To the Ends of the Earth: Character – Week 5, Day 4 - Warrior Poets Know the Source of their Strength
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The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
1 Corinthians 10:16–17
We cannot become the men God has made us to be without sharing in the sacramental life of the Church.
Our Catholic Faith is a sacramental faith. The sacraments are great signs of God’s love, which strengthen and empower us to live as believers in Christ. The sacraments allow us to share in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, both as a future hope and a present reality. We can look forward to the harvest of heaven and yet experience the promises of our faith in how we live out the graces of the sacraments in the here and now. The sacraments allow us to become signs of Christ’s love to our family of faith and the lost world around us.
For many men, the sacraments have become so routine that their deeper meaning has become clouded. But we are called to pour ourselves into our faith, even as the sacraments pour out God’s grace into our lives. As we allow the sacraments to shape us and fill us with the power and presence of God, we become true signs of Christ’s sacrificial love, spilling ourselves into the lives of others, transforming their hearts as the Spirit has transformed ours. What a sobering reality it is to know that these great signs of God’s love allow us to touch the souls of others and lead them into the kingdom of God!
Questions for Reflection
How would you describe your participation in the sacraments and the quality of your sacramental life?
What does being a sacramental man mean for you in terms of how you live out your future hope in the here and now?
How do the graces of the sacraments empower you to shape the lives of others, particularly other men?
Praying with Scripture
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Rom 6:3–4)
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Mark C. McCann is an author and Ministry Consultant with more than 30 years of writing and ministry experience. He has published articles for a number of Catholic magazines and websites including St. Anthony Messenger, Emmanuel Magazine, Liguorian Magazine, Catholic Stand, the Connecticut Catholic Men's Conference, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review. He recently published the 4-volume Catholic men's devotional, To the Ends of the Earth, as well as the 2021 Advent Daybreaks devotional and 2022 Lenten Daybreaks devotional with Liguori Publishing. He has also released his End Times novel series, Jacob's Dream: The Vision and Jacob's Dream: The Final Battle. He was a radio host and producer for 8 years at a Connecticut Christian radio station and has worked as a Catholic religion teacher/campus minister and a parish youth minister. He has also served the Norwich, CT Diocese as a Youth Ministry Director and Family Life Director. He currently lives in Connecticut with his Proverbs 31 wife, where together they have brought up three incredible children. He strives each day to live out his call to be a man of words. You can learn more about Mark and his writing at www.wordsnvisions.com.
