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March 15, 2024In Psalm 34 today our responsorial is “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted”. As Catholics, we know just how close we can be to Him intimately when we answer the call to Holy Mass and receive in communion His Holy Body and Blood in the Eucharist. So many struggle with the True Presence of Christ’s Body and Blood hidden no longer in the tabernacles but made visible in the Sacrifice of the Mass through consecration. Have we deceived ourselves saying it is only bread and wine and not our God? Have we deceived ourselves that He is not near to us and in us in our suffering? Let our reception of Our Lord and God in Holy Communion cement in us the truth that He never abandons us. We must stay that much closer to our one God when it seems we are left at our lowest and must fend for ourselves. These are the critical times to push through the dryness when we feel like surrendering to the darkness. When walking through spiritual dryness God reminds gently He is teaching perseverance. To stay close to Christ is to stay in the Sacraments and not to brush Him aside and allow our feelings to lead us astray like a lost lamb. May reason of truth triumph over the fleeting moment of a feeling however long it may seem the desert journey is.
Many will deceive and betray us in this spiritual life, let us not deceive ourselves by listening to the father of lies who says that our God has abandoned us. We might walk along treacherous paths but He is there with His rod and His staff to comfort us. (Psalm 23) The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and He is closest to us when we receive His Most Precious Body and Blood in Holy Communion. Let us not deceive ourselves saying He is remote from us; a distant God. He is closest to us when our feelings tell us otherwise. Spiritual dryness is a part of our walk in this world that has grown hostile and perverted the truth of His teachings. Feelings of abandonment will overwhelm us at times and when we cry out like the lost lamb He is there retrieving us once again and leading us back into His fold with a tender touch. Our shepherd beckons us to stay with Him. It is in these desert moments we stay close to Him through praying the Liturgy of the Hours, receiving the Sacraments, and staying still in the silence to listen and wait once again for His call.
[click here for the readings of the day]
