I Can't Believe We Are Back...

I can’t believe we are back to “ordinary time,” that is, the church time of year that brings back all the green colors of the vestments and items on the altar. It will stay this way until February 22 went Lent begins with Ash Wednesday services. Ordinary time sounds kind of funny, like it’s no big deal, nothing really happening. In some ways this is correct, there are no big celebrations to call to mind God’s saving power in our history such as Christmas and Easter, which recall our need for salvation and the way that salvation was won for us by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Although we are not specifically focusing on the saving events in our Catholic History, we can still draw close to these mysteries on a weekly, and even daily, basis by participating in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Mass draws us into a deeper connection to God, because we reenact the events of Calvary, and we actually ingest the very life force of God in receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. The Mass is a “Power House of Prayer.” It is a powerhouse of prayer for the one who goes to Mass and receives Jesus in a state of grace, that is, in a worthy way—without the stain of grave sin on his or her soul. However, it is also a powerhouse of prayer for the one who has a Mass offered or said on his or her behalf. Just think of all those people gathered in the pews and praying for a special intention of the one offering a Mass for someone. The focus of so many good souls praying for a person’s health or peace or conversion—it doesn’t get better than this in the spiritual life. What makes this so special is the circle of charity that offering a Mass creates: + The person who requests the Mass is giving a gift of grace to the receiver of the Mass intention. + The congregation prays selflessly for this Mass intention even though it may never know the person or situation. + The spiritual uplifting of the giver, the receiver and the congregation all take place in this incredible gift from God! Now that we are back to ordinary time, let us focus on the extraordinary gift of the Eucharist. This would be the perfect time to requests Masses for those special people and special occasions in our lives. The Mass Book is waiting!