When I am waking up in the mornings, in that state between fully awake and still asleep, I say my first prayers of the day. I feel that for me, the veil separating Heaven and earth is somewhat thinner during this time. I find myself most open to inspiration, more malleable to what God wants from me that day.
 
One day, while in that state, I had just completed my prayers when I “saw” a rose petal on the floor by my bed. I thought that was really curious, for there were no roses in my room, but then I was stunned when this beautiful luminous Lady entered my room and gleefully picked the petal up. She threaded a string through the petal, binding it with many others in a long garland coiled in her simple side-bag. She looked at me, smiled, turned around, and walked out of my room. I was startled by this, but her smile compelled me to action; I jumped out of bed and ran to follow behind her.
 
Before I knew it, I was following this Lady through the streets of an old town as she kept picking up and stringing all the rose petals that were found along the way. She really had a knack for finding them. It was as if she was drawn to them. Every time she found up a petal, a beautiful smile appeared on her bright face as if she had discovered a great little treasure.
 
The rose petals were found in all sorts of places -- at homes and in the market, in benches at the park and at the plaza, at the beautiful church, and in some extraordinary tall buildings. But also in some small, sad places where you would think hope is scarce.  Regardless of the location and its condition, whereas in light or darkness, the Lady went forth and retrieved each petal she found along the way.
 
I kept following her from a distance, still trying to make sense of what was happening. After some time, the Lady entered a grand plaza, and she proceeded to stop by a majestic water fountain. This fountain was made of stone and marble and was so tall that it was as if it was reaching for the sky. The fountain was surrounded by nine circular rows of angels, each of the “choirs” looking up to the Heavens, every row in succession a little higher but with a smaller circumference than the previous one.
 
There, by the shade of the fountain, a poor homeless woman was sitting on the ground protected from the sun, and there was a large pile of rose petals by her side. Every time someone stopped by the poor woman and spoke to her kindly or smiled, acknowledging her, another petal would grace the pile. The Lady smiled, took all of the rose petals from the mound, and added them to her string with glee. She then took all the petals in the string and arranged them as a rose garland around the beautiful fountain, adorning even more what was already a very ornate piece. Once done, she put her hands together in a prayerful gesture, and in a flash of light, the garland vanished.
 
Everything around us was enveloped in white light; the homeless woman could not be seen anymore, the rose petal Lady was nowhere to be found, nothing but the illuminated path home could be seen. I was startled yet again by the sudden change, but then I remembered that I had to go to work, so I hurried on home.  
 
Once I got back, I sat right by my desk, amazed but still a little confused, when I felt my rosary beads on my neck. I took my rosary and finished my morning prayers, thinking of the many things I had seen. I prayed as usual for the many who have entrusted me with prayers and asked for the wisdom to understand... and when I finished, there were a few rose petals right by my desk... then I woke up, and inspired by this, I sat to write down this experience.
 
After much prayer and discernment, I humbly realize now that our prayers are not really our own. Yes, we are the instrument by which they happen, but they are not really ours. Our prayers have value, and our prayers’ power is meant for those who need it the most. We may be the people most in need of prayers, but we can still not claim our prayers for our own. Who helps determine the perfect distribution for our prayers’ merit?
 
I believe the beautiful Lady in my dream was our Blessed Mother Mary.  Mother Mary was teaching me that our prayers are a most pleasant offering to God. She showed me how our prayers are gifts that we can offer wherever we are, in every life situation, and are a simple way to exercise our hearts of Charity, a virtue gifted to us by our Lord through our communion with Him.
 
Our Lady knows what to do for the good of the ones most in need, for the ones in true poverty. Our Mediatrix of Mercy will help determine the most efficacious way to distribute the merit from our prayers. She will arrange our offering into a most beautiful garland of fragrant roses, amplifying the efficacy of our single rose petal, our most humble prayer.
 
So, what do we do now that we know? When we pray, let us make it a conscious effort. Let us pray for the ones that have a genuine need and include them directly in our intentions. Let us always ask our Blessed Mother Mary to collect our prayers, arrange them ornately and send them directly to her Son, Our Lord. We trust our Mother Mary to do this efficiently and lovingly, and that through Her intercession, our Lord may accept them lovingly; that through His Grace, they may contribute light to this world in darkness.
 
Let us pray: Mother Mary, blessed Mother of God, take us by the hand and teach us how to pray. Please guide us towards the will of the Father so that our prayer and actions may become an acceptable offering, united to the perfect sacrifice of our Lord, for the good of the Kingdom. Amen.
 

Dearest Eucharistic Family, 

This time of year, we have set before us much décor in the fashion of darkness.  Souls long to be in the presence of grace and sacramentals that raise our hearts and minds to the heavens.

I recently had the privilege of bringing Holy Communion to a parishioner in rehab healing from brain surgery. As I walked down the facility’s hallway, I passed at least two dozen witch hats pasted to the hall walls, all pointing at me. In the corners of the hallway were stuffed demons and goblins! I walked with my pyx and said, “O my Jesus...”
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The glory, the good news, is that we walk through this life with and in Jesus. Praise God for the Eucharist. Jesus is the center of existence through the Liturgy. The Sacramental Church raises us out of this darkness into the light. We can view the things of this world through the light of the Eucharist. Our baptism births us into our childhood of God. Our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, is here to keep hold of our hands. It is only grace to know the spiritual life. Blessings are available beyond the veil of this world. We desire to have our loved ones, and all we encounter come and know this gift of God’s presence among us. We want all to know there is a way in which we can live that is beyond the darkness. 
We have only weeks until the new Liturgical year begins. A new awakening is set before us, and we will once again prepare for the birth of Christ. 

Imagine at the consecration being with St. John, Our Mother, and the beloved ones of God.  We can think of the water drops poured into the chalice representing our tears. We pray in reparation out of love asking for forgiveness of our sins and those of the whole world. 

The transforming blessings of the Holy Spirit change us as we place ourselves on the Altar of God. Grace to suffice for the darkness. 

Our beloved human family immersed in the ornaments of destruction only have the hope of our prayers. St. Peter Julian, Apostle of the Eucharist, reminds us to imitate our Divine Master in every way, in the hiddenness.
Jesus’ fiat was to bring forth the Glory of His Father, His love by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

All Hallows' Eve is coming! 

All Saints and All Souls Day to look forward to. May we be imitators of the light like all the saints of Heaven as we carve our pumpkins and place the votives inside.  

Jesus gave Himself even unto death on the Cross, asking for forgiveness of sins.
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We are to work out our salvation this side of Heaven through the Eucharist. In hope, let us identify with others by being people of Divine Wisdom and Understanding. May our goodness draw others to desire all that is holy.  

One day, in prayer, the Lord brought my attention to an interesting word… penance.  To be honest, I wasn’t really excited about that. Penance was not something I wanted to dwell too much on. I wanted to talk about other things… pretty things… consoling things. But God had something else in mind.

When I heard that word, the first thing that came to mind was the penance we receive in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Sometimes a Hail Mary or an Our Father, kind of as an afterthought… not something I have spent much time praying on.

As I thought about it, I realized that the word had kind of a negative implication for me; there was a punitive connotation in my mind… this is not something I get to do, but something I have to do because I sinned. I’ve often heard the term used in other punitive settings, like when a priest is found to have committed grave acts and is removed from ministry and “assigned to a life of prayer and penance.”

I think that in my mind, I had connected penance with punishment. No wonder I didn’t even want to think about it. But God insisted, so I knew He had something for my good in mind.

I sat to pray, and in my mind, I heard an echo coming at once from Fatima and Lourdes: “Penance, penance, penance!” Such an urgent call from Heaven…

The angel and Our Lady were echoing the Word spoken back in Galilee… repent!

The word repent in this passage was translated from the Greek word metanoia. Interestingly, this word does not have any negative connotations for me; I like the word metanoia. I immediately understand it to mean a change of direction that begins in and flows from the heart. 
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Ok… maybe this penance thing is not what I thought it was. I had thought about it as something that came from outside, but God is calling us to have a change of heart.

To internalize this call to penance, we have to understand the WHY. “Because of hope in Divine Mercy”… Everything always begins and ends with God. It is His Mercy that makes us worthy of His Love. It is His Love that makes us dare to hope and want to change our lives.
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“The intention to change one’s life.” That’s it, isn’t it? Are we willing to give up the sin we know, the sin we like? Are we willing to take the steps necessary to walk in the light? This begins with a change of heart, but it must overflow to action, to change… metanoia. 

I love the word effort in the quote above… with sweat and tears. This is how we walk in the Way of the Cross. But every journey begins with one step. The penance we are given in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is meant to help us pivot to a new direction and take that first step. To let the sorrow of our contrition be the fuel that propels us to fulfill the promise we made in the Act of Contrition… “to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.

It is like our little boat comes to rest on a shore after being tossed out of route in a storm. It is repaired, restocked, and turned around… pointed in the right direction. Nothing will happen if it remains onshore. It needs a push… a little shove, a concrete external action, and then we can continue to row. We are going in the right direction, but the journey is long, and we grow tired.  The undercurrent below threatens to pull us away from God. We cannot continue on our own.
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“Penance, penance, penance!”; A clarion call from above...

One of the expressions of penance is prayer; the Mass is the highest form of prayer. Living from Eucharist to Eucharist, we find the strength to stay firm in our intent. It is in the Eucharist that we find the strength to remain in a state of grace.

A life of prayer and penance… doesn’t sound like a punishment to me. Funny how things always work out… I wanted to pray about pretty things, and it turned out penance is more beautiful than I could ever see.
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