Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
1 Cor 10:17
Last weekend was the Feast of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. We celebrate and reflect upon the source and summit of our faith: the uniting of individuals at the table of our Lord and partaking of the Holy Eucharist. When we gather together at Mass to celebrate the Eucharist we become one body in the Lord. Look around you at Mass today. Do you see individuals or do you see one body, a mystical body? When you listen and respond to the Liturgy of the Eucharist do you hear one voice, a mystical voice? Do you feel at one with the Lord AND your fellow worshippers?
Take some time today to reflect upon the bread and wine that become the body and blood of Christ. Think of how many grains of wheat it takes to make the bread and think of how many grapes it takes to make the wine. The grains and grapes start their lives as individuals and then come together to form bread and wine. The priest consecrates the bread and wine to form the body and blood of Christ. We too are like grains of wheat and grapes. We start out as individuals before Mass, each doing our own thing, but when we come together at the table of the Eucharist we form one body and one voice. And after Mass we become the earthly hands of Christ and the earthly voice of Christ. How will you carry out this responsibility? How will you be Christ in your home, workplace, playground, grocery store etc.? How will you carry on Christ’s earthly mission? How will you go forth to love and serve the Lord?
Always remember that you carry the Light of Christ with you. He will guide you, travel with you and will illuminate your path. Christ is a part of us and we are at one with Christ. Though we are many, we are one…
God Bless, Holly Clark
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
Acts 2:1-4
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
I have always found this passage from Acts to be a very prayerful and thought provoking image. Today I’d like for you to travel back two thousand years and put yourself into this reading. Picture yourself gathered with the early disciples of Christ. You may feel saddened and lost, maybe even abandoned by your friend’s death. You wonder where your new found faith will take you, martyrdom and death or to new journeys? Suddenly you feel a strong wind… you know something is in the air… you hear a huge noise coming from the sky but yet you are not frightened. You feel a sudden warmth in your heart and you see tongues of fire hovering over your friends’ heads. You are mesmerized for a moment or two and you know you have touched God for God has filled you with the Holy Spirit!
Our lives are filled with the Holy Spirit. We do not always realize it or understand it but the Holy Spirit is always with us, ready to fill our hearts with God’s love and guidance. We need to slow down our lives and listen for the Wind of the Spirit. This week let us pray with this passage from Acts and ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance for what may be troubling you. Slow down and feel the Holy Spirit’s “tongue of fire.” Let the fire penetrate your mind and your heart. Let us set our hearts ablaze with the Spirit! Come Holy Spirit, Come and fill us with God’s love.
God Bless, Holly Clark
Friday, June 10, 2011
And With Your Spirit...
Reflections on the New Mass:
The first weekend of Advent in 2011 we will be coming together and celebrating the Mass together with a fresh, new voice. We will come together and worship as one body in Christ, a Mystical Body with one Mystical Voice.
The very first thing you will notice is the priest greeting you with… “The Lord be with you.” We used to respond with, “And also with you.” Instead we will respond instead with “And with your spirit.” When I first heard this new response, it sounded very foreign to me and not quite grammatically correct. I also was asking myself what difference does it make?
Last week I attended a conference called Mystical Voice, Mystical Body which was offered by the Archdiocese to help explain to Church staffs the changes in the Mass. The presenters explained to us that “And with your spirit…” does not refer to the spirit of the priest but rather to the spirit of the Lord that ordained priests receive at ordination. The priest, is offering us Christ’s greetings, not his own. Taken in this context the wording makes perfect sense.
The new wording may seem to be a bit formal, but as one of the presenters pointed out: “wouldn’t you greet Christ more formally than a buddy at the football field?” The language one uses needs to fit the occasion. When we come together at Mass we form the Mystical Body of Christ and speak from the Mystical Voice of Christ. We want our words to be more prayerful and reflective in Mass than the current translation allows. (Don’t you think “and with your spirit” sounds more prayerful than “and also with you?”). Let us all pray for an open mind and heart as we reflect on the new translation of the Roman Missal in the weeks and months to come.
- Holly Clark
The first weekend of Advent in 2011 we will be coming together and celebrating the Mass together with a fresh, new voice. We will come together and worship as one body in Christ, a Mystical Body with one Mystical Voice.
The very first thing you will notice is the priest greeting you with… “The Lord be with you.” We used to respond with, “And also with you.” Instead we will respond instead with “And with your spirit.” When I first heard this new response, it sounded very foreign to me and not quite grammatically correct. I also was asking myself what difference does it make?
Last week I attended a conference called Mystical Voice, Mystical Body which was offered by the Archdiocese to help explain to Church staffs the changes in the Mass. The presenters explained to us that “And with your spirit…” does not refer to the spirit of the priest but rather to the spirit of the Lord that ordained priests receive at ordination. The priest, is offering us Christ’s greetings, not his own. Taken in this context the wording makes perfect sense.
The new wording may seem to be a bit formal, but as one of the presenters pointed out: “wouldn’t you greet Christ more formally than a buddy at the football field?” The language one uses needs to fit the occasion. When we come together at Mass we form the Mystical Body of Christ and speak from the Mystical Voice of Christ. We want our words to be more prayerful and reflective in Mass than the current translation allows. (Don’t you think “and with your spirit” sounds more prayerful than “and also with you?”). Let us all pray for an open mind and heart as we reflect on the new translation of the Roman Missal in the weeks and months to come.
- Holly Clark
A Dream Begins With a Tear...
How often in life do you feel like the world is against you and you have nowhere to go? Perhaps you suffered the death of a loved one or the loss of a job or perhaps the insanities of life are catching up with you and you feel the loss of all your dreams and hopes. How do you cope? Do you become bitter at the world or do you turn to your faith? Do you pick yourself up and build new dreams? Many dreams are “built on a tear.”
We are now bringing the Easter season to a close next weekend with the celebration of Pentecost. After Jesus’ death, the first Christians felt as if their world was torn apart. They believed all of Jesus’ hopes and dreams for a new life on Earth were destroyed. They mourned the death of their leader and friend. Slowly, as they traveled the road to Emmaus and met the risen Jesus, they began to realize larger dreams, a life after death. The disciples began to spread the joy and Good News of the risen Christ. Christ had died and was risen once again. Christ’s tears, as He suffered on the cross began a process to enact God’s hopes and dreams for all of humanity. It was a dream begun with a tear…
This week take some time to review your life. Where are your tears flowing from? Using Christ as a role model, can you take those tears and turn them into dreams? It is difficult to reflect upon sorrows, when you feel as if your heart has been ripped open. But always remember when you feel as if God has ripped your heart open, it is to make it bigger for Him to pour His love into. Turn your tears into dreams… and you’ll be surprised at what will arise!
God Bless, Holly Clark
We are now bringing the Easter season to a close next weekend with the celebration of Pentecost. After Jesus’ death, the first Christians felt as if their world was torn apart. They believed all of Jesus’ hopes and dreams for a new life on Earth were destroyed. They mourned the death of their leader and friend. Slowly, as they traveled the road to Emmaus and met the risen Jesus, they began to realize larger dreams, a life after death. The disciples began to spread the joy and Good News of the risen Christ. Christ had died and was risen once again. Christ’s tears, as He suffered on the cross began a process to enact God’s hopes and dreams for all of humanity. It was a dream begun with a tear…
This week take some time to review your life. Where are your tears flowing from? Using Christ as a role model, can you take those tears and turn them into dreams? It is difficult to reflect upon sorrows, when you feel as if your heart has been ripped open. But always remember when you feel as if God has ripped your heart open, it is to make it bigger for Him to pour His love into. Turn your tears into dreams… and you’ll be surprised at what will arise!
God Bless, Holly Clark
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