Corpus Christi, The Pearl of Greatest Value

               One of the greatest things about where I live—well, probably the greatest thing—is that I can literally see St. Andrews Catholic Church and (more particularly) the door that opens to the chapel and the Blessed Sacrament from my kitchen window.  Jesus is my neighbor!  I cannot even begin to tell how the move to this house in 1998 has changed my life, when a number of years ago I started making frequent visits to Him. 

               It started with a little voice, a tiny call.  As I do my dishes in the sink and glance out my front window, I see the light on.  Still closer is a tiny candle hanging beside the tabernacle, which burns day and night.  Alone.  Undisturbed.  Mostly forgotten.  Just the littlest flame that could seem so insignificant to most of the world.  But I was thinking that if you made yourself very small and went up to that flame, it could absorb you.  You could become lost in that fire that does not go out.  That perpetual light. 

               He called to me.  If left to me that call would go unheeded. My life is busy!  I have so many other seemingly more flashy and important things to do in my day!  But I have a mother, the Blessed Mother, who took me under the mantle of her grace and led me one day to her Son.  Physically there.  Really and truly.  So, I told Him, “Okay, I’ll give you ten minutes.”  I practically set the stopwatch those first few times! 

I sat down in that dim, silent church for a few minutes.  It’s tough for “Captain You Planet” (that’d be me) to let go for even ten minutes to my important agenda, so those first few visits might have appeared a little boring and uneventful.  After all, what real benefit could there possibly be to sitting alone in a church in front of a box with bread in it?  But my Blessed Momma is not to be ignored.  She picked me up and carried me again and again until I began to really see, began to get small so that the flame could fill me.  

               Believe me when I tell you, I have a long, long way to run on my faith journey before I can cross that finish line, but spending time with Jesus, silent time together in the quiet chapel, is the way.  The more frequently I go, I am that much more convinced that for me, loving and worshipping Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is my only way.  Without a doubt, time spent with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the fast track to holiness. 

               So many times, when I am leaving, and my heart is filled with a joy that only Jesus can give, I think about how essential it is to be with Him there.  How did I rate that He has provided me with such a perfectly simple and easy road to Heaven?  Each time I recommit myself to my only true purpose, which is to spend my life adoring my God, my Eucharist, my Thanksgiving and offering Him what little reparation it is in me to give, for all the negligence I have been guilty of in His service, I know this is my way. 

               I may screw up a great many things in my day (I’m kind of good at it), but if I spend a half hour with Jesus, the day is won.  He provides; He is the Victor in my defeats.  He always is.  And so, little by little, as I have felt the effects of frequent spiritual communion and that happiness, I am growing more and more addicted to a joy that can be found nowhere else.  And like the parable of the one who found the pearl in the field, I want to sell everything to buy that field.  I want to share this gift with you because it isn’t just about me! 

               As we celebrate the tremendous feast of Corpus Christi, I want to share with you the Pearl of Greatest Value.  I’m not kidding.  There is nothing in your life that will compare to time spent with Jesus.  He is calling you.  Go.  Recommit yourself to this and I promise you, you will receive way more than you give.  Ask the Blessed Mother to pick you up today and carry you to her Son.  It is not some random thing that you are reading this.  The meditation by St. Teresa of Calcutta, words spoken to you by Jesus, are haunting…

I Thirst for You: ”Behold, I stand at the door and knock… (Rev. 3, 20)

It is true. I stand at the door of your heart, day and night. Even when you are not listening, even when you doubt it could be Me, I am there. I await even the smallest sign of your response, even the least whispered invitation that will allow Me to enter.

And I want you to know that whenever you invite Me, I do come – always, without fail. Silent and unseen I come, but with infinite power and love, and bringing the many gifts of My Spirit. I come with My mercy, with My desire to forgive and heal you, and with a love for you beyond your comprehension – a love every bit as great as the love I have received from the Father (“As much as the Father has loved me, I have loved you…” (Jn. 15:10) I come – longing to console you and give you strength, to lift you up and bind all your wounds. I bring you My light, to dispel your darkness and all your doubts. I come with My power, that I might carry you and all your burdens; with My grace, to touch your heart and transform your life; and My peace I give to still your soul.