“I desire to unite Myself with human souls; My great delight is to unite Myself with souls. Know, My daughter, that when I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay any attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. Oh, how sad I am that souls do not recognize Love! They treat me as a dead object. “
One cannot help but feel convicted of the times they receive Holy Communion in a distracted state of mind. Just yesterday I was talking with a fellow parishioner after mass about this, and we both shared our struggles in trying to get into a right state of mind and heart to reverently receive Holy Communion. We both shared that we sit up front in church to minimize the distractions of the other parishioners and how people are such a big distraction. If I sat in the back of the church, I would spend the whole mass looking at people. People captivate my attention and my weak spirit struggles with shutting out the world and focusing on the spirit of God. In addition, I need to close my eyes after receiving Holy Communion, because again, I will be distracted by the people coming up to the front of the church and receiving Holy Communion. It seems, no matter how hard I try to focus on the beauty of the mass and the great gift that we receive (body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus), I am still battling with my flesh and the world. I find I do better at week day masses when it’s much quieter and less people to be distracted by.
I like to get to church early, when I am in a more focused state and have some time for personal prayer. Once the first hymn is sung, it is a struggle. Thank goodness we have the cloistered religious to pray for this world. I am sure that the isolation from the world and frequent moments of prayer throughout the day is the best way to be in a position to receive all of the graces that God wants to give the soul.
I know that beating yourself up about this problem is not the answer. Even the religious (people who belong to faith communities: priests, nuns, monks, etc.), have issues similar to mine and they advise us to just keep pulling yourself back when you recognize that you are getting sidetracked.
Anyone who is reading this and is not a Roman Catholic, may have no idea what I am talking about. Jesus wants ALL people to come to Him and receive this gift of His divinity. Holy Communion is a mystery to all of us, because it is supernatural. So much about being a Catholic relies on our faith and belief in the Word of God (the Bible). Holy Communion is central to being a Catholic. If you read Saint Faustina’s diary, you will begin to understand the relationship of Jesus, Holy Communion and souls (that would us, souls).
God Bless
Paula
Dairy, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, original Polish Diary copyright 1981 Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy
No comments:
Post a Comment