Transcript
The Eucharist is glorious. Life-giving. Wonderful. Patient. Uplifting. We are people of the Eucharist.
An organization without a strategic plan is likely to massively underperform or fail. The same is true of an individual spiritual life. Where there's no plan, progress will be hampered. Toward the end of each year, I encourage leaders to gather their teams and discuss this question, what is the one thing that would change everything? This consecration is your one thing now, but I would like to encourage you to be constantly thinking about this question in relation to your spiritual life. What is the one thing that would change everything? Consecration to the Eucharist created a huge paradigm shift in my spiritual life. And there have been other singular habits that had outsized impact over the years.
The first was when I began stopping by church to pray for 10 minutes a day each morning when I was in high school. My spiritual mentor had challenged me to do that. The second was the first time I really read the gospels for 15 minutes each day. The third was Daily Mass. I didn't go every day. When I was about 16, my spiritual director had challenged me to go to daily mass one day each week. So I began attending mass on Tuesday evenings in my family's parish. It was at mass during the week that I discovered the genius of Catholicism and the beauty of the mass. It was at these quiet and intimate daily mass experiences that this sacred ritual really began to ignite my love for Catholicism. I would follow the opening prayer, the readings, and the closing prayer in my missal. And the words began to probe my heart and ignite a fire in my soul. By some grace, I started to listen to the prayers of the mass. I mean, really listen. And it was like pieces of a puzzle coming together. It was only then that I began to see the incredible vision God has for our lives for His church and for the world.
Over the past three decades, many of the most powerful experiences of mass that I've been blessed with have been in small groups on a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee, in the Portiuncula in Assisi, in the catacombs beneath the streets of Rome, in a side chapel at Maynooth College, in the crypt of Sacré-Coeur, and in the tiny chapel in the Solar da Marta Hotel in Fatima. Now, I would like to ask you something, would your life be better if you went to mass every day? I know what you're thinking. Maybe immediately think, "That's impossible. I could never do that. There's too much going on. I've got the kids. I've got work." Suspend that for a moment. Let's think about the question, "Would your life be better if you went to mass every day?" I understand that it may not be possible, but don't just completely dismiss the idea. The devil discourages us by leading us toward all or nothing thinking. This is not an attempt to coerce you into doing something. I don't want it to make you feel bad about yourself, nor do I want to put undue pressure on you or your life. But don't let what you can't do blinds you to what you can do.
We need to learn to be honest about the best path, even if we cannot walk that path at this time in our lives. This honesty liberates us to genuinely explore the question, what is possible? When you ask this question, you may discover that you can go to daily mass one day each week. Great, do it. Try to go on the same day each week, and make it a holy ritual, a holy routine. The Lord delights in every little step you take with Saint Francis de Sales observation. Take your next step. However small, take your next step, as you consider what is possible in the context of daily mass.
I want to lay before you three challenges today. The first is the same as my spiritual mentor presented to me. Start going to daily mass one day each week. The second is to choose one week each year and go to mass every day for a week, just one week. And the third is to make the spiritual communion. To pray the spiritual communion we've been praying each day at the end of these reflections, every day for the rest of your life. This will forever change the way you experience the Our Father when you pray. Give us this day our daily bread. What is the one thing that would change everything? This is the question we began with today.
The answer is a daily encounter with the Eucharist. Whether that is attending Mass, stopping by church to pray before the Tabernacle, or praying a spiritual communion, decide here and now, today, once and for all, that every day for the rest of your life you will have a daily encounter of some type with the Eucharist. Trust, surrender, believe, receive. The one thing that would change everything for the 50 million Catholics who have left the church in the past 30 years is a true understanding of the Eucharist. Will you help us give them that? Become a member of the International Society of the Eucharist today.
We'll send you a free copy of 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory, a copy of the Children's Version, a copy of the limited-edition Journal, which includes an amazing Holy Week retreat. Click on the button below and become a member today. Have a great day and remember, be bold, be Catholic. We are people of the Eucharist.
Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist. Every day, I long for more review. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot receive you Sacramentally at this moment, I invite you to come and dwell in my heart. May the spiritual communion increase my desire for the Eucharist. You are the healer of my soul. Take the blindness from my eyes, the deafness from my ears, the darkness from my mind, and the hardness from my heart. Fill me with the grace, wisdom, and courage to do your will in all things. My Lord and my God, draw me close to you, nearer than ever before. Amen. Consecrate America to the Eucharist. Bye-bye.
Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Have a great day. Come on.
Have a great day.
Hey, Isabel. One simple way to be mindful of God's presence in the world is to know where the nearest tabernacle is. So while we've got a couple of minutes, I thought we might work on your geography a little.
Sounds good, Dad. You're always coming up with something.
Hey, Isabelle, if I was at like latitude of 41.67 and longitude of negative, 83.55, where would the nearest tabernacle be?
Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary, Toledo, Ohio.