Michael Dubruiel on shrines

     The Church's Most Powerful Novenas is a book of novenas connected with particular shrines compiled by Michael Dubruiel .  

Below is part 4 of Michael Dubruiel's introduction to the book:

Shrines: Places of Encounter with God

Jacob was fleeing for his life, but at the point of exhaustion he could go no further. Now under the cover of darkness he found a spot where he could rest for the night. Under the expansive desert sky, he placed a rock for a pillow under his head. Perhaps he did this so he would not sleep too deeply, but soon sleep came. Before long, his imagination awakened him and he dreamed of a staircase that went from the rock his head rested upon to the throne of God in heaven. Angels of God were descending and ascending the staircase.

In the dream, God assured Jacob of his presence and protection. When he awoke, Jacob poured oil over the rock that had been both a source of rest and the first step to knowledge of God's love. He consecrated the place a shrine, calling it Bethel, or "House of God."

Thus begins the history of shrines, places set aside to commemorate religious experiences and dedicated to the worship of God. A recent Vatican document defines a shrine as "a church or other sacred place to which the faithful make pilgrimages for a particular religious reason, with the approval of the local Ordinary" 

Shrines arise one stone at a time, built on the faith experiences of individuals like Jacob, the great patriarch in the Book of Genesis, until they tower over the landscape and beckon others to come and be still so that they, too, might know the Lord.

Jesus identified himself with the staircase in Jacob's vision when he told Nathaniel in the Gospel of John that he would see "heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man" (my emphasis). Jesus is the  staircase that leads from every shrine to the very presence of God. "The deepest meaning of every shrine is to serve as a reminder in faith of the salvific work of the Lord" (The Shrine: Memory, Presence and Prophecy of the Living God, no. 4).

Shrines remind us that God has first loved us, without any merit on our part. The very response that we make to God's love is itself a gift of grace from God. "This conviction is further expressed in the shrine through the specific message connected with it, whether in regard to the mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ, in regard to one of the titles of Mary, 'who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as a model of virtues,' or in regard to the individual saints whose memory proclaims the 'wonderful works of Christ in his servants" (The Shrine: Memory, Presence and Prophecy of the Living God, no. 6).

What is a Catholic Novena?

    The Church's Most Powerful Novenas is a book of novenas connected with particular shrines compiled by Michael Dubruiel .  

Below is part 3 of Michael Dubruiel's introduction to the book:

Shrines: Places of Encounter with God

Shrines have come into existence in the United States since the first moment that a Christian set foot on its shores, that is, when Mass was celebrated in St. Augustine, Florida, on September 8, 1565, by Fr. Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales. Each shrine points to a particular way that individuals have found a way to encounter Christ and to deepen their relationship with God.

Many of the novena prayers in this prayer book are used at shrines located in the United States and Canada. These shrines stand as living monuments to the efficacy of the prayers that have been prayed in them. Those who have donated their labor and wealth in thanksgiving to God for

What is a Novena?

   The Church's Most Powerful Novenas is a book of novenas connected with particular shrines compiled by Michael Dubruiel .  

Below is part 1 of Michael Dubruiel's introduction to the book:

What makes these novenas the most powerful prayers to pray? What is the evidence for this claim?" were two questions posed to me as this book was being prepared. The answer lies in the many places associated with the prayers found in this book and also calls upon all of those who pick this up to rediscover the power that previous generations of Catholics knew about and accessed to their great benefit.

If you want to see the evidence of this power visit any of the Catholic Shrines listed in the appendix of this book and there you will find items left behind as a testimony to the healing power of Jesus Christ working through His Church and His Saints by those who have prayed these prayers before you.

\Michael Dubruiel: 73 Steps to Closer Communion with God 45a

   

  This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is step 45:

(45) To be in dread of hell.



I think it is helpful to personally design our own notion of Hell. Jesus used Gehenna to describe it to the people of His day. "Gehenna" was the local dump (landfills were a long way into the future) for the city of Jerusalem. So when Jesus described Hell to the people they would have thought of Gehenna where a smoldering fire burned incessantly consuming the refuse of the people of Jerusalem.



Designing your own notion of Hell merely insists of imagining what the would be the worst possible experience that could happen to you and magnifying that by eternity. For most of this would involve pain and suffering that would never cease, but for some it might be an embarrassing situation. Sadly for many it might be an actual moment in their life that they play over and over again in their minds.

Michael Dubruiel: All Souls Day - November 2 (b)

       

I called Pete to share my views about the Welcome Center and I share them here because for the most part they were inaccurate as my return trip proved but they say a lot about how our minds process religious experiences. I told Pete:

"The first thing you notice when you walk in through the cloister wall and into the building is a coffin...it is open but empty. In some ways it is symbolic of immediately reminding you of your final end and asking you the question what am I here for? Several monks were available to answer the question."

"Over the PA system there was an incessant crackling of flames--they made me think of the flames of Hell (another of the Last Things), when in fact a peak into the room to the left of the entrance showed that it was the Easter Fire being prepared and the flames providing the fire to illuminate the Easter Candle--symbolic of the light of Christ illuminating the darkness. The video featured the changing seasons...the crackling flames were replaced with crackling dead leaves falling from the trees surrounding the monastery, the barren trees introduced the funeral of a monk with living monks keeping vigil reading the psalms all night before the burial of their brother."

I told Pete that all of this left me with the impression that the Welcome Center was designed as a sort of funeral parlor and that unconsciously the monks were providing the guest with a modern morality play that the visitor was the staring player. Walking out of the Welcome Center I made my way toward the Chapel for Vespers--passing by another gate where the words "God Alone" were engraved. Long time readers of this blog will remember that this gate once graced the right hand column of this blog...the Gospel in two words, a reminder that after death all that matters will be God Alone...a reminder that in this life ultimately what matters is God Alone.

Then the Chapel and monks bending in unison at the waist singing "Praise to the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit both now and forever, until the end of the ages." punctuating the Psalms of praise and thanksgiving.

Death, Hell, Purgatory and Heaven all in a few minutes of each other. "Will you stay?"

No, not here anyway.

Michael Dubruiel

Books by Michael Dubruiel

Michael Dubruiel: All Souls Day - November 2 (a)

       

One time in the late 80's I was traveling with another friend of mine, Brian, on our way to Chicago. The first night we stopped at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA about twenty miles east of Atlanta.

Fr. Francis (originally a monk at Gethsemani and one of the founding monks of Holy Spirit, then in his 80's) met us at the Guest House door, "Will you stay?"

Anyone who has read Thomas Merton's Seven Storey Mountain knows this is what you expect to hear when you arrive at a Trappist monastery. There is a double meaning to the question..."Will you stay?" and join our community, "Will you stay?" in the guest house and finally since in the Rule of St. Benedict the stranger is to be welcomed as Christ...Will you stay? Lord as in "Stay with us Lord for the day is far spent."

We answered "yes" as in yes we'll stay in the guest house tonight, which we did and attended prayers and Mass--then left the next morning on our way to Gethsemani. We arrived in Gethsemani that afternoon (about seven hours later). No one greeted us or asked us if we would stay. There were a few other pilgrims wandering around but no monks visible. We were settled in the chapel for Vespers when the first monks began to emerge from the cloister and enter into the chapel. Brian leaned over to me and whispered, "Its the same guys."

Well not exactly. Driving toward Birmingham and away from Gethsemani I thought of my friend Peter who has been a big fan of the Trappists from way back. I knew that he had thought about entering the Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit at one timea and still made visits there frequently--I also knew that he had visited Gethsemani several times. His experience and mine of both monasteries knew that one welcomed strangers and the other saw them as an intrusion and to be fair because of Thomas Merton Gethsemani got a glut of strangers.

When I first stayed at Gethsemani the beds were very Trappist--really nothing more than a pallet with a two inch mattress on it. Years laters a beautiful, state of the art guest house was built that was more along the lines of mid range hotel. Now the Welcome Center--the times they are a changing.

.......

.

Michael Dubruiel

Books by Michael Dubruiel

Michael Dubruiel: All Saints Day - November 1

   We spent part of last week attending the National Catholic Youth Conference in Atlanta. One moment from all that I experienced continues to stay with me, perhaps I might say even to haunt me. While Joseph, Katie and I were walking back toward the exhibit area where Amy and Michael were, we suddenly notice a quiet and people stopping (in an environment that was much like walking through midtown Manhattan on a weekday). Then enmasse young and old dropped to their knees.

Advancing were youth holding signs "Silence and Kneel"…everyone obediently did so as cassocked men holding candles, one swinging incense advanced in front of a coped priest with humeral veil wrapped around the base of a monstrance held the Eucharistic Body of Our Lord aloft.

Those who have seen the movie "The Mission" with one of the best scenes ever filmed about the spiritual life will remember Jeremy Irons playing a priest holding the monstrance in the midst of battle all around him, himself falling and an indigenous man picking up the monstrance and continuing the procession. That is what popped into my mind as I instructed young Joseph to make the sign of the cross as Jesus passed in our midst.

I'll bet that when all is said and done, I'm not alone in this being a moment that will be remembered by all. What is more I have realized that these Catholic prayer moments are the solid foundation that most Catholics never forget--long after they have forgotten most of what they were taught.

There is a lesson here for those of us who try to pass on the faith to our children--introduce them to Christ, like disciples on the road to Emmaus let Christ the stranger teach them, open the Scriptures to them so that they might recognize him in the breaking of the Bread--that they may pick up his Presence and carry it through the streets of life where a battle wages.

Such catechesis is the lesson plan of saints--may all the saints pray that we might take up that charge!

Books by Michael Dubruiel

Michael Dubruiel: 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God - 44b

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is step 44 part 2

(44) To fear the day of judgment.





Driving home past abandoned motels and gas stations, I thought of the transitory nature of life. People that I once admired now lie cold in tombs, amusement parks that delighted me as a child now lie dormant, everything has a judgment day, everything!



St. Benedict says we should "fear" the day of judgment. It should be something ever on our minds. To keep "our" final end in sight has always been an important practice because it helps us to "order" our lives to that end. Most of us can point to our greatest lapses or sins as times when we had lost sight of our purpose in life.

Michael Dubruiel: 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God - 44a

    

  This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is step 44 part 1.

(44) To fear the day of judgment.



A recent visit to a large Midwestern city was filled with moments where I paused to think about the tragedies of September 11, 2001 and what could happen again or as the United States government often relates-something worst. One of the buildings in this city, that towers over all the rest is especially impressive and the thought of it tumbling like the World Trade Centers was almost incomprehensible. Milling around the streets with thousands of others it was hard to envision some nuclear attack suddenly wiping out a million people in an instance.



Although the sun shone and it was a beautiful day there was a hint of an impending storm that post-9/11 seemed to hang heavy in the air. It made me think of the words of Our Lord when his disciples marveled at the size of the Temple in Jerusalem and its beauty (it was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down," (Luke 21:7).

Michael Dubruiel: Catholics and Halloween

       The Great Christian Feast-Halloween - by Michael Dubruiel

This is one of those thoughts that comes to you in a moment of clarity with such force that you wonder how it could be that everyone just doesn't see the truth of it.

Last night when I made one of my few trips to the door to hand out candy, it just hit me. There I was confronted with a skull painted white on the face of an African American, who was standing there holding open a bag, expecting something from me.

A home invasion? No.

Trick or Treat!

I gladly obliged his request with a handful of candy and he turned and went on his merry way to join the other hordes of beggars that flooded our streets.

I had just fulfilled the mandate of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I had just welcomed Him in the guise of the hungry, "When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat." Matthew 25!

"When did we see you Lord?"

"Whenever you did it to the least of my brethren, you did it to me."

Is there anytime left in our year when Americans are so blatantly Christian, welcoming the strangers that come to their door? Is there anytime that we reward those who on purpose try to repulse us by their costumes?

Yet the thought that it is better to give than receive dominates this day and truly the day fulfills its purpose of being the eve of All Saints Day! For if we are ever to join the saints we must learn to make everyday Halloween!

So that today when we meet those we might otherwise demonize, we give what we have freely as though we were meeting Christ Himself in the streets (and if we believe the Gospel message we are in fact meeting him)!

I used to joke that strangers could in fact be demons, (this was when the angel rage was in full swing and I use to make the point that yes a stranger might be an angel but who is to say if it is a good one or a bad one--sort of a twist of the Glenda the Good Witch's question to Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"), but I would ask you to reflect on Halloween a bit more with me.

If we give to the stranger, indeed we welcome them as Christ. But if we look at the stranger only as someone who has something to give and we judge them based on that we are apt to conclude that all strangers are demons!

For example if we start viewing every middle eastern looking Arab that we do not know personally as a terrorist we are forgoing an opportunity to see them as Christ (who happened to be of middle eastern descent). Abraham was visited by three strangers (one would presume of middle eastern descent) and he fed them--they turned out to be angels and they gave him a blessing! But let's suppose that we in fact do come across some terrorists in our daily activities. What if our interaction with them, seeing them as Christ and giving them whatever we have to give at that moment (even if it is only a smile of acceptance) led them to change their whole way of viewing Americans?

It is sad to think that a day that is the perfect example of what it means to be a Christian has been protested by so many Christians in this country. Do they read the Gospels?

No one is celebrating or worshipping demons on Halloween. The children who dress up in their costumes are playacting and giving the individual behind every door an opportunity to imitate Christ.

It is also sad that many miss the point in the other direction. They overdo it in the name of "everyone else is doing it" and light their houses up as though it is Christmas, rather than encountering the little masked Christs in the darkness the way it is intended to happen and does happen in daily lives. The vacuous nature of their souls demands making a show of their giving. Sadly they have already received their reward--the empty praise of their neighbors and friends.

There have been moves lately among some Catholics to have children dress up as saints-- this may be a fine thing to do on All Saints day but it totally misses the point of Halloween. We will never be saints, nor will we imitate them, until we open the door everyday and welcome the ghouls we encounter as though they are Christ.

Books by Michael Dubruiel

73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God - 43b

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 43rd step:

(43) But as to any evil in himself, let him be convinced that it is his own and charge it to himself.





There are many maladies in life that may seem evil but really are not. Someones genetic makeup may make the prone to an early death and on the surface that may seem like an "evil" but in fact it is only our perception again of what our idea of "good" is. A person whose life is limited by their genetic or physical condition still has been put on this earth by God and still has a mission. They can do much good with the talents that God has given them. To bury the talents because of their perceived bad condition is to squander the good.

73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God - 43a

   This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 43rd step:

(43) But as to any evil in himself, let him be convinced that it is his own and charge it to himself.



This counsel follows from the previous one. If God has created us as "good" then any evil is from our free choice to do other than what God wills for us. We should understand that what is "evil" is bad for us, to the point that if we persist in evil it leads to our self-destruction.



If God has created us as good, then anything that is not good can not be from God, it must have another source, St. Benedict concludes rightly that it must come from ourselves.

October 22 - Pope John Paul II by Michael Dubruiel

       You can get John Paul II's Biblical Way of the Cross by Michael Dubruiel and Amy Welborn here.  

In 1991, Pope John Paul II introduced a new Bible-based interpretation of the Stations of the Cross. This devotional guide invites readers to prayerfully walk in solidarity with Jesus on his agonizing way of the cross—from his last torturous moments in the Garden of Gethsemane to his death and burial.

Now with full-color station images from previously unpublished paintings by Michael O'Brien, this booklet creates an ideal resource for individual or group devotional use, particularly during the Lenten season.

Books by Michael Dubruiel

Free Advent Devotional

  

    

Free Today:  Be Vigilant: Daily Meditations for Advent

These brief daily meditations will help you focus on the spiritual side of Christmas. Author Michael Dubruiel died in February 2009. His wife, Amy Welborn, prepared these meditations for publication.

From a reader review:

This is my fourth year to go through this Advent devotional, and it has been truly a blessing to me and contributed to my Advent experience. The devotionals correlate with the USCCB daily readings, so it is best to read the readings and then read the devotional for the day. I myself am not Catholic, but I still get great insight out of these passages, and I can see that the author was a true follower of Christ and loved Christmas. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an Advent devotional. The book was free when I purchased it three years ago, but 99c is still a great value for this!

A Sample: 

Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.

Today we have the tale of two sons. Both are commanded by the Father to go and work in the vineyard. The first says he won't, the other says he will. But guess what, the one who refuses relents and does what the Father asked him to do. Yet the one who originally said he would go, in fact doesn't. Jesus asks the chief priests and the elders of the people to tell him which of the two sons did the will of the Father...of course the answer is the one who vocally refused but relented and did it.

Jesus uses the story to illustrate why harlots and tax collectors who repented at the preaching of John the Baptist are headed to the pearly gates, while the "religious" likely are headed in the other direction.

Feast of St. Luke - October 18

      

From Luke, from The holy Bible, Revised Standard version:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which
have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who
from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good
to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an
orderly account for you, most excellent The-oph'ilus, that you may know the
truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.

Luke 1:1-4

Michael Dubruiel

Books by Michael Dubruiel

October 15 - Teresa of Avila

       From the Office of Readings:

All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example.

What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart.

Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.

Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favours, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.

-Michael Dubruiel 

Books by Michael Dubruiel

Michael Dubruiel Meditation (2)

 From Michael Dubruiel, 2003:

What are we willing to die for?

 

Today’s gospel which recounts the Parable of the Wicked Tenants presents us with quite a cast of characters. First there is the owner of the vineyard. He has done all the work, planted the vineyard, built a wall around it and basically handed over  a pretty good operation to those from whom  he expects a share of the profits.

The tenants who have been handed over this operation want more. They act as though it belongs to them. They are unwilling to share anything that comes from the vineyard and when the owner sends his messengers they basically bully them and send them away with nothing.

Finally the owner sends his son thinking that they certainly will respect him. They kill the son with the rationale that if the owner has no heir they will take over the vineyard. The result is they lose the vineyard and it is given to others.

If God is the owner, Jesus the owner’s son, and all of creation the vineyard that God has created that leaves us in the role as tenants. The question is what kind of tennants are we?

Do we act as though all of creation belongs to us and nothing is owed to God? How do we treat the messengers of God who are sent to remind us to give God his due?

Do we treat life as a gift from God or as something that we own and we choose when it begins and when it ends?

            The parable points to the temptation that we the tenants are faced with in thinking of God as being far away and unconcerned about how we treat his servants. But the end is rather violent and points to the fact that if we reject the very source of life we cannot survive very long.

            The Gospel confronts us with a basic choice, Are we living to die? Is all or our grasping and hording of things going to help us when we are dead? Or as Jesus invites us to take up our cross and follow him, Are we dying to live? In the end there is only one choice that makes sense and it is one that we make daily with every choice we make.

Michael Dubruiel Meditation (1)

 From Michael Dubruiel, 2003:

What are we willing to die for?

 

In the late 1970’s while serving in the United States Army I was stationed in an outpost in Turkey for one year. The base was a small camp of  a hundred servicemen. On Sundays I would go with several others on an hour trip into Isanbul where we would attend Mass at the Italian Consulate.  Everything though strange was pleasant those first five months that I was there.

Then one morning while waiting for an inspection, we were notified that the inspection had been called off. At first it was difficult to find out exactly why, after all we had been preparing for this inspection for almost a month. Then the news came, a group of terrorist had attacked about ten of our guys awaiting a bus near Istanbul. One of them had died, another who was a close friend of mine had been hit in the leg, the rest were okay. That Friday morning we were told that inteligence had learned that  several terrorist groups  in the area were making plans to attack other groups of American servicemen and that we shouldn’t travel off base until things had a chance to cool down.

The Chaplain on the base notified me on Saturday that the Sunday trip to the Italian Consulate was still on and would leave at the normal time on Sunday morning. I remember standing from a distance to see if anyone would actually venture out on the trip to go to Mass when things were so dangerous. I watched as the Colonel and another officer got into the military vehicle and then after waiting awhile (presumably for me) they left for Mass.

The next day it was necessary that a group of us go into Istanbul for supplies. Riding through the streets of the city it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t thought twice about doing what I was ordered to do but when given the choice to go to mass I had passed. It suddenly dawned on me that I  was willing to die for my country (by the mere fact of being in the Armed Forces) but that I wasn’t ready to die for my faith. The next Sunday I went into town with the others and went to Mass and obviously it didn’t cost me my life.

 

Michael Dubruiel: The Power of the Cross

       

The Cross of Christ Teaches Us. . . How to Pray 

Michael Dubruiel

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. HEBREWS 5:7 

And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. MATTHEW 6:7–8 

 Praying as a Follower of Christ 

Throughout the centuries, Christians in the East and the West have signed themselves with the cross. When it is done with little thought or care, the sign loses much of its power. Contemplating both the action and what it symbolizes as you make the sign, on the other hand, is the perfect way to begin any conversation with God.

As you make the sign of the cross, you place your entire being in the shadow of the cross of Christ. By invoking the Trinity as you make this holy sign, you immediately call to mind that  facing the cross is something we dare not do alone, but only in God’s presence. Every moment, we must choose between the way of the cross of Christ and the way of perdition. Every minute, the battle for our salvation is being lost or won.

--an excerpt from  The Power of the Cross by Michael Dubruiel . 

Michael Dubruiel: Free Catholic Book

     

From How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist by Michael Dubruiel - free today

Chapter 1 - Serve, Part 1

“You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”

M ATTHEW 4:10

In my home parish, St. John the Baptist in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the words Parate Viam Domini are inscribed over the front doors. The two years of Latin that I had in college and my knowledge of Scripture are enough for me to figure out that the message greeting me each Sunday are the words of St. John the Baptist in the desert, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” It is an excellent message to set the tone for the mystery that is about to be celebrated.

PREPARATION

I remember how differently I approached the Mass when as a young man I began to serve at the Eucharist as an altar boy. Before I could serve for the first time, I had to attend training sessions so that I knew what gestures and movements I was to make, and had to study the Latin responses so that I could answer the prayers of the priest at the appropriate time.Sometimes school was sacrificed so that I could serve a funeral mass,or a Saturday afternoon so that the priest could be attended to as he witnessed the marriage vows of a couple celebrating the Sacrament of Matrimony.

The thought and preparation that went into serving at the Eucharist required a sacrifice on my part but kept me focused on why I was there. Adults who serve as lectors, ushers, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist,and choir members often mention feeling similar sentiments when they first take on these acts of service. Yet with time we are all apt to find ourselves going through the motions without much preparation and indeed without much thought about the fact that we are serving God in our respective roles at the Eucharist, and this inattentiveness is to our detriment. Making preparations is the work of a servant, and in the celebration of the Eucharist it is the work of every disciple of Christ.

About Michael Dubruiel