Beloved Family:
What does a quarter gain you, nowadays? Well, in terms of coins, it brings very little. You may find a vending machine that takes quarters for a gumball. A quarter may secure fifteen minutes on a parking meter. One can use a shopping cart at Aldi’s for a quarter. Otherwise, one will need a lot of quarters for any significant purchase.
How about a quarter of an hour of prayer? Praise God, there is tremendous value in that quarter measurement. In his pastoral letter, A Flourishing Apostolic Church, Bishop Edward Malesic exhorts us:
I invite you, if it is not already part of your daily routine, to make time for God—at least fifteen minutes of prayer a day. Consider putting down your phone (unless you are praying with an app) and rest in the Lord. Read some Scripture. Give thanks for the blessings you have received. Review your day with him. Share your dreams and your joys. Share your fears, sorrows and worries. Then listen for his response, which will usually be heard in the silence of your heart as Jesus speaks to you.
I am convinced that there is no moving forward for us as a diocese unless we first move forward in our friendship with the Triune God, who will then allow us to enter into deeper friendship with each other as Missionary Disciples, people who have been blessed and sent out with the Good News of Jesus, the Savior. (A Flourishing Apostolic Church, pp. 6-7)
Naturally, this prayer can take place in any space. To some extent, consistency is more a factor than location. That said, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), I would assert that there is no place for prayer that surpasses being near the tabernacle of a Catholic church, where our Sovereign God chooses to dwell in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, the Bread of Angels.
The “controversy” over the Eucharist has existed since Jesus first addressed the people, as accounted in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Saint John, what we know as “The Bread of Life Discourse.” A good many even of those who had followed Him closely to that point were not able to accept the reality that He was going to give us His Flesh to eat. As Venerable Fulton Sheen expressed it: “The Eucharist is so essential to our oneness with Christ that as soon as our Lord announced it in the Gospel, it began to be the test of the fidelity of his followers.”
If you have not already done so, I urge you to do yourself a favor and read the bishop’s pastoral letter. Our Parish Pastoral Council has been spending time with it already now for three months. From the perspective of efficiency, this may sound excessive. However, from the perspective of allowing the heart of our bishop to soak into our hearts, it is time well spent.
Additionally, through the website and through Flocknote messaging, we have linked an audio recording of an EXCELLENT presentation made by Fr. Ryan Mann (who spent a year with us during his seminary formation) on the letter. Fr. Mann has a great gift for unpacking the contents in a manner that is both very affirming and very challenging.
Finally, I want to remind you that June is the month of the Sacred Heart, and on Friday of this week, we will liturgically celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Here is the collect (or Opening Prayer) for that Mass:
O God, who in the Heart of your Son,
wounded by our sins, bestow on us in mercy the boundless treasures of your love,
grant, we pray, that, in paying him the homage of our devotion,
we may also offer worthy reparation.
Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
Let His Peace be with you,
Fr. Stephen
