AM
VisitationSiste: Saint Francis tell us that we should “give Him the best reception you can.” How can we liken this to when one receives a distinguished guest? (If a president or king were coming to our house, would we not do everything to make sure our house well enough to receive them?) How might this shed light on the importance of being prepared to receive communion? Saint Francis tells us that the imperfect man can learn perfection from receiving Communion. How do you think this is so? Going back to the first
Sep 24 2016, 9:59 AM
VisitationSiste: why does Saint Francis instruct us to receive communion well? Shouldn’t it simply matter that we are receiving Jesus? Is there some magic formula for “doing it right”? Isn’t the whole point of receiving Jesus that we need him because we’re not well? Then why this emphasis on doing it well?
Sep 24 2016, 10:00 AM
VisitationSiste: Sun Sept 25 730pm est
Sep 24 2016, 3:22 PM
Guest9931 (guest): Hi Everyone, it’s Judy. I am sending my responses early since I will not be at the chat tonight and for the next few weeks since I will be attending the followup to the program I attended in the Spring. So, here we go. Question 1. a. When expecting a distinguished guest, we generally do extensive housecleaning, prepare a special meal, put on dress clothing, and perhaps gain some knowledge about the guest.
Sep 24 2016, 3:23 PM
Guest9931 (guest): 1.b. In preparing for Communion, we need to be sure we are free from serious sin, attend to our appearance (which does say something about our regard for the Eucharist), and prepare our hearts with acts of contrition, love and adoration.
Sep 24 2016, 3:25 PM
Guest9931 (guest): 2. the imperfect man can learn perfection from receiving Communion by seeing that Jesus humbled Himself to be present in a bit of bread and a sip of wine which becomes His body and blood. The Highest of all becomes lowly, so that the lowly might be raised up. Humility is a major aspect of perfection.
Sep 24 2016, 3:29 PM
Guest9931 (guest): 3. Why does St. FdeS instruct us to receive Communion well. Is it not enough that we receive Him, period. In 1 Cor. 11:27 Paul says that “whoever eats the bread of drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body of the Lord.” So we must take care that we are in a worthy state to receive, that we are fully conscious of what we are doing, careful to express our love and adoration for the Lord Who is our guest, and to remain with Him for some time after receiving.
Sep 24 2016, 3:30 PM
Guest9931 (guest): Even though we are not well, we should make every effort to receive Him well. Hope you enjoy these few thoughts. Have a great week!
, 7:29 PM
Lisa C: I did not realize that the indulgence wipes out penalty for sin too
Sep 25 2016, 7:29 PM
VisitationSiste: Hello Alyce!
Sep 25 2016, 7:29 PM
Lisa C: HI Alyce
Sep 25 2016, 7:29 PM
VisitationSiste: Yes I think so Lisa
Sep 25 2016, 7:30 PM
Lisa C: We can also do it for people who are dead
Sep 25 2016, 7:30 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Hi Sister, Lisa et al.
Sep 25 2016, 7:30 PM
VisitationSiste: But confession brings us into a humble state
Sep 25 2016, 7:30 PM
Lisa C: Yes
Sep 25 2016, 7:30 PM
VisitationSiste: That’s always a good prep for Holy Communion too
Sep 25 2016, 7:30 PM
Lisa C: Have to confess and be sorry for the indulgence too
VisitationSiste: In a way we “wash” before we wash
Sep 25 2016, 7:31 PM
VisitationSiste: Hi Dawn
Sep 25 2016, 7:31 PM
VisitationSiste: By preparing ourselves I mean
M
VisitationSiste: You know years ago when I was a child, one did not go to Holy Communion often or at least one went to confession before Communion. Then the message we got changed and we were told Holy Communion wipes out venial sins:33 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Is it ok to go to confession ‘just’ for genial sins to prepare for communion? I have been doing that, and although my priest is very kind, I am afraid I try his patience, although I keep it brief.
Sep 25 2016, 7:33 PM
Lisa C: I never head that it wiped out venial sins
Sep 25 2016, 7:33 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Genia
2016, 7:34 PM
Carol Ann: Is that because the emphasis is on how much we need grace, not how much we lack grace?
Sep 25 2016, 7:34 PM
Guest7411 (guest): I mean genial
Sep 25 2016, 7:34 PM
VisitationSiste: Frequent confession even for venail sins is important
Sep 25 2016, 7:34 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Darn auto correct. You know what I mean.
7:35 PM
VisitationSiste: Before the emphasis was more on justice, now on mercyM
Guest7411 (guest): I do sense there is a difference in my sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, I think, when thus prepared. 016, 7:36 PM
Carol Ann: because people who are afraid of judgment will not approach for mercy016, 7:38 PM
Carol Ann: that should help clear things up! 6, 7:39 PM
Guest7411 (guest): This year of mercy has been a great blessing for me. Its anticipation last year brought me back to the church. But the great mercy shown to me has made me much more attuned to the need to only receive the Eucharist when well prepared, out of respect and love For Christ’s sacrifice for us.
Sep 25 2016, 7:39 PM
VisitationSiste: I guess when we confess at the penitential rite at Mass there must be a spiritual effect as wel
PM
VisitationSiste: As long as one is not scrupulous one cannot confess too much I heard St John Paul 11 went to Confession every day. I don’t know if that is true but it was what I heard when he was Pope41 PM
VisitationSiste: That’s a beautiful approach Alyce
Sep 25 2016, 7:41 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Servant of God Father John Hardon also confessed very frequently.
Sep 25 2016, 7:42 PM
VisitationSiste: In the Monastery we were taught to prepare for each Communion the night before as well as in the morning- to anticipate this great GIft
Sep 25 2016, 7:42 PM
Carol Ann: Is the penitential rite at the beginning of Mass meant to cleanse us of venial sin so we can receiv?
7:43 PM
Guest7411 (guest): I just read about that in the preparatory readings you sent us. I am going to try that.
Sep 25 2016, 7:43 PM
Carol Ann: I’ve seen it offered that way on occasion, but it doesn’t seem to be usual
45 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Dawn, that seems strange to me. Without more information, I would try to go to confession first. If in doubt, one can always go to Mass but refrain from the Eucharist and then go to confession at the first opportunity….
Sep 25 2016, 7:45 PM
Dawn L: Hi Amy, and Lisa, whom I just read
47 PM
Amy Cochran: I had heard that venial sins were orgiven at the beginning of the mass, because we sin all the time, in thought, word, deed, sins of omission, etc
Sep 25 2016, 7:47 PM
VisitationSiste: I think all life should be lived mindfully, so certainly receiving Jesus should be given the greatest attention and prep
Amy Cochran: i think we sometimes forget whom we are receiving, and take the gift too lightly
1 viewer
7:50 PM
Dawn L: Good thought or guidance to live mindfully in this way.
Sep 25 2016, 7:51 PM
Guest7411 (guest): There is a beautiful predatory prayer, I think by Thomas Aquinas (?) in the back of the mistletoe, intended to be read before Mass that is focused on receiving the Eucharist. I have found it most helpful in staying mindful on this.
:52 PM
VisitationSiste: Can you put it here?
Sep 25 2016, 7:52 PM
Guest7411 (guest): I am so sorry
Sep 25 2016, 7:52 PM
Guest7411 (guest): I don’t have it. I will do it next week.
Sep 25 2016, 7:53 PM
Guest7411 (guest): It is in the back of the misallette.
Sep 25 2016, 7:53 PM
Carol Ann: i think i know the prayers you mean, on the back of the missalettes, if we remember to look
Sep 25 2016, 7:53 PM
Guest7411 (guest): That’s it. There is one for after Mass as well.
Sep 25 2016, 7:53 PM
VisitationSiste: Oh ok!
6, 7:53 PM
Guest7411 (guest): They are extraordinary. 2016, 7:54 PM
Lisa C: http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/aquinas-before-communion.html
A Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas Before Communion
Sep 25 2016, 7:54 PM
Dawn L: just found also on the iBreviary under prayers, it is lenghtly
6 online
Lisa C
Dawn L
Guest7411
der prayers, it is lenghtly
Sep 25 2016, 7:54 PM
Amy Cochran: i think sometimes remembering science facts makes me more aware of the greatness of Him I am to receive
Sep 25 2016, 7:54 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Thank you!
Sep 25 2016, 7:54 PM
Dawn L: oh, thanks Lisa!
Sep 25 2016, 7:54 PM
VisitationSiste: Thanks!
:55 PM
Carol Ann: the Anima Christi is another beautiful prayer learned from the back of the missal
Sep 25 2016, 7:55 PM
Dawn L: in what way Amy?
Sep 25 2016, 7:55 PM
VisitationSiste: You mean like the size of the universe Amy?
6 PM
Amy Cochran: ie there are 100 trillion cells in the body, each communicating with each other, each containing over 2 meters o DNA in each cell…….i am going to receive the Creator of something so inexplicable
Sep 25 2016, 7:56 PM
Amy Cochran: it’s very humbling
7:58 PM
Dawn L: beautiful realization…and how a baby grows and develops. I agree those are beautiful and humbling
Sep 25 2016, 7:58 PM
Amy Cochran: or He who made the stars that number more than all the grains of sand on every seashore……….i like numbers
Sep 25 2016, 7:59 PM
Amy Cochran: i we really believed that is Who we are receiving, it can never be taken lightly
PM
Guest7411 (guest): Exactly.
Sep 25 2016, 7:59 PM
Carol Ann: i once saw a picture that Hubble took of galaxies spinning on the far side of the universe, and i realized then that when Christ puts our sins away from us, they are farther away than that
Sep 25 2016, 7:59 PM
Dawn L: amen
Sep 25 2016, 8:00 PM
VisitationSiste: I think another way of preparing is adoration
Sep 25 2016, 8:00 PM
Lisa C: Einstein said this, “The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mystical. It is the power of all true art and science.
He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.
To know that what is inpenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and
the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—
this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness.”
PM
VisitationSiste: Wow! And I understand Einstein wondered about the Eucharist- I don’t know where I read that
Sep 25 2016, 8:01 PM
Amy Cochran: great quote, Lisa. i have to copy and psste that
Sep 25 2016, 8:01 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Sister, I found this to be true as well. We do not have adoration at my church, so sometimes I just sit near the tabernacle alone for quite some time and try to adore Him that way.
Sep 25 2016, 8:02 PM
Carol Ann: i like to invite Him to come out of that tiny little box and sit with me
Sep 25 2016, 8:02 PM
Dawn L: copy and pasted amazing quote
Sep 25 2016, 8:02 PM
Amy Cochran: i read that 75% of Nobel prize winners in physics are theists. or maybe 79
Sep 25 2016, 8:03 PM
Guest7411 (guest): I feel very close to Him when I do that, even though He is hidden. Carol Ann, I love that. I will try it!
Sep 25 2016, 8:04 PM
Carol Ann: not that I “see” Him, but I imagine how lonely He must be locked up in there when He so wants to be with us
Sep 25 2016, 8:04 PM
Guest7411 (guest): I understand.
VisitationSiste: That’s a high percentage Amy that is not often shared but should be
Sep 25 2016, 8:06 PM
Lisa C: The President has the Secret Service to protect him. Jesus has the tabernacle to protect Him from someone who might not be respectful. The President is still there doing his job, and Jesus is also just as powerful from in there.
Sep 25 2016, 8:06 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Amy, perhaps during adoration when we praise Him we can use contemplations of the greatness of the Cosmos He created to help us do that.
Sep 25 2016, 8:07 PM
Carol Ann: but He’s lonely in there. I don’t want a Host desecrated either and understand the locking up. but it’s so lonely
Sep 25 2016, 8:07 PM
Carol Ann: Alyc, that’s wonderfu!
Sep 25 2016, 8:08 PM
Lisa C: I do not think God is lonely, He loves us and wants us to love Him, but He does not need us.
PM
Carol Ann: Do you understand what I am trying to say Sr?
Sep 25 2016, 8:08 PM
Dawn L: I agree, he has no need of us but desires us
Sep 25 2016, 8:09 PM
Lisa C: Carol Ann I think the tabernacle does not hold Him back from us
Sep 25 2016, 8:10 PM
Carol Ann: I think Sr. had to leave. She might be able to interpret me!
Sep 25 2016, 8:11 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Lisa, I humbly agree. Although I think exposed adoration is also wonderful.
Sep 25 2016, 8:11 PM
Lisa C: Yes, adoration is great for us, because we can focus on Him
Sep 25 2016, 8:11 PM
VisitationSiste: No I am here I am not sure what you mean-
Sep 25 2016, 8:12 PM
VisitationSiste: I think when we are near Him whether He is in the Tabernacle of not He is pleased
Sep 25 2016, 8:12 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Maybe it just reflects which stage we are at. For me, I am still afraidto go to exposed adoration,
Sep 25 2016, 8:12 PM
Amy Cochran: God the aather is a spirit. Jesus has two natues; God and man………any clarification of what I’m trying to get at?
Sep 25 2016, 8:12 PM
Guest7411 (guest): I
Sep 25 2016, 8:12 PM
Lisa C: Guest 7411, please never be afraid of Jesus
Sep 25 2016, 8:12 PM
Carol Ann: must be something that happened to just me.
PM
Lisa C: Guest 7411, please never be afraid of Jesus
Sep 25 2016, 8:12 PM
Carol Ann: must be something that happened to just me.
Sep 25 2016, 8:14 PM
VisitationSiste: Could be an experience yes for yourself but I do understand somewhat as I think about it because when I repose the Blessed Sacrament back into the Tabernacle there is a feeling in the transition
8:14 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Lisa, you are right. I should have said hesitant. I know how great his Mercy is. But still…even veiled, His greatness is awesome and not to be taken lightly. d not to be taken lightly.
Sep 25 2016, 8:14 PM
Carol Ann: Yes, Sr. there is!
Sep 25 2016, 8:15 PM
Lisa C: Yes, He is greater than we can know, but He came to us and humbled Himself so we can have Him with us forever and that is what He wants.
Sep 25 2016, 8:15 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Sister, could you explain a bit more about the difference you sense in the transition?
PM
VisitationSiste: He trusts me so much to carry Him there and who am I- then also somewhat like a mother tenderly attending to someone I never tried to explain it or even think much016, 8:17 PM
Guest7411 (guest): Beautiful, Sister. 8:19 PM
Carol Ann: That must be indescribable
Sep 25 2016, 8:19 PM
Guest7411 (guest): I think about that a lot as I watch our priest during Mass. It is clear it is awesome and yet intimate.
21 PM
VisitationSiste: How do we share this incredible Gift with others who do not have a clue
Sep 25 2016, 8:22 PM
Lisa C: I think we share Jesus in us with the Jesus in them
Sep 25 2016, 8:22 PM
Dawn L: reverance, yes, but the love with which he does this…
Sep 25 2016, 8:22 PM
Lisa C: To do that we have to be kind and respectful and see His presence in both
16, 8:23 PM
Lisa C: Jesus will make Himself known to them
Sep 25 2016, 8:23 PM
Amy Cochran: Think o the humility of Jesus, to allow a mere human to hold Him, to have this ability
8:23 PM
Dawn L: Sister, that is most important question! If people see us coming directly from Mass, this is good time to just be with them. Jesus will call them through us
Sep 25 2016, 8:23 PM
Guest7411 (guest): I have been reading about Padre Pio offering Mass and his great love and intimacy with Christ. I think that was why he was so zealous about good confessions. Because he understood the Eucharist and its majesty so very well.
5 PM
Dawn L: in our lifetime we have two great saints, no three! such a gift. Padre Pio St John Paul Mother Teresa6, 8:25 PM
Dawn L: in our lifetime we have two great saints, no three! such a gift. Padre Pio St John Paul Mother Teresa
Sep 25 2016, 8:26 PM
Dawn L: and…I believe if there were more sisters, people would be reminded of God. so I pray for vocations very much
Sep 25 2016, 8:27 PM
VisitationSiste: Holy people of all vocations will attract one. I was drawn by a contemplative married woman to get to know Jesus better