If you, therefore, are Christ’s body and members, it is your own mystery that is placed on the Lord’s table! It is your own mystery that you are receiving! You are saying “Amen” to what you are: your response is a personal signature, affirming your faith. When you hear “The body of Christ”, you reply “Amen.” Be a member of Christ’s body, then, so that your “Amen” may ring true! (St. Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 272)
St. Augustine lived his deep and boundles
s passion of love for our Lord Jesus. He reminds us that we become what we receive in the Eucharist. Which follows the tradition of “Lex orandi, lex credendi”, (what we pray we come to believe) and then we follow this with what we do is who we truly are and women and men of faith who seek the face of Jesus Christ in each and every person. I mentioned a few weeks ago how it seems so long ago we were talking and seeking to grow in the works of mercy and how the hatred and violence seemed to easily to flow back into our hearts.
I have been reflecting on this small portion of St. Augustine sermon this week as well as reviewing the Works of Mercy and I asked myself a very simple question, “Am I a work of mercy?”
With the terrible and life taking destruction brought about by Hurricane Harvey (and by many other natural disasters around the world) I watch, look and wonder how do I respond? It is easy enough to say I will donate to an aid organization or give some clothing or other goods to be shared with those who have lost everything. Those are all actions of mercy and I am doing something good but as a Christian am I called to more?
And the answer is yes. How? One answer is to pack up your bags and head down to serve. But for many of us, this is impractical and in truth would probably cause as many problems for the recovery effort as it would solve.
The second “how?” can be summed up in one simple word: prayer. Yes, here it is again. But it isn’t just prayer for prayer sake but rather it is the unitive prayer St. Augustine writes about above. We say it so often as Catholics, “we are the Body of Christ” and we “celebrate in union with all” that we forget the power of intercessory prayer and how this prayer can unite us in mercy and love with God and with each other. It is a prayer of attentiveness. St.Louis de Montfort wrote these beautiful words about praying the rosary, ”In order to pray well, it is not enough to give expression to our petitions by means of that most excellent of all prayers, the Rosary, but we must also pray with real concentration…How can we expect God to listen to us if we ourselves do not pay attention to what we are saying?” (p 103, The Secret of the Rosary)
In prayer, and especially the rosary, we find ourselves on a journey of love and blessing with Jesus Christ and we then become the very work of mercy we desire because we unite ourselves in the Body of Christ with our brothers and sisters both near and far, both in suffering and joy, in love and holiness. The work of mercy we become is the prayer that blesses those who can do what we cannot at this moment. This does not excuse us from direct action of the work of God but it reminds us that united in love and offering hope in prayer we do change the heart of the world because our heart is broken and blessed and made into a new creation.
This is only possible with a deep and profound relationship with Jesus Christ. Hearing the words of St. Augustine above echo in St. John Paul II reflection on the rosary we begin to know our call to walk the mysteries of prayer, “At the same time, it becomes natural to bring to this encounter wit the sacred humanity of the Redeemer all the problems, anxieties, labors and endeavors which go to make up our lives. “Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you.” (Ps 55:23)” (#25 Rosarium Virginis Mariae.)
Jesus is present with us as we place our heart in His Sacred Heart of love. Let us pray together, work together and bring together the Body of Christ in becoming the work of mercy God calls us to be. And through the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary may we unite ourselves to her son in the service of all.
God Bless
Fr. Mark
As we unite ourselves in prayer with our brothers and sisters in the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey our Bishop Patrick, in unity with all bishops in the United States, has asked that we reach out to those suffering in Texas and the Gulf Coast.
Bishop Patrick has asked, as a church, we direct or donations through Catholic Charities who are on the ground in the 9 dioceses impacted by this storm. There is a link below to make an online donation. St. Lucy will have an in pew collection in a few weeks for those who wish to donate in this manner.
If you have already shared of your time, talent and treasure through different relief agencies, thank you and God blesses your generosity. We know from experience the recovery will take not days or weeks but years so let us continue to be united in the works of mercy in sharing God’s blessings with those in need.