The Power of Prayer
A few months ago I called upon our parishioners to take home the name of one or two of our teenagers and pray for him or her each day. I was happy to see when I returned from vacation last week that all their names had been taken. I have no doubt that our prayers will help our young people grow in faith and grace and meet the challenges in their lives.
Now I call upon each of us to take on another prayer intention. The people I ask you to pray for now have no names, because they haven’t been born yet. You see I am asking you to “spiritually adopt” an unborn baby somewhere in the United States by praying for him or her and trusting that God will direct your prayers where they are most needed. Pray that this baby will be carried to term and that mother and child will have a healthy delivery and happy life together.
We need to pray for the unborn because in our country every year at least 1.4 million babies die by abortion. Others die as a result of inadequate prenatal medical care, poor nutrition or even violence against the mother (remember Laci Peterson). So pray for an unborn child whose life is at risk, and pray for his or her parents as well. Do not doubt that our prayers make a huge difference in these situations. [Not all can protest abortion clinics, nor can we all do problem pregnancy counseling, but we all can pray.]
Our Religious Education students and catechists will begin their “Spiritual Adoption” Program on Sunday, Sept. 11 and continue to pray for their baby until their final class in May.
Please take a prayer card from the display at the back of the Church and pray the ten-second prayer daily for your “adopted child.” You are also encouraged to name your baby, to give him or her an identity. At the end of the nine-month period, on May 7, 2006, during their last class, our Religious Education Program will hold a baby shower for our spiritually adopted babies. During that weekend, at
all Masses, we will hold a similar baby shower for all of our parishioners. In this way, we can also help the mother, in a very tangible way, as she brings to term a beautiful gift of life. All gifts collected at the shower will be given to the Gabriel Project for mothers in need.
On behalf of the at-risk unborn babies of our country and their parents, I thank you.
Msgr. David A. Lockard
Eucharist as Real Presence
Before I left for vacation, I wrote a little meditation on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, focusing on the word real. Now that I have returned I shall reflect on the word presence.
As with the word real, so with the word presence: it applies to our Lord in several ways. He is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, so He is present there. Since He is truly divine, Christ can also rightly be said to be present everywhere. So how does Christ’s presence in the Eucharist differ
from these or other forms of His presence?
For me, the answer lies in two words: union and transformation. The presence of Christ in the Eucharist makes it possible for us to be united with Him physically as well as spiritually whenever we receive Holy Communion. Therefore, because of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, our union with Him in Holy Communion has the power to truly transform us. Indeed, Christ’s presence transforms us slowly
into other Christs! This statement would be shocking if it were not found in the Fathers of the Church. St. Augustine, for example, wrote that through the Eucharistic Communion “we become what we are” - the Body of Christ.
It is for this reason that the Church teaches that our adoration of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist must flow from and lead to our reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in Holy Communion. Our prayers and meditation before the Blessed Sacrament are to deepen in us our understanding of and longing for what should happen to us when we receive the Lord. You could say that the transubstantiation of the bread and wine in the Eucharist is only half of the miracle. The other half of the Eucharistic miracle is our personal “transubstantiation”, so to speak. This second change is the purpose of the Eucharist, the reason why Christ is really present in this greatest of sacraments.
(Next week: Eucharist as Gift)
Remark: The Gabriel Project is a Pro-Life movement offering parish-based pastoral care to women in a crisis pregnancy. It is the goal of the Gabriel Project to help such women with all their practical needs as well as offering them unconditional love in an apostolate of friendship throughout their pregnancy. For information on how you can help with the Gabriel Project or be helped by it, please call 237-8784.