Click here to read the daily readings from the USCCB website!
There's so much good stuff in the readings today I can hardly decide what to write about. We continue to read what's called the "Bread of Life Discourse" from John chapter 6. It's hard for me to think of what to say because of the suspension of public masses. Jesus is "the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that (he) will give is (his) Flesh for the life of the world."
The normal pastoral challenge is to spur you on to increase your devotion to the Eucharist and mass by entering in more fully and more frequently, but obviously the Holy Spirit has other plans. So how do we increase our Eucharistic devotion during a time that we're not allowed to go to mass? Honestly, we continue to have it better than so many in the world. Have you visited Jesus in the tabernacle since all this began? I would challenge you to do so. Prayer is a beautiful, important thing, and we encounter Christ in a real way regardless of where or how we do it. That being said, there is special power in coming before Him in His earthly throne room. Nativity is open from 5:30am-3:00pm Monday-Friday, 7am-5:30pm Saturday, and 5:30am-10am Sunday. He longs to see you.
Another way to grow in love for the Eucharistic Jesus is to spend time with the Scriptures. We hear the importance of this in both the first reading and Gospel today. Jesus comes alive to us in the Scriptures. In our normal mental prayer, it can be hard to know what voice is God's, which is the tempter's, and which is our own. In the Bible, we an trust that the words we read are our Heavenly Father's. That being said, learning how to pray with Scripture can be difficult! Check out this blog from last week to learn a fool-proof method to pray with the Word of God.
Finally, are you keeping holy the Lord's Day? Even if we can't join in the celebration of the mass, God asked us to keep Sundays holy in memory and celebration of His glorious Resurrection. Watch mass on the internet or on TV. Enjoy a well cooked meal (made by yourself/family or ordered from somewhere local :)). Turn of your screens and your noise and enjoy the gifts that God gave you. What are the hobbies that bring you life? A long walk, a good book, a chilled glass of chardonnay (or an ice cold Busch lite I guess...). My fiance has taken up woodworking and is building a dining room table for our future home together.
For me, cooking and conversation are the two things that have brought me the most life during this quarantine. I'm very blessed to have two amazing roommates to cook for and talk to, but I've also tried to reach out to others to catch up, check in, and spread love. How does this kind of self-care nourish our relationship with God, you ask? It disposes us to receive His grace. He loves you! He wants good things for you! He gave you every good thing in the world to show you that He is your Father and that He loves you. So bask in those gifts, always remembering to give all thanks and praise back to Him.
And share with others! How has God been loving you? Build up our community with your story.
-Amanda Nobis, Director of Evangelization