have Holy Communion

Spiritual Communion

Adult Parenting is a Lot Harder Than It Should Be

Parenting is hard. Adult parenting is a lot harder than it should be! When I look at how my parents did it, it looks easy. They made it look easy. There had to have been times when they were worried about us but they didn't show it. Okay, they didn't show it much. I know there were times when they were hurt by our choices as adult children but they were wise enough to let us make those bad choices (which, in the grand scheme of things, weren't all that bad). Being the 8th child and the 6th girl, by the time I was an adult I think they had adult parenting down pretty well. They never sat me down and gave me lectures or advised me about the choices I had to make...unless I asked. I can't say if they did the same thing with my older siblings or not, but we all turned out pretty well; we are all responsible adults.

I am attempting to parent my adult children the same way. I would like to think that my husband and I gave them enough guidance when they were children, but I'm afraid we were lacking. It's too late to do anything about it now, and we're being forced to show some "tough love". It just breaks my heart. You want your children to have it better than you did, to not struggle with the same things you did. In doing so, sometimes we go overboard with trying to make it easier on them by giving in to their requests/demands. But at some point, it has to stop. They have to learn to live on their own without the support of their parents. It means some rocky times, some times of maybe not hearing from them. That results in requiring a lot of trust in God.

A few weeks ago, during daily Mass, my priest said that we say we trust in God and we give him that trust, but then we take it away. That really hit home for me in so many ways. I want to completely and totally trust in His plan for my boys and, being a control freak, it's so hard to give up that control and hand it to Him. He knows the mistakes my boys are going to make and how they are going to fix them. If He knows, why is it so hard to hand it all to Him? (Enter the control freak.)

After not hearing from one of my sons in a few days (after an abrupt ending to a text conversation) I was worried. I poured out my heart in front of Jesus in the Adoration Chapel. I had a good cry and called upon the Holy Trinity, Mary, St. Monica, St. Augustine, and St. Anne to please watch over my baby and guide him. I got up to turn on the light; when I did I saw The Divine Mercy picture in the back of the chapel.

I heard my heart say, "Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet". I didn't have my pamphlet with me, but, since I was in the Adoration Chapel, I knew there would be one on the bookshelf. There was, but it was in Spanish. There were cards there, so I grabbed one, went back to my seat (after turning on the light), pulled out my Rosary, and began. When I finished, I cried my heart out to Him more and spoke to Him...really spoke to Him. What a cleansing! When I got home I spoke to my husband about how I felt. He is usually more concerned than I am, and he didn't seem very concerned which eased my mind more. He is usually the one checking up on our sons and making sure everything seems to be going okay. My parents rarely contacted me unless they had a question about something. I hate to admit it, but there were times in my life when I would go weeks without calling them. My boys know where we are when they need us. They need to live their lives without having helicopter parents, and if I'm totally honest, it keeps me from being anxious and worried about them.

I'm not going to sugar-coat it: It's hard. It's hard to know what to say, when to say, and when to be quiet. It's hard to not give advice unless it's requested. With each of my 3 boys, adult parenting looks different. It looked different when they were growing up so I shouldn't be surprised that it looks different now that they are men. In the end, they are my babies regardless of how big they are or how old they are. I would take their pain rather than see them going through rough times. It just seems so much harder than it should be.

• Are you getting close to having adult children? Are you already there? This article offers 3 ways we need to "let go" of our adult children. 
• Maybe you're in a situation where you are estranged from an adult child. This post may give you some consolation.
• If your child is entering the "independent" stage, here are some tips that may be of some assistance in learning to let go.

Someone in the Passage Who is Often Ignored

Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels

John 6:1-15 has to be a very important Gospel; a lesson that Jesus wants us to learn. My priest mentioned that this passage is in the Bible 6 times. SIX.TIMES. Not only that, but it is in all four of the Gospels. Everyone seems to focus on the miracle that Jesus performed but there is someone in the passage who is often ignored, or not given a lot of time. The boy. 

6 Places in the Gospels

Who is this boy? Where did he come from? Matthew 15:32-39 doesn't mention him in his relaying of the miracle. In fact, Matthew says the people were with Jesus for 3 days, there were 4000 people instead of 5000 (but what's another 1000 to our Lord?), and there were 7 loaves and 2 fish. Looking at the footnote, Matthew 14:13-21 says there are 5000 people (excluding women and children), 5 loaves and 2 fish. Mark 8:1-10 is on target with Matthew's account in Chapter 15; however, Mark 6:34-43 corroborates John's Gospel. The only difference is that the boy is left out.  Luke 10:2-17 mirrors Matthew 14:13-21 and Mark 8:1-10. Could they be 2 different events? Nowhere is the boy mentioned except in John.

He Gave All He Had

Why could that be? Should we take John's word over the other 3 that the boy provided the bread? He seems pretty accurate with his recount of the miracle; enough to include the boy. He must have thought the boy was important. Maybe the other 3 thought the boy would detract from the event. I never gave the boy another thought until the priest mentioned it during the Homily. It made perfect sense. Here is this boy who has some bread tucked in his pocket. He's just hanging around the apostles, most likely looking up to them and wanting to be like them. (This is probably why the other apostles didn't include him in their recounts: they probably didn't even notice him or thought he was in the way.) He hears them talking about not having anything to give the people to eat & he pipes up, shrugging his shoulders, thinking it insignificant. He offers them the mashed up bread in his pocket. Or, maybe he pulled Andrew to the side and told him he had 5 loaves and 2 fish. Either way, the main point is that he gave all he had.

All. Not a little bit, but everything, which is what God is calling us to do 24/7.  It took the little boy in this Gospel to place a subtle reminder in our heads. God can do all things, even turn 5 loaves into enough for 5000+.  In return, He asks for us to give Him our all.

Resisting the Urge to Take it Back

I come from a long line of worriers on my mother's side. I try so hard to give it all to Him and sometimes it's easier than others. The priest asked this question (not his exact words; I'm paraphrasing): If we're worrying, are we give Him enough? Are we giving Him our all? And if we aren't, what's holding us back? A few weeks ago he said that we say we trust in the Lord and we put things in His hands, but then we take it back. Isn't it so hard to place it in His hands and not be an "Indian-giver"?  Now that I've drawn your attention to it, will you look closer at someone in the passage who is often ignored?

Getting Back on Track With My Prayer Routine

Ah, summer. I always do so well with being on a schedule...until we go on vacation. Then it goes by the wayside. I always have good intentions of sticking to my routine but then...vacation. And I get lazy. Getting back on track with my prayer routine is a struggle. Anyone else?

Getting Off-Track

My pre-vacation morning routine looked like this: Wake up at 5:30, out the door with the dogs by 5:45 (before the squirrels are awake!), come home, eat breakfast, feed the dogs, take a shower, pray and reflect, daily mass. All of that before 9:00 a.m.! Surprisingly, I haven't been crashing in the afternoon. Well, most afternoons anyway.
Then we went on vacation. The next week I attended a conference. I did pretty well with my prayer routine on vacation...I at least prayed The Divine Office and my daily prayers. The Daily Mass Readings and journaling went by the wayside, but at least I had my talk with God. The next week at the conference, I prayed The Divine Office in the mornings while my roommate was in the shower. So that's something, right?

Except that I feel a distance to God that wasn't there 2 weeks ago. To keep a good relationship with anyone you have to communicate. It would only make sense that to regain a relationship the communication has to be there. I don't doubt that God was certainly trying to communicate with me while I was gone. It takes 2 to communicate and I'll be the first to admit that I didn't give it my best shot. I may have panicked just a bit when I returned home from the conference, realizing that I have 1 full week of summer left before I go back to work. (I know, I know! That's early for teachers to go back! Our students start July 31st!) Y'all, I really need  God to be on my side when I start the new school year!

3 Answers

The answers are quite simple:
1)Discipline yourself to start over. You had discipline in the first place, right? You know you can do it, so just do it!
2) Forgive yourself. It is what it is and there's no sense in beating yourself up about it. Our God is a merciful (and forgiving) God. If He forgives you, why not forgive yourself?
3) Slide back into it if you need to. I was so tired when I first returned home from my conference that I needed to slide back into my routine. It took me a few days but I did it.

Personally, I'm the kind of person who thrives on routine and schedules. Even so, it is kind of nice to get away from that every now and then. Getting totally out of the routine can make the return a little more difficult, but who said life is easy? So it seems that I'm getting back on track with my prayer routine just in time to have to tweak it a bit for the school year. 

In this post, I discussed why I need a daily routine and what happens when I get off track. There's even a quote included from a book that I read from every now and then that really drives things home.

Need more inspiration?

• Take a peek into Brandon Vogt's prayer life in this post.
• This article tells you why Daily Prayer is important and explains the how.
• What, how, why, and where is discussed in this post.

{Book Review} Under the Mantle: Marian Thoughts from a 21st Century Priest

Under the Mantle: Marian Thoughts from a 21st Century Priest by Father Donald Calloway, MIC (Marian Press, 2013) is the perfect book for someone who is not a theologian to read and glean an understanding of Mary. Even if you think you know Mary, this book has some thought-provoking and "aha" moments for you.
Father Donald H. Calloway is a priest who is known as the "Surfer Priest". I read his book No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy in one day. I was riveted by what a troubled young man he was and his "in your face" conversion. While that book is not necessary before reading Under the Mantle, it does provide a bit of insight as to who exactly wrote this book.
Fr. Calloway poses this question in the 3rd Chapter (Who Do You Say That I Am?":
So what the heck happened that caused so many modern Catholics to turn away from loving Jesus and his Church? The answer is heartbreaking. They had forgotten Mary.
How in the world do any Christians, much less Catholics, forget Mary? Heartbreaking, indeed. I thought I knew a lot about Mary but after reading this book I realize I have so much more to learn. Father Calloway does an excellent job of putting Mary right smack dab in the middle of our faith and explaining how she is a part of every facet of Christianity. How sad is it that she is often cast aside?

Connecting Us with Jesus

In the introduction, Father Calloway suggests reading this book slowly. I'm a fast reader and often don't retain a lot of what I read. I took his suggestion to heart. I would read a chapter then put the book down. That allowed his words to truly sink in.
Case in point: In Chapter 3 Father Calloway gives the illustration of Mary's importance by using our body. We are the body, Jesus is the head, and Mary is the neck. I read that chapter, put the book down, and thought, "Okay. I get it." But, did I really get it? It wasn't until about a week later when I was walking the dogs in the park early one morning that I wholeheartedly understood, thanks to a song by Casting Crowns. I had my earbuds in and my music randomly playing when this song came on:

By the end of the song, I got it. There's no mention of Mary in the song, but Mary (the neck) connects us (the body) to Jesus (the head). If Jesus is the head and we are the body, there has to be something that connects us. There has to be a neck. The neck allows the body to receive nourishment. The neck holds the head. The neck appears to be unimportant, but it isn't. Mary connects us to Jesus.

Seeing Mary in Every Aspect of our Lives

Father Calloway does an excellent job of tying Mary to every aspect of the Catholic Church: Scripture, the Papacy, the Priesthood,  Confession, Matrimony, and The Divine Mercy. Mary's importance in telling of Jesus' birth and childhood is examined. Who told the apostles the stories? As Fr. Calloway says: that's a "no-brainer": it had to be Mary.
At some points in the book, I wondered where he was going with the subject and how it tied into Mary. He did a fantastic job of tying everything back to Mary and our relationship to her. In Chapters 8 and 9 he discusses Manhood and Femininity respectively. I have to admit that the manhood chapter made me a little sad because he discusses how important it is for men to show their sons their devotion to Jesus and Mary, as well as praying. I realized that this was such a huge hole in the lives of my sons, but that's a discussion for another day.

Favorite Quotes

At the end of each chapter, there are Marian quotes that Father collected through the years. Here are a few of my favorites:

• If God labored six days in preparing a paradise for man, he would spend a longer time preparing a paradise for his Divine Son. As no weeds grew in Eden, so no sin would arise in Mary, the paradise of the incarnation. Most unbecoming it would be for the sinless Lord to come into the world through a woman afflicted with sin. A barn door cannot fittingly serve as an entrance to a castle. Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
• True devotion to Christ demands true devotion to Mary. Pope St. Pius X
• While we adore the Child, should we not then venerate his mother, and while we kneel to Jesus, should we not at least clasp the hand of Mary for giving us such a Savior? There is a grave danger that, lest in celebrating a Christmas without the mother, we may soon reach a point where we will celebrate Christmas without the Babe, and these days are upon us now.  Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
• Satan fears Mary as a frightened dog fears the rod with which he has been beaten. St. John Eudes
• Even if you have to fight distractions all through your whole Rosary be sure to fight well, arms in hand; that is to say, do not stop saying your Rosary even if it is hard to say and you have absolutely no sensible devotion. It is a terrible battle, I know, but one that is profitable to the faithful soul. St. Louis de Montfort
• If you invoke the Blessed Virgin when you are tempted, she will come at once to your help, and Satan will leave you. St. John Vianney
• The heart of a mother is a marvel of mercy. When we fear to go to God, when we are overwhelmed by our unworthiness, we can go toMary, because God has entrusted to her the realm of mercy. Blessed Columba Marmion
• In our day, Our Lady has been given to us as the best defense against the evils that afflict modern life; Marian devotion is the sure guarantee of her maternal protection and safeguard in the hour of temptation. Pope Benedict XVI
• If you wish to convert anyone to the fullness of the knowledge of our Lord and of his Mystical Body, then teach him the Rosary. One of two things will happen. Either he will stop saying the Rosary--or he will get the gift of faith. Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
• Do you want to have an advocate in the Son's presence, too? Turn to Mary. St. Bernard of Clairvaux
• Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did. St. Maximillian Kolbe

Mary has always held a special place in my heart. I wrote about her as my protector in this post. This book gave me a much deeper look at how she is not just our mother, but our mama.
As Christians, we should all embrace Mary as our mother and look to her for intercession. Under the Mantle: Marian Thoughts from a 21st Century Priest is the perfect book to help all Catholics hold Mary in the high esteem she should be and to embrace her as our mother and intercessor.

A Message of Healing in a Broken World

Our world is in desperate need of healing. It seems for every good story I hear, there are 2 that take its place letting us know that the evil one is trying his best to take over. The Readings for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time give us a message of healing in a broken world.

Step By Step, One by One

In the 2nd Reading (2Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15) Paul encourages everyone to evangelize. He is cheering us all on to succeed in spreading The Word. When you stop and think about it, it really is astonishing how the Church started and grew. It began with only 12 people going out and preaching. In his new book The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity, Matthew Kelly discusses "Spiritual Multiplication". In simple terms, it's a group of people who encourage another group of people to proclaim The Word. That group of people engages with another group of people, and so on. That's how The Word spread in the time of the early Church. It's how rumors get started, true, but it can definitely be used to increase the number of Christians. It took time for Christianity to grow; it didn't happen overnight.  We can rebuild what the evil one is tearing down. One person at a time.

Jesus Gets a Tap on the Shoulder

In the Gospel (Mark 5:21-34) we have 1 story that is embedded in another one. Father said that Mark likes to "sandwich" stories. One story starts, then is interrupted by a seemingly different story, and then the first story finishes. Both are about healing. There is a woman who has faith that by just touching Jesus' cloak she will be healed, and it happens. Jairus has faith that Jesus can touch his little girl and heal her. Jesus is on the way to Jairus' house when he is sidetracked. The woman touches his cloak and he knows that someone was healed by touching him. God tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Uh, son. You may want to acknowledge this one." What desperation the woman had knowing that if she touched Jesus he would, in the Jewish law, be considered unclean. She was willing to risk the wrath that very well could have come. I'm sure she thought that, because the crowd was pressing in on Jesus, he wouldn't know that she had been healed. He would have no idea...if she could just touch him. But he did know (it was the tap on the shoulder, I'm telling ya!) and she told him it was her. (Unlike Eve who blamed it on someone else, she took complete responsibility for it.) If she didn't truly believe before then, I bet she did after the exchange between her & Jesus!

Bothering Jesus

When Jesus arrived at Jairus' house, he brought the little girl back to the living through her father's faith, even though the people told Jarius that she was dead so there was no point in bothering Jesus.  Our deceased are not truly dead but are asleep in Christ. We must continue to pray for them so that through not only their faith but also our own can they have eternal life. We have to keep bothering Jesus so that we will all be reunited.

We are such a broken world and we are getting more broken by the hour. Today's words of healing bring some comfort. We have to pray for the brokenness and like the woman and Jairus, we have to have faith that the Trinity will heal us.

Funny Happenings During Daily Mass in Gifs (SQT}

How about a fun post for the last Friday in June? I'm not saying that these things have happened during Daily Mass, but...

1. When you pull into the parking lot 2 minutes before Mass begins:

via GIPHY

2. When you're not the only one who gets to Church 2 minutes before Mass begins:

via GIPHY

3. When the Eucharistic Ministers end up on the opposite sides of where they need to be to get back to their seats:

via GIPHY

4. When the priest's cell phone starts ringing in the middle of Mass:

via GIPHY

5. When the host & wine aren't put in the back of the chapel before the presentation of the gifts:

via GIPHY

6. When the priest sings a song at the end of Mass to the tune of "The Beverly Hillbillies":

via GIPHY

7. When the priest says "a fart" instead of "apart":

via GIPHY

Yep, we never know what we're going to get at Daily Mass! If anyone doesn't think Jesus has a sense of humor, come to our Daily Masses!

I'm joining Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum for Seven Quick Takes.