St. Joseph’s Vanguard And Our Lady’s Train

Wow, my respect for Senator McCain just increased by an power of 10. He’s asked Alaskan Governor, Sarah Palin, to serve as his running mate! She has five children, including a baby with Downs syndrome, and also wears totally cute glasses–hey, a girl’s style sense is important. Any fears about his choosing a pro-abortion running mate are now groundless, and I feel much better about his good sense.

And, I love the fact that her parents were caribou hunting when the news of her appointment hit the wires.

McCain-Palin, 2008!

In the silence of that night in Bethlehem, Jesus was born and lovingly welcomed. And now, on this Christmas Day, when the joyful news of his saving birth continues to resound, who is ready to open the doors of his heart to the holy child? Men and women of this modern age, Christ comes also to us bringing his light, he comes also to us granting peace! But who is watching, in the night of doubt and uncertainty, with a vigilant, praying heart? Who is waiting for the dawn of the new day, keeping alight the flame of faith? Who has time to listen to his word and to become enfolded and entranced by his love? Yes! His message of peace is for everyone; he comes to offer himself to all people as sure hope for salvation.

You can read the entire message here.

I have only read the excerpts from the Catholic New Service summarizing the exhortation, but it looks awesome!

My highlights from the adoration section of the exhortation:

• One of the most moving moments of the Synod came when we gathered…for eucharistic adoration. In this act of prayer, and not just in words, the assembly of Bishops wanted to point out the intrinsic relationship between eucharistic celebration and eucharistic adoration.
• In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration.
• Receiving the Eucharist means adoring him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy.
• Wherever possible, it would be appropriate, especially in densely populated areas, to set aside specific churches or oratories for perpetual adoration
  

I really like Pope Benedict’s straightforward and clear communication style. His statements are brief and yet illumine beautifully the reason for Eucharistic Adoration and its connection to the Mass. (more…)

…is accomplished!

We now have 560 different adorers on our master schedule.
Over 1,000 people spent time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at the adoration chapel this week alone.

The good work continues as our faithful Hourly Captains are calling each adorer to remind them to go to their Holy Hour for the next two weeks.  A hundred little obstacles, big and small, have cropped up to make adoration difficult, but our Lord has been overcoming them and allowing us, his useless servants, to aid him with our efforts.

I almost don’t believe it.

Last night, I looked at the clock, which read 10:15 pm, and I said to Katie: “Someone is adoring our Lord right now at St. Louis”.  I was so struck to think that at least one person is before our Lord in adoration every single hour of the day, every day of the week.

Of the 650 people who signed up, we ended up with 530 people on the master schedule.  It is truly a miracle that God has wrought.  I am again humbled by how many people are willing to give an hour a week to adore our Lord.

Thank you for your prayers; Jesus has answered them.  We still have some challenges with coordinating it all, but I trust that the Holy Spirit will help us with them.

Well, we started with: “Bless the Lord! 600 people signed up for an hour of adoration!”

Then as the weight hit me of trying to call each person and fill the 168-hour weekly schedule by March 5th, it became “Oh no! 600 people signed up for an hour of adoration. Lord, help us!”

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…a success!

Thanks to Jesus, we had about 20 members of our adoration team begin calling the 600+ parishioners who signed up for an hour.

They called over 200 people and signed up 150 people for an hour, filling 84 different hour slots (some have multiple people), which is half of the 168 hours in a week!

Katie and I have been amazed by the dedication of our adoration team members.  They have come to the meetings so faithfully, put up with some confusion and errors (on our part especially), and have been enthusiastic throughout it all.

We have three more call banks scheduled, and our start date for Perpetual Adoration has been set with the hope in Christ that we will fill the schedule completely.  On 8 am, March 5th, the first adorer will begin the Perpetual Adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament at St. Louis parish!

…help me overcome my unbelief!

As Katie told you below, the Holy Spirit inspired over 600 parishioners to spend one hour a week with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

I didn’t believe that God would do it, and I feared both that He would inspire so many and that He wouldn’t inspire enough, if you understand me. And yet, God did.

I have heard from various people at our parish that the 5 pm Saturday vigil Mass is attended by many people who “just want to get their Mass obligation out of the way”. Well, 150 people signed up for a Holy Hour from that Mass alone.

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I can’t believe that I haven’t blogged in a week!  Somehow, I blinked, and a week had passed.  A week in which Father Larry Villone came to St. Louis Parish and gave an amazing and grace-filled Adoration kick-off mission.  A week in which 600+ St. Louis parishioners signed up for a Holy Hour.  It’s truly a miracle.

Devin and I have grumbled from the beginning about our role as Head Coordinators.  We felt anxious about being too busy to kick-off Adoration and gave the kick-off preparations a measly amount of attention.  Because we did what seemed like so little, we felt plenty of doubt that Perpetual Adoration would actually happen.  We knew that our efforts were no guarantee that Adoration would happen, so we kept saying, “If Christ wants, He can start Perpetual Adoration because it’s too much for us.”

And, apparently, Christ did want it and chose two whiny Coordinators through whom to show His glory and majesty.  Clearly, Devin and I are not responsible for 600+ St. Louis parishioners giving one hour per week to Christ, including many people who hold leadership positions in the parish.  We gave Our Lord a few loaves and two fish, and He fed the five thousand, with baskets of food left over.  Blessed be His name.  YKC!

…and Katie and I are going to the airport in 20 minutes to pick up Father Larry Villone!

We have 3,300 invitation cards: 2,000 in English and 1,300 in Spanish.  We have 700 little golf pencils, which we will be sharpening this afternoon, and we have said our prayers that God will inspire his children to spend an hour a week with him, so all is in readiness.

One important thing we have learned in the process of preparing for Fr. Villone is how good the people who work at St. Louis are.  They really do want to help; they want to support adoration, and they are happy to do what they can to make it possible.

We just learned that our Spanish priest, Father Victor, has been out of town and may or may not return this weekend!  Ack–who will preach at the Spanish Masses, for Fr. Villone is not bilingual?  The Lord only knows.  Half of our parish is Spanish-speaking, so we will trust that Jesus will provide.

Please say a brief prayer for us this weekend!

…sometimes aggravates me!

What do I mean by the loaded term “human side of the Catholic Church”?

Well, in this instance I am referring to our efforts to publicize the Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration (PEA) kick-off next weekend when Father Larry Villone from the Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament comes to speak at all the Masses and invite people to adore Jesus for one hour per week.

Our friend Noel designed cool posters with Pope John Paul holding a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament exposed for adoration in the background and the basics of who-what-when-where in the foreground:

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Go read this inspiring and succinct article on CatholicExchange.com about a high school teacher who also teaches Missionaries of Charity sisters (Mother Theresa’s order) and who one day brought some high schoolers to Eucharistic Adoration at the convent.

I heard reactions like, “That was powerful” and “The sisters were authentic” and “They had nothing, but they were the happiest people I’ve ever met!” Since then about twenty other students have made the trek to the convent and the reactions are similar.

We so often short-change adolescents and teenagers by thinking that they cannot spend ten minutes, let alone an hour, in quiet prayer and reflection and also by doubting that they can believe in Jesus Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament–how wrong we are!

May we instead set lofty expectations of faith for them and for ourselves, trusting in God to supply the grace and love.

Howdy, friends!

Katie and I have been given the honor of starting Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration (PEA) at our parish, St. Louis.  It has been a challenge for me especially, so I would like to ask that you say a prayer that God will start PEA at St. Louis for his glory.

It has been a challenge because I have helped coordinate adoration for the past 4 years (5 days per week, roughly 7 am to 6 pm each day), but we have just enough adorers to cover one per hour, and when someone can’t come anymore, it leaves a hole that is difficult to fill.

It causes the adorers who have a hole after their hour much anxiety to leave the Blessed Sacrament unadored, and it does the same for me as the scheduler because I am partly responsible for it.  (more…)

 
I’m joyfully engaged to Devin, which means I’m also engaged in the work of planning our wedding. We’re excited at the thought of sharing our joy with our families and friends and welcoming them with good food and beautiful flowers and lovely music.
 
With that said, there’s a reason for all the jokes about stressed-out brides! Because, there are many details to plan as Devin and I prepare to enter Holy Matrimony…I mean, many many details!
 
But, thanks to Our Lady of Cana, Our Lord is teaching me that He’s the best wedding planner ever! This time of engagement is supposed to be a wonderful gift, a time to “ponder these things in [my] heart” and prepare interiorly to become a wife and mother, but it’s so possible to become swept up with details–flowers and colors and cake decorations and…! I need grace to remain serene and interiorly recollected so that I don’t miss the special beauty of this time.
 
Christ wants to take care of every wedding detail, through the intercession of Our Lady of Cana. He wants me to give it all to Him as a trusting child and say, “Lord, may I please have (insert wedding desire) at the wedding”, to trust Him to take care of the manner in which it will unfold. Right now, my main task is that of gratitude and prayer and wonder at the gift of Devin. Miles beneath the surface of my skin, I’m trying to remain serene, listening to the Holy Spirit and pondering the great sacrament I’m about to receive, even as I engage in the practical work of wedding planning.
 
Umm, that’s the ideal. Goodness knows, that’s not been the constant reality during the past two weeks! But, I’m hopefully confident that Our Lady of Cana will continue to teach me to do “whatever He tells [me]” in the next 5 months, so that I can become just the woman Devin deserves, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. YKC!

 
I teach sophomore Language Arts. It’s tough. I mean, really tough! Yet, I feel that Christ is inviting me to sacrifice in this time, both for the salvation of my students and as a gift that I can offer Him.
 
I spend a Holy Hour in Adoration each morning before school, to pray for my students and for the grace to make it through the day. This morning in Adoration, I was praying the sorrowful Rosary mystery of the Scourging at the Pillar when I received a beautiful insight. You see, I always offer the Rosary as a gift to Our Lady and Jesus, comforting Her sorrow with the Hail Mary’s and standing with Her to comfort Christ in His Passion. (more…)

 
My friends Adam and Sharon posted a profound quote from St. Peter Julian Eymard about St. Joseph and Eucharistic Adoration.

 
Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, recently fielded questions from some of the priests in Rome, and the third question was about Perpetual Adoration. I thought his response was very inspiring:
 
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Peanut butter + blackberry jam (lots) + dry oatmeal + honey.
 
I’m not sure why I put the dry oatmeal in it, but it feels right for some reason. I like the way it is dry and sticks to everything else when I mix it all around!
 
And at work someone brought in homemade chocolate chips cookies (the kind you can tell are really good just by looking at them), and I didn’t eat even one of them to follow through with my sacrifice.

 
I went to adoration yesterday and was surprised to see Through the Eyes of Jesus back on the table! I thought someone had absconded with it, but if they did, apparently it was just for the day, and they returned it.
 
Then I realized that The Life of St. Joseph was nowhere to be found, but before I declare it to be truly gone, I am going to wait one week to see if (perhaps the same) person returns it after reading it at home. Blessed be God! Also, everytime I go into adoration, I have seen someone else in there with the copy of My Daily Bread that I put out last week, and I am delighted because that devotional is just plain awesome.
 
If you have the means ($7.95), I highly recommend that you obtain yourself a copy. We will check back next week and see whether all the books are there or not.

 
It has been one week since I put out three well-beloved spiritual books on the St. Louis Adoration table and simultaneously commenced a study!
 
I made predictions about how long the books will last, so today I was both surprised and kind of excited to see that one of the books is already gone!
 
“Through the Eyes of Jesus” was nowhere to be found, in spite of the markings on the front and back. It lasted less than a week, so that was much sooner than my hypothesis. In adoration, I gave the book to whoever took it and offered a prayer that Jesus will bless them through it, so any trespass that may have happened has been forgiven.
 
“My Daily Bread” and the “Life of St. Joseph” show wear from adorers reading them (whoop!) but so far are both still there. May Jesus bless us in adoration!

 
We have one recurring problem in adoration–not the most important one–but an annoying one nonetheless: People continually take the books that we, the adoration team, buy and make avaiable to the adorers for reading in adoration.
 
We have bought many, many books, clearly marked them as being “St. Louis property, please do not remove”, and yet, for unknown reasons, some people take the books home and never return them!
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I know you don’t need me to tell you that, but there it is.
 
I walked into daily Mass this morning with my three little prayer book-adoration invitation packets and immediately spotted all three of my elderly lady friends whom I intended to give them to!
 
They all quietly thanked me (the Rosary had just started), and I went and sat down in the back. Then I noticed Virginia had gotten up, and she came over to me and took one of the hours! I left after Mass before I could talk with Trudy or Natalie, but I know they will also take hours if humanly possible, so Jesus will not be left unadored.
 
When I got into work, I checked my email, and another adorer who used to be on our schedule volunteered again to come back onto it and take the other tough hour! That leaves only one half-hour time slot we need filled, and it is near the end of the day, so it probably already has people going then, but just to make sure I want to get someone for it.
 
Blessed be God for answering our prayers.

 
We have three holes (2.5 hours) in our adoration schedule on Wednesday right now, and so I am praying God will inspire people to fill them, so he won’t be left unadored.
 
I asked all our current adorers to personally invite someone to adoration to fill one of the holes and then I also tried to think of people I knew who might be able to help. I suddenly remembered my elderly lady friends at daily Mass!
 
So, I wrote out a personal letter to each one inviting them to take one of the three hours, and I thought that was pretty nice. These women are so wonderful and faithful that I know if they are able to, they will accept my invitation of their own good will, but to sweeten the pot a little, I put each letter inside a copy of my favorite devotional prayer book.
 
I’m not above a little holy adoration bribery!

 
…is it?
 
Remember when Jesus said, “Whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me”?
 
We all believe that with some degree of faith, but if you’re like me, that faith is pretty small. Consider: A man is new to your parish and wants to go to Adoration, but he is handicapped in a way that causes him to have to ask for someone to take him there? Would you take him?
 
If this situation doesn’t exactly fit Jesus’ words, I don’t know one that would, and it just so happens this hypothetical situation is real and is at the parish where I am the adoration scheduler.
 
I sent out an email to all the adorers describing this man’s humble request for someone to take him to and from adoration. He even said that he would go at anytime, stay for any length, and leave at any time to be as little a burden as possible, bless his heart.
 
No one responded to the email.
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If you still haven’t picked up a copy of My Daily Bread, you just gotta get one today! (Unless of course you are someone I know, and I am getting you one this Christmas, and in that case, don’t go get one).
 
Today’s lesson was about grace, and as usual, it was brilliantly inspired:

My grace brings you a yearning for Heaven and freedom from many earthly fears. All graces are gifts from me. Actual grace enlightens your mind to see some truth more clearly and appreciate it more deeply; then it gives your will an inclination toward the good which you see; and finally it offers you strength to follow that good, if you so desire. Every actual grace contains these three elements.

 
As an engineer, I love to learn what things are and how they work. In this case, I learn what actual grace consists of, and understanding that helps me be more aware of it in my life. For example, I can see how God has given me actual grace to grow in purity for the past several years.
 
This excerpt was only one paragraph in a broader daily lesson that had further wisdom in it. (Big) Jeff and his wife gave it to me, and it has continued to be a channel of grace from God since!

 
Three years ago, God inspired some holy people at St. Louis parish to expand adoration from one day per month to 5 days per week. They kindly invited me to be on the adoration team with them, and so I have helped with the adoration scheduling ever since!
 
Thanks be to God, I also signed up for two hours each week, and I know that Jesus has poured out “grace upon grace” into my soul (cf. John 1)..
 
A few days ago I was kneeling before Him in adoration, and I thought, “We’re all worshipping what looks like a piece of bread. What utter foolishness if it is not You, Lord! But it is You, and so worshipping you is the only thing for us to do!”.
 
“Lord, thank you for humbling yourself in transforming bread into your Body, suffering our hands to carry you into your golden prison, and patiently waiting there for us to come and visit you. Please forgive me for the poor job I have done in helping with adoration, and especially for those times when you have been left alone because of it. Help me do better, Lord, so that more of your children will come and discover your loving, quiet Presence at adoration. Jesus, I adore you.”

Today’s “My Daily Bread” reading was about self-conquest, and as usual, it hit home. Here is an exerpt:

Christ:
“My child, you will never face a greater battle than the battle against your unreasoning feelings and desires….They are your most stubborn and most dangerous enemies….Self will start with a mild desire and gradually develop a strong habit. You must fight what is bad from the very first time it appears in your life. If you cannot overcome evil when it is small and weak, how will you ever conquer it after it has become a strong habit?”

How true it is. I realize how governed I am by habits, both good and bad.

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It’s a joy to see you at Mass everyday, and I pray our Blessed Mother will lovingly lead you and your family in Jesus’ perfect love.

I gave up hope a few weeks back that any new adorers would sign up for adoration.

Over a month ago, I asked our Blessed Mother for just one person to sign up for adoration, but lo, nothing happened. I knew our Blessed Mother had prayed for my intention, and that God wanted people to go to adoration, so I attributed it to people not listening to his inspiration and to my own poor effort in writing the adoration article for the newsletter.

Well, last night the phone rings, and the young woman’s voice on the other end asks for Devin. I tell her that I am he, and then she surprises me by asking if she “can still sign up for an adoration hour”.

Me: “You bet you can! Which hour do you want?!”

Our Blessed Mother came through, and so today I made good on my promise to her and prayed the rosary for these new adorers.

I say adorers in the plural because her whole family is coming to adoration. While talking with her, I heard a baby making holy clamor in the background, and she told me that she and her husband were married in the last year and are already blessed with a baby!

When our conversation ended, I looked at my Immaculate Heart of Mary painting that my mom gave me, thanked her and Jesus, and then the thought came into my mind that even though I had given up on the prayer long ago, Mary and Jesus hadn’t given up, and I wondered how many more of my prayers may be like that–forgotten by me but moving in the Heart of Christ and awaiting his brilliant timing to be answered in unexpected ways.

Okay, that title has nothing to do with this post and is just a spoof on the funny line I read on Jimmy Akin’s blog, “NO, it is I who will eat you!”.

Tomorrow, the G and the R and myself are meeting in Houston for the U2 concert. How do you dismantle an atomic bomb, asks Bono, and the answer is love (more U2 theology which is a little bit oversimplified, but that’s alright).

Then we are all going to the Aggie football game to watch the Aggies DIS-MANTLE the Iowa St. whatever-they-are’s. We might not even have to have the traditional midnight yell practice to prepare for these guys.

THEN, the G and I are going to go to his brother’s home to hang out with him and his wonderful wife, Veronica and their two babies (one still in su vientre, so we won’t get to play with her much yet!). (Vientre == womb).

Have a blessed weekend, and know you are in my prayers (seriously, I actually pray for you as God needs to do some supernatural work to make this blog edifying for you!).