My dirty stinky cup...overflows?

"You set a table before me as my enemies watch; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." (Psalm 23:5)

My cup overflows...picture that in your head for a second. Imagine Jesus filling up this glass full of goodness and love...

But you say to Jesus...

Lord, I don't want to present my cup to you. It is dirty, fogged up and cracked. I have dropped it, kicked it, put things in it; it is filled with murky water that drips from the crack onto my arm as I hide it behind my back. The odor travels to my nose now as I am speaking to You. I cannot handle the stench of my own filth. My cup is not worthy of Your goodness and love.

Christ extends His hand and says:

My child, bring it to me, I make all things new. Would I ask for your cup if I did not want it? I know you in a deep and intimate way, I know the condition of your cup, and that my dear is why I need it so badly.

I want to fix it. I want to mend the crack in the side, and clean it inside and out. I want to go deep into the layers of fog and clear things up. I want to take the bad things out for you my child and help you to keep them out. It is my desire to replace the murky water you have collected with goodness and love.

Will you not let me fill your cup with love? I want so badly to fix the broken pieces. I want to give you the best of the best. I cannot do so if you do not let me. Child, hand me you broken cup. Let me make it new. You cannot handle the stench so let me do it for you. Let me show you what love should look like. Let me take that burden from you.

...and you my brothers and sisters

"I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God."

Sometimes I kind of zone out during mass and don't really pay attention to the words I'm saying...one day I decided to pay attention to this prayer as we said it together in mass (something we should really do for every prayer in the mass).

When I really paid attention one phrase hit me..."my brothers and sisters."

During this prayer we are admitting to God and our brothers and sisters that we have sinned...and we ask for prayers from Mary, the Angels and Saints...and our brothers and sisters...

Think about that for a second...

You are asking everyone in that church to pray for you...

wait for it...

let it sink in...

....AND they are all asking for your prayers...

yup every single person in that church just asked you to pray for them.

Just think of how powerful this is! You have the prayers of everyone in that church on your side. and you have the great task of praying for your brothers and sisters.

Now just think about how much more powerful this would be if we all actually PAID ATTENTION to the words coming out of our mouths. What if we all actually took a second and prayed for those people who just asked for our prayers after admitting to us that they too are sinners.

When we forget the true meaning of the mass, and the prayers we say at mass it is easy to stop paying attention. I think it is safe to say that we all do it. We all lose focus and we all stop paying attention at one moment or another.

When you "catch yourself" doing that take a second and re-center yourself on what is happening in the mass.

We are all praying with and for each other as one body of Christ with the Holy Spirit present (where 2 or more are gathered...) AND with Jesus present in the body, blood, soul, and divinity...guys we are praying right in front of Jesus in the tabernacle...and later in the mass present right in front of us on the altar...and in our own bodies as we consume the Eucharist.

The power...the glory...

excuse me while I gush for a second about Jesus and get off track...but think about how truly awesome that is! Need help paying attention in mass? Just look at the tabernacle ...right there...right in front of you is Jesus Christ

Now think about saying that prayer for everyone in the church, and everyone saying that prayer for you with Jesus present in the flesh and blood....OH. MY. GOSH.

Can you handle it?

Can you handle how cool that is?

It makes you want to go hop in your car and find another mass doesn't it?

To the Church which was so Welcoming

I spent some time in Mississippi doing some teaching and coursework. While I was there I attended mass at the local Catholic Church. This church knew there were young teachers visiting the area and they reached out to us. They welcomed us every mass, and we were given a little welcoming in the bulletin each week. It was very friendly and it felt so much like home even though it was not actually like the church I attended back home.

This church helped me when a loved one passed away. I reached out to them for a ride to the airport. They were unable to offer me a ride, however they did look up bus information, and offered suggestions for other modes of transportation. It was comforting to know that people who didn't know me were willing to help.

When it was time for the teachers to leave, they offered us a meal together. We ate out and the church paid for the meal. It was as if we were saying good bye to an old friend even though many of us were meeting for the first time.

The church, and its members, made a lasting impact on me. I want to be welcoming like that, I want to be there for someone when they don't know who else to turn to.

To that church, I say thank you, Thank you for being there when I was far away from family in a time of loss. Thank you for making me feel at home in your church. Thank you for showing me that when Christ is present in the Eucharist, I am home. Thank you for being like Christ to me.