So much was in my heart to share with you all, and my husband came in and asked me to go with him to Pipestone to a cow sale... Some of our best visiting happens when the two of us go in the pickup to a sale in some neighboring towm... It was a great time to share going and coming back... We shared morning prayer from our Magnificat and then a few chapters from Rediscovering Catholicsm by Matthew Kelly... And before we left I asked him if he would mind if I just sat out and read in the sun while he went into the sale... That was fine with him, and wow did I ever hit the jackpot in readng material! I had literally a bag full of books that I had come across before we left... I was looking for a specific Stations of the Cross book by JP2 and I never did find that... but found a lot of others that I had in a pile on the table.... Instead of trying to decide what to bring along I stuck them all in a bag....
So in the quiet of the parking lot surrounded by empty trailers... I sat engrossed in a couple books written by my hero, John Paul the second. The sun was so warm that I had the window cracked a bit, and the fresh air was wonderful and gave me hope for spring. First I read a small book that he put out shortly after he had added the new mysteries to the rosary... the luminous mysteries or the mysteries of Light! Today at mass I had thought a lot about the cross and the stations of the cross as I mentioned yesterday... I stood under our huge crucifix in the empty church and took a picture from the perspective of Mary... as she stood at the foot of her son's cross and watched him die! The Cross is so close at this lenten time of year... I especially was touched by what he shared pertaining to the Crucifixion... "Mary's gaze, ever filled with adoration and wonder, never left him... at times it would be a look of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death of her Son, she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple (you and I)."
Next a encyclical on the Eucharist... Every word was a gem and the highlighter in my hand was writing WOW and exclamation points everywhere...I cannot hold myself back from quoting this marvelous paragraph, but before I do... I want to encourage all of you to get a copy of The Encyclical Letter on the Eucharist and its Relationship to the Church... it is probably on line... he wrote in it 2003:
"When I think of the Eucharist, and look at my life as a priest, as a Bishop and as the Successor of Peter, I naturally recall the many places in which I was able to celebrate it. I remember the parish church of Niegowic, where I had my first pastoral assigment, the collegiate church of ST Florian in Krakow, Wawel Cathedral, ST Peter's Basilica and so many basilicas and churches in Rome and throughout the world. I have been able to celebrate Holy Mass in chapels built along mountain paths, on lakeshores and seacoasts; I have celebrated on altars built in stadiums and in city squares.... This varied scenario of celebrations of the Eucharist has given me the powerful experience of its universal and, so to speak, cosmic character. Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world! In unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates creation. The Son of God became man in order to restore all creation, in one supreme act of praise, to the One who made it from nothing. He, the Eternal High Priest who by the blood of his Cross entered the eternal sactuary, thus gives back to the Creator and Father all creation redeemed. He does so through the priestly ministry of the Church, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. Truly this is the supreme mystery which is accomplished in the Eucharist; the world which came forth from the hands of God the Creator now returns to him redeemed by Christ."
So beautiful and amazing... too much to share and digest.... Something that I wish I could carry in my heart and soul when I come to receive our Lord in the Eucharist! "For the most Holy Eucharist contains the Church's entire wealth: Christ himself, our passover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made giving and life-giving by the Holy Spirit,offers life to men." I will leave it here...
I have had people ask how to go about getting the Magnificat for your daily prayers and the readings of the mass... www.magnificat.com... you will find all you need there.
Loving Lord thank you for the blessings of a quiet haven in the sun... Life is good and a blessing with all there is to learn, and the fact that the Church is so wide as to cover the whole world... so far back as to encompass all the saints that have gone ahead of us as well as your Blessed Mother... our Spiritual Mother.... and up to heaven where we long to be united with you for eternity! We are surrounded by your love and how can we go wrong with all of that support and endless love? Jesus we trust in You! Barb and family
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