Happy Anniversary!

Today is the first anniversary of beginning to write this blog. As I wrote in that first post, my goal was to talk about a relationship with God that begins with trust.  As I look over the 128 posts of this past year, I think I have kept to that goal fairly well.  

I have had over 8,000 hits but over 2,000 of them were most likely from people who googled a winter scene I used in the post and just happened upon my blog. But I like to think that maybe some of them read it and perhaps it got them thinking about their relationship with God.  My second most viewed post was one I posted in March about faith.  Again it could have been the picture however I do hope they read the post.

The third most viewed post was not about the picture but about a quote from St. Augustine, "Behold what you are, become what you receive," which I posted on the Feast of Corpus Christi last June.  I know many came to that site looking for this specific quote as it showed in the blog stats.  It is my favorite quote on the Eucharist and one of my favorites from this great saint whose love of the Eucharist has inspired me in my own dedication to the Blessed Sacrament.

When I think about the first time I heard that quote when I first began to take basic courses in liturgy offered by our diocese, it jumped out at me.  "Behold what you are." I could reflect on that one part of the quote for years.  What am I?  Who am I?  Think about it. I am a child of God, a daughter of the Father through baptism, incorporated into Christ's Body, the Church. But is that all? I receive Communion almost daily, but what does that do for me?

Pope Benedict wrote in Deus Caritas Est: 

"In sacramental communion I become one with the Lord, like all the other communicants. As Saint Paul says, ‘Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread’ (1 Cor 10:17). Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom He gives himself. We become ‘one body’, completely joined in a single existence. Love of God and love of neighbor are now truly united: God incarnate draws us all to Himself.”

This is what I "become", one with the Lord, "joined in a single existence," with Christ as the Head. As I wrote in my earlier post, that changed my life. I cannot view my existence in any other way, as long as I continue to be joined to His Body. The sad fact is that I can break that union, but Jesus is always calling me back into union with Him.  

It puzzles me how many Catholics can stay away from this wonderful Gift. I like to believe that they truly do not understand what the Eucharist is; that they don't understand Who it is that they receive in Holy Communion. I hope it is not because they just don't care.

If there is one thing that I would hope to do this coming year is to grow in my devotion to the Eucharist, but also to work on that other part of becoming "one body" that Pope Benedict mentions; love of God and love of neighbor joined together. Not only that, but I hope to help evangelize others to come to appreciate the Gift of Christ "who draws us all to Himself."

Late have I love you.

Today is the memorial of St. Augustine and although the Sunday takes precedence, I feel Augustine is important enough to merit a post.  Augustine is an interesting character and his lifestyle before his conversion can easily be compared to that of any young person.  Augustine was searching for truth and meaning, much like our young today.  He found it in all the things that really don't satisfy.  If you think about today, many look for meaning to their lives in work, drugs, money, sex and even in false religions.  But none of those things satisfy There is an innate need for God, but so many just don't to realize that it is only with God that true happiness can be found.

It took Augustine 30 years to find out that what he sought was with him all the time. It's like the characters in the Wizard of Oz.  They had to go through all kinds of trials in their search for what they wanted most in life, a brian, a heart, courage and a home, only to find that they possessed them all along.  The Scarecrow, Tin Man, the Lion and Dorothy needed the Wizard to help them realize this.  Augustine had the prayers of his mother Monica, whose memorial was yesterday.  Monica's prayers reached God and Augustine finally recognized that what he was seeking all along was Christ. In his Confessions he wrote of this realization:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

These words have so much depth, so much meaning, and express a long for Christ that is an innate part of who we are as human beings created in the image and likeness of God.  There is a lot here to meditate upon as each sentence is a gem in itself.

I would write more but Irene has arrived with a fury and the people across the street have already lost electricity.  It is exciting to see the power of nature, but always aware of the devastation  it can cause.  Oh Lord keep us safe and protect us from all forces that may cause us harm.  With each gust of wind, breath you fragrance over us and let us know that we belong to You and without You we are nothing.