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From Archbishop Donoghue|
Mass at the Schoenstatt Retreat |
Dear Friends in Christ, I am happy to be here with you this evening and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Schoenstatt movement in Georgia. I believe that when I was with you last year, I expressed the gratitude of the local Church and my own personal gratitude, to the many spiritual societies that exist in our Church, and that come to the aid of so many, who feel the need, and welcome into their lives, the presence of such powerful prayer-leagues. And I believe along with the Church, that it is through these special societies of prayer and devotion, that the Holy Spirit of God is able to pass into our lives, and to cause a tremendous leavening effect upon the Church - for good works do not spiring up spontaneously, but rise up from two great sources we have as our greatest blessing - the prayer life of the Church, and the Sacraments. WE all know and take every opportunity that we can to acknowledge our dependence on the Sacraments, and especially the Holy Eucharist. For there is no other source of grace - there is no other source of God's love that is so immediate, and so available to us. When we confess our sins, and prepare our souls to receive the Lord, in His Body and Blood, then we are ready to be filled - and (as Bishop Sheen said), at the Eucharist each is filled according to his need - nothing is wasted and everything is gained. Most Catholics know this and keep true to this fundamental relationship with the Church, even if other things tend to be compromised or forgotten - and truly, to believe in the Eucharist and to cling to the reality of the miraculous Presence of Christ in our midst is the source for every other blessing that we can experience. But the other great spiritual well-spring in our lives - our prayer-life - is a different matter. Prayer only yields its considerable effects according to what we put into it. Prayer is not the reception of God's love by our souls - God's love is freely given in Jesus Christ - we have done nothing to deserve it, and yet, we receive it totally and unconditionally when the Eucharist enters our bodies. Prayer, by contrast, is the expression of our choice, our action, our decision, to praise God for what He has done - our bowing before His bounty with thanksgiving - our acknowledgement, with some degree of fear and awe, that we are totally dependent upon His mercy for future blessings. Prayer is our response, our testimony, before God and the world, that we accept to be changed by His love, and that, because this love is poured out upon all souls, we are united as one, to express our needs, and to express our desire to be saved, to be redeemed, to be granted eternal life. God holds out His hand - this is the Eucharist; and we put our hand in His and give Him our total trust - this is the life of prayer. By being faithful to the Sacrament of the Altar, and by active, devoted participation in movements of prayer, such as Schoenstatt, we bring a holy balance into our lives - a holy peace - and we recognize, with wonder, and with relief, that the Holy Spirit dwells in this peace, and is ever there, counseling us and urging us on, to that which is good, and worthy, and true. Others look upon these great strivings of the Faithful, these groanings of the Church as her people strive to be worthy of their God and of His love, and they wonder why we believe that God should put such demands on us - and why we believe that we have to stand up to the justice and to the judgement of God. But it seems to me that what we are doing is in fact surrendering to God - not answering His demands - we are surrendering to our need for courage, for encouragement, for strength to face the inevitable challenges of life. Remember in the Gospel we have just heard - that beautiful story of Christ's appearance to the Apostles at daybreak as they were fishing in the Sea of Tiberias - Christ speaks to St. Peter not only the gracious words - Feed my lambs, feed my sheep - but He also says this to Peter: Truly I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go. It seems that Christ is not only telling St. Peter about his life, about the ultimate journey to Rome, and to the death that he would suffer there - Christ is also telling us about our lives - that when we are young, and someone is taking care of us, we don't have to worry too much. But the years pass, and we become grown, and circumstances arise, and often carry us into situations we would rather not be a part of, situations of trial and test. Then, Christ says to us, as He said to St. Peter, "Come, follow me." And if we are true to Him, if we cling to His Body, and if we fortify our actions by appealing to Him, and to the Father and the Spirit, by our prayers and devotions, then we will be able to follow Him - not without stumbling perhaps, but always, with the strength of grace, and the discipline of prayer, we are able to get up, and to move on down the rocky road of life, towards the light of eternity that waits at the end. During this Mass, dear friends, and throughout our celebrations of Pentecost this Sunday, let us recall these great blessings that God has brought into our lives - the Eucharist, and the Church's prayer life, and especially the prayer life as we experience it in the Schoenstatt Movement - let us recommit ourselves to both - and move with confidence to meet the trials, the failures, and the successful recoveries that make up our lives, and that have made up the lives of all the saints since Christ spoke those blessed words, "Come - follow me." + |