Friday, March 26, 2010

Surprise

Thursday evening, at the end of Adoration, right before Father D Reposed Our Lord, something very beautiful took place; Father asked that we say The Divine Praises, which is on the back page of our missals. Let me tell you, this is a first. Usually our priest, whichever one it is, holds up the Monstrance and presents it to the congregation, kneels, then take the host out and places Him into the tabernacle. So for this to happen took us by surprise. My wife prays for more reverence in the church and I'm sad to say that at times our parish priests do disappoint me. Sometimes the 'spirit of Francis' can get in the way of things. I do think Fr. D has a different way of looking at things and the Reposing of Our Lord is one of them. As Father was walking towards the Tabernacle my wife Helen broke into "Holy God, we praise thy name; Lord of all, we bow before thee; All on earth thy scepter claim..." well, you know the rest. I immediately joined her, and I did hear another voice following along back behind us. I'll have to say it sounded beautiful and a fitting end (I think!) to Adoration. As these events unfolded before us Our Lord became a real tangible presence in our church. It was like in showing more reverence to Our Lord and Savior he in turn showered graces on us who were in his real presence. It's hard to explain, you really had to be there. And that's just part of the story of a long day of, in reflection, torture and attacks by satan, culminating in my going to Adoration and then our evening Reconciliation Service immediately following Adoration. The darkness and deep physical pain that I had all day Thursday was monumental; I've never felt so messed up, ever. And then this morning, and the rest of the day, nothing. Just a feeling of peace, which is rare on a fast day. I'm long on this post and rambling, but I'd like to thank all who reply here with your kind words and if you disagree with anything please feel free with your replies. At times God blesses me with moments of insight, a quick flash of understanding, which usually turns into a post. Today yesterday was revealed a bit for me, and so I wrote. Peace.

4 comments:

Anne said...

Dear KAM, I am so sorry that you had such a miserable day yesterday. But, what a glorious ending to really be able to feel the Lord's presence at Adoration! I know you are right, that every little extra thing we can do to show love and reverence to the Lord must please Him so much!

It is encouraging for me to read (I think it was in your previous post), that you never let a day go by without your prayers of Consecration. I have really been slacking in this regard. You prompt me to get back on track! Thank you for that and for your wonderful and insightful comment on my most recent blog post!

God bless you! You and your wife are in my prayers!

Daily Grace said...

Dear Kam,
As I read your post Our Lady's Message came to mind:

March 25 2010 Message

"Dear children! Also today I desire to call you all to be strong in prayer and in the moments when trials attack you. Live your Christian vocation in joy and humility and witness to everyone. I am with you and I carry you all before my Son Jesus, and He will be your strength and support. Thank you for having responded to my call."

I think you have just witnesses this message!

A Secular Franciscan said...

Sometimes it's the little things that touch us. God might come in the gentlest breeze and not the tempest because that's what we need at that point - or maybe all that we can handle!

kam said...

Thank you all for your comments and your own blogs, which I very much enjoy. I thought at first I'd shut mine down for Holy Week but I'm having second thoughts. Peace!