September 13

“The assembly should prepare itself to encounter its Lord and to become ‘a people well disposed.’ The preparation of hearts is the joint work of the Holy Spirit and the assembly, especially of its ministers. The grace of the Holy Spirit seeks to awaken faith, conversion of heart, and adherence to the Father’s will. These dispositions are the precondition both for the reception of other graces conferred in the celebration itself and the fruits of new life which the celebration is intended to produce afterward.”

-Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1098

Today’s Reflection:

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in preparing us to encounter the Lord through the Sacred Liturgy?

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September 12

“O fortunate witnesses to whom the Blessed God, to confound my disbelief, has wished to reveal Himself in this Most Blessed Sacrament and to render Himself visible to our eyes. Come, brethren, and marvel at our God so close to us. Behold the Flesh and Blood of our most beloved Christ.”

-Brasilian Monk in 700 A.D. who witnessed the miracle of Lanciano

Today’s Reflection:

“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” -John 20:29

Most of us will never witness something like the miracle of Lanciano, when the accidents of bread and wine were transformed into real, physical flesh and blood. But at every mass, we witness the hidden miracle of transubstantiation, when the bread and wine is transformed into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. Submit your questions and doubts to the Lord and pray for the gift of a deep and abiding faith that lacks nothing.

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September 11

“The Blessed Sacrament is the first and supreme object of our worship.
We must preserve in the depths of our hearts a constant uninterrupted adoration of this precious pledge of Divine Love.'”

-St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

Today’s Reflection:

One way to preserve constant uninterrupted adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is by making spiritual communions throughout the day, turning our hearts and minds toward the Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. One favorite prayer for spiritual communion is as follows:

An Act of Spiritual Communion
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.

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September 10

“Our sensible appetites, inclined to sensuality and to sloth, need to be vivified by contact with the virginal body of Christ, who endured most frightful sufferings for love of us. We, who are always inclined to pride, to lack of consideration, to forgetfulness of the greatest truths, to spiritual folly, need to be illumined by contact with the sovereignty luminous intellect of the Savior, who is ‘the way, the truth, and the life.'”

-Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life

Today’s Reflection:

What do we do if our faith in the Eucharist isn’t very alive? Make one resolution today that you will carry through this week to increase your love and devotion.