Prayer for Conversion of Sinners and the Perfection of the Faithful

I was just reading one of my favorite blogs, Mount Carmel Catholic Blogger, and I ran across a beautiful prayer that I just had to post on my blog. It's a prayer for the conversion of souls in the state of mortal sin, and also for the grace of those who are in the state of grace to advance to saintly perfection by the frequent reception of Holy Communion.

I love this prayer because I can't say enough about the absolute importance and centrality of the Holy Eucharist. The Second Vatican Council said of this sacrament in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, that it is "the source and summit of the Christian Life." And in Lumen Gentium it says:

"The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."

There is nothing more vital and necessary to the life of the soul than the Bread of Life, Jesus, our source of every nourishment. Everything we do, no matter how mundane, worldly, or ordinary our tasks maybe, all of it finds it's light and sustenance in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Pray this prayer often. There is nothing better you can do for the good of souls than wish that they commune ever so intimately with Savior. And let it inspire you to make frequent and devout Holy Communions.

O Sweetest Jesus, Who camest into this world to give to all the life of Thy grace, and Who, to preserve and sustain it, didst will to be the remedy of our daily infirmities, and our daily food; humbly we pray Thee, by Thy Heart, all on fire for love of us, to pour out Thy Holy Spirit upon all, so that those who are unhappily in mortal sin may be converted to Thee, and recover the life of grace which they have lost; and those who by Thy gift still live this Divine life, may every day, when they are able, approach devoutly to Thy holy table, where, in daily Holy Communion, receiving every day the antidote to their daily venial sins, and nourishing the life of grace in their hearts, and purifying more and more their souls, they may come at last to the enjoyment with Thee of eternal beatitude. Amen.

Heart of Jesus, burning with love for us, inflame our hearts with love of Thee!

Contemplating the Face of Jesus

I've been struggling lately. I've been faced with many challenges to holiness, and have found myself face-flat on the dust more often than anything. It's been a tough school year, full of many faith-shaking and hope-sapping events for me. On top of that, this year has been marked with numerous personal failings. Some years are like that, I suppose, but I'm ready for it to be over. I'm ready for something to really lift me up and inspire me again. I'm looking forward to beginning Major Seminary in Rome, as I think that all the Faith and Antiquity in that Eternal City will be a wonderful source of grace and joy.

Again, in response to the words of my confessor this evening, I find that all my problems stem from one: I loose focus on the Face of Jesus. All the book learning, all the catholic culture, all of it is beautiful indeed; but all of it is for a purpose. And that purpose is the pursuit of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The ultimate remedy to any sin, to any challenge to personal holiness, is to contemplate the face of Jesus in personal prayer. I don't know why I always forget this. I think my spiritual director reminds me of it almost every time that I meet with him. But it's just the thing that the Devil is trying so hard to make all of us loose sight of amidst all the clutter of our everyday concerns. This is my great challenge! I do not pray as often as I should!

And why? Why is it that I fail to? I think for one, prayer is hard, it's frequently unrewarding, and its contrary to the inclinations of our wounded human nature. But, the Lord knows this, of course, and he supplies us with His grace, which slowly and surely must build upon our nature, so Aquinas says. But more importantly, in His wisdom, when prayer gets difficult, if we're faithful despite the challenge, He makes the difficulty the means by which we are transformed to His likeness. It was in the cross that his love was made known to us! So it is that our love is made known to Him. I let that thought encourage me when prayer is difficult. And I always try to remember that after the cross there is always that Easter joy we celebrate throughout this season.

I seem to be reflecting quite a bit on this issue lately. Perhaps that Lord is putting it on my heart that I may inspire someone who is struggling like me. And so, I say with greater confidence than ever that there is nothing more vital to the sanctification of the Christian than prayer. How else can we learn the ways of God, unless we sit at the feet of the Master. And so let us turn to Him daily, if only for a little while, and listen to His Word. The gospels are a great place to begin to know Him. And even if we don't experience anything particularly awesome at first, in the long run we will find ourselves drawn ever closer to Him. We must only be patient with ourselves and persist!

It's the Home Stretch...

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately, but it's fast approaching the end of the school year, and I have a lot of work to do. On top of that, I have to complete my application for the North American College by the end of the month, and that sucker is beastly. As such, I really don't have a lot of time for thinking and writing. Please bear with me and pray for me as I trudge on through to the end! It's going to be tough, but with God's grace, anything is possible.

To hold you over until then, let me draw your attention to the upcoming "apostolic journey" of the Holy Father to the United States by posting his message to America. I think he'll give you plenty to chew on in the meantime until I can get my own act together. Peace, and God bless!