Year III, Number 23

The authentic sense of the Eucharist becomes of itself the school of active love for neighbor. We know that this is the true and full order of love that the Lord has taught us: "By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples." The Eucharist educates us to this love in a deeper way; it shows us, in fact, what value each person, our brother or sister, has in God's eyes, if Christ offers Himself equally to each one, under the species of bread and wine. If our Eucharistic worship is authentic, it must make us grow in awareness of the dignity of each person. The awareness of that dignity becomes the deepest motive of our relationship with our neighbor.

We must also become particularly sensitive to all human suffering and misery, to all injustice and wrong, and seek the way to redress them effectively. Let us learn to discover with respect the truth about the inner self that becomes the dwelling place of God present in the Eucharist. Christ comes into the hearts of our brothers and sisters and visits their consciences. How the image of each and every one changes, when we become aware of this reality, when we make it the subject of our reflections! The sense of the Eucharistic Mystery leads us to a love for our neighbor, to a love for every human being.

Q.Dear Father Bannon,

I am 15 years old and have been trying to discern whether I have a vocation to the consecrated life or not. At times I feel a pull and I am almost definite that I am supposed to be consecrated. At other times, I think that it could have just been my mind telling me that instead of God. Is there anything else besides pray that I can do to see if the vocation is real or not? Thank you and may God Bless.

A. Dear Molly,

Yes, there certainly are several things you can do. Not all of them may be possible for you but I'll mention them and you can see what helps you most.

The first thing is to see if you just have a general feeling that you are supposed to be consecrated, or if you feel called to a particular group or movement. If you just have a general feeling you should start looking a little more into it, so as to try to discover where precisely God may be calling you. Start reading and asking about different groups until one catches your attention. However, it is much more common to have a particular type of consecrated life in mind -- a particular religious order, a particular type of vocation (teaching, nursing, contemplative...) or a particular Movement that you know about or are involved it. In this case you should try to get to know more about the group, the work it does, its spirituality. Become associated in some way with it.

Depending on the type of consecrated vocation you are considering, or the particular group you are more attracted towards, there may be a high school you can go to that will help you in your discernment and, if you have a vocation, in your preparation. If you are attracted to a particular group ask them if this is a possibility, if they have this type of school. Of course, being 15 this is not something that you can decide entirely on our own, you will have to speak to your parents about it, but it is well worth your while to get more information and consider this.

You mention prayer, and you probably mean praying to God, asking him if he is calling you and asking him to show you what he wants you to do. That is good. But you can improve on it. Don't just ask God for things in prayer, even good and important things like what he wants you to do with your life. Use your prayer to get to know Christ, and especially to get to know how much he loves you and has done for you. Try to spend more of your prayer looking at all he has done for you (the gift of life, your parents, your faith, your health, the Sacraments...). This is the key to loving him. And loving him is the key to following him. Also think in your prayer about what life is for, what really matters, how he might like you to use all the gifts he has given you, how you can help others. And finally, offer yourself to him. Tell him that you want to do as much good as you can for him in your life. This will help you a great deal to discover what your vocation is.

God bless. - Fr Anthony

Q. Hello, how do I start this. My life up to this past year prior, has been a sin. I never did good in school, I lived a life for my own sake and did what I wished. I hated my self and the path I was headed for, then I turned to our beloved Lord, and asked sincerely for forgiveness of my sins, and I offered my life to him. My life has taken an extreme turn towards living the word. I have an extreme love for our Lord and the Holy mother, and I am ready as of to date to give my life to Christ, the church and towards charity. The problem is my past, I did poor in high school, even though my college grades to date are around a 3.0, I know that Jesus has forgiven me, but why is it still that his so-called apostles judge my past instead of looking towards the future and the love I have for Christ? I know in my heart my calling is to become a priest, but I need someone to give me a break so I can join an order and serve God, thank you for your time, God bless you!

A. Dear Augustine in Christ,

I see what you are struggling with and I will keep you in my prayers.

You give me no details, so I will answer just with some generalities and you can take the ones that apply to you. The sad fact about sin is that, even though it is forgiven and we are again in God’s grace, it usually leaves its effects on us in some way for some time. So if there is hesitancy in a seminary about accepting you right away, it may be because the nature of your past is such that prudence and sound theology advise them to go slow. It could be also that there is something specific they want you to work on. The love you have for Christ is certainly important but it may have to grow, mature, set deeper roots before being able to take on the commitment of the priesthood. Sometimes particular sins can affect both our physical and psychological health, and that has to be looked at too.

These are just some common considerations that a prudent spiritual director will take into account. There are others too.

Now, given this, what should you do? Pray, that God’s will be done. Give yourself: accept the difficulties that you are facing and put yourself in God’s hands. Ask the people you are in touch with what you need to do (don’t be impatient, they are trying to see which way God is pointing). Keep studying.

Be sure of my prayers for you as well. - Fr Anthony

Gospel Passage: Jn 6: 51-63

‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’ Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Jesus replied to them: ‘In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person. As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will also draw life from me. This is the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live forever.’ This is what he taught at Capernaum in the synagogue. After hearing it, many of his followers said, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’ Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, ‘Does this disturb you? What is you should see the Son of man ascend to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.’

1. My flesh is real food.

These words of Christ are truly awesome and unbelievable - a powerful testimony to a love which knows no bounds. We should meditate on the gift of the Eucharist with great faith and love:

“O God, hidden Creator of the world, how wonderfully you deal with us! How sweetly and graciously you dispose of things with your elect to whom you offer yourself to be received in this Sacrament! This, indeed, surpasses all understanding. This in a special manner attracts the hearts of the devout and inflames their love. Your truly faithful servants, who give their whole life to amendment, often receive in Holy Communion the great grace of devotion and love of virtue.” (Imitation of Christ, Book 4, Chapter 1)

“Rejoice, my soul, and give thanks to God for having left you so noble a gift and so special a consolation in this valley of tears. As often as you renew this Mystery and receive the Body of Christ, so often do you enact the work of redemption and become a sharer in all the merits of Christ, for the love of Christ never grows less and the wealth of His mercy is never exhausted.

Therefore, you should prepare yourself for it by constantly renewing your heart and pondering deeply the great mystery of salvation. As often as you celebrate or hear Mass, it should seem as great, as new, as sweet to you as if on that very day Christ became man in the womb of the Virgin, or, hanging on the Cross, suffered and died for the salvation of man.” (Imitation of Christ, Book 4, Chapter 2)

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. You know how slow I am to understand the greatness of your love and your gifts to me. You are true God and true man, and you have given yourself entirely to me in the Eucharist, your body, blood, soul and divinity. Give me the grace to understand, in the measure of my ability, the greatness of your love in this sacrament. May I adore and love you in my heart.

2. Draw life from me.

Contemplate Christ’s love for his priests. What Jesus loves most is fulfilling his Father’s will: ‘I only do what pleases him;’ ‘my food is to do the will of my Father.’ The Father’s will is to give life to the world. Christ loves his priests so much that he entrusts to them the transcendent task of ‘giving life to the world.’ Through the words of consecration they bring him, the bread of life, to the world. Meditate on the priest as he consecrates the Eucharist during Mass. These words of Father Marcial Maciel, LC may help:

“He has exalted me, ‘doing great and wonderful things in me,’ giving me the priceless and inconceivable gift of the priesthood. Indeed, I do not believe there can exist in this life a greater bliss, dignity or consolation than that of feeling you possess the great power to transform bread into the most holy Body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every morning, every time that I can bring him into my hands and take him into my heart, it seems that I am present at a new Bethlehem and a new Calvary. I would gladly – and he is the witness to my truth – give all the gold, all the honors, all the fame of this world, and embrace poverty, humiliation, and every imaginable offense and pain just to have but once that joy of making him come down into my hands. I think that the joy of those moments in life is similar only to heaven where we can possess him without the veil of the sacrament to conceal him from us.”

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, thank you for the gift of the priesthood, through which you give life to the world. Thank you especially for the gift of receiving you through Holy Communion into my heart. Make me more worthy of receiving you each day.

QUESTIONNAIRE

To help you to examine your life, in the light of the inspirations God just gave you in these moments you shared with him.

1. Do I meditate often on the great gift Christ has given us through the Eucharist? Do I adore him in the sacrament as he deserves in his infinite greatness and majesty? Does my adoration lead me to greater faith and a firmer commitment to serve him more faithfully every day?

2. Do I try to go to Mass on occasion during the week? Do I try to know and love him more intimately in prayer during the silence after Communion?

3. Do I pray for priests and for vocations to the priesthood?

Young people, if the question arises of giving your life full time to preaching and spreading the Kingdom, do not be afraid to face it honestly. It is clear that Christ is calling some of you to consecrate your lives. Be generous enough to hear his call and follow it courageously. Look at the example of the apostles Peter, John, and Matthew: one fine day the Lord passed by, looked at them, loved them and called them. And they, to quote the words of the Gospel, "left everything immediately and followed him."

Do not be afraid of Christ showing a special love for you. The call to consecrated life is a priceless gift. The world and the Church need the witness and generous oblation of those who are called by the Lord. The Pope, in his message for the 30th World Day of Prayer for vocations, says, "Dear young people, allow yourselves to be summoned by the love of Christ. Recognize his voice which echoes in the temple of your heart. Accept his luminous and penetrating eyes, which open the paths of your lives to the horizons of the Church's mission. Today the Church is committed more than ever to teaching man his true nature, his purpose and what he was created for, and to revealing to faithful souls the indescribable riches of Christ's charity... Young people, help the Church so as to keep the world young." If it is true that you build your eternity during your lifetime, could there be any better way to spend your life than consecrating it to help others find eternal life?

MILAN, Italy, JULY 14, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Physically slight, with white hair, and bearing her 91 years gracefully, Giuditta Tettamanzi waited in a relative's home last week for her son, the new archbishop of Milan, to appear.

"I wanted to repeat it to him the other day, when he was here in the evening and, as usual, dined in great haste," she said of Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi. "I told him: My son, you have never sought anything, but if you have been chosen, you must say 'fiat.'"

Q: A son who becomes an archbishop must be something quite overwhelming for a mother. Are you happy?

Tettamanzi: I have always been happy. We must be strong. What the Lord wills has happened, and this is what matters, because Father Dionigi was and is, his. From an early age he already expressed the desire to be a priest. I can only repeat to God: He is yours, do with him what you will.

Q: Were you expecting this appointment?

Tettamanzi: I knew there were rumors for some time.

Q: What would you like to say now to your son, the archbishop?

Tettamanzi: I remember what I told him when he became a priest. I repeated to him: Only with humility will you be able to take souls to God.

Q: Your son was first priest, then cardinal, and now archbishop of Milan. What will change for you, Madam? Milan is close; the cardinal will be able to come to see you more often.

Tettamanzi: I have no demands. When he calls me and asks me how I am, I simply answer: "Alleluia!" I have confidence in Providence. God sees and provides, our grandparents used to say. My son must do the will of God, not mine. When he sang the Mass, many wept, but I couldn't. ... I did not cry even when he was made cardinal.

Q: Why, could it be maternal insensibility?

Tettamanzi: Because I have always respected the choices made by Father Dionigi. To start weeping would seem to me to be an offense to the Lord. And I didn't want that.

Q: The arrival of the new Archbishop will be a great jubilation for the whole diocese. How will you celebrate it?

Tettamanzi: With prayer.

Upcoming Events & Retreats

(( Listed here are retreats directed by the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members. For a listing of diocesan activities and other events, click here to go to the vocation.com website ))

LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST

CANDIDACY. June 6 - August 26 in Cheshire, CT. Visit any time! No cost. For more details visit www.legionofchrist.org or call (800) 420-5409.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated women

CANDIDACY. June 28 - August 10 in Greenville, RI. Visit any time! For more information, visit www.regnumchristi.org or call (401) 378-3201.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

Call Tony McDonnell for more information, (301) 365-3205. info@ytm.org

ShoreLines welcomes your questions and comments at questions@shorelines.org. If you do not specify otherwise, your question may be posted in the Vocations Q&A section.

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