Recently this prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours for Sunday struck me:
Almighty and ever-present Father, your watchful care reaches from end to end and orders all things in such power that even the tensions and the tragedies of sin cannot frustrate your loving plans.
God’s Inexorable Plan
The first reading, with its story of adultery, deception, and murder, reminds us that King David’s heinous sin did not derail the steady progress of God’s design for the Messiah. Not long ago, during the Christmas liturgies we heard the history of the genealogy of the “son of David,” which included David’s son by Bathsheba and other persons of less than pristine character. Our weaknesses and failures do not cancel God’s plans. Though He does not intend them, He incorporates them, and they become part of the tapestry. The moment we acknowledge our sins and take responsibility for them, we participate in the intricate and beautiful design which has as its ultimate goal our complete union with God in the Trinity.
This Is How It Is with the Kingdom of God
Like the farmer in the parable, we have no inkling of how God accomplishes this. We only know that it happens. Our limitations, in Him, become the means by which He can bring forth rich fruit. We can become the branches in which many birds find their rest. Perhaps, it is the families to whom we witness so that they in turn can be living examples of Catholic life. Perhaps, it is those who, seeing our own chastened humility, are encouraged to approach the Church. Perhaps, it is the support we give to those who seek to turn their lives around because we know that “there, but for the grace of God, go I.”
The Role of the Eucharist
The Eucharist is at the center of this dynamic. It is not insignificant that the U.S. Bishops have drawn our attention to this mystery now. The Eucharist, multiplied throughout the world, is what enables us to participate in the transformation of our struggles and sacrifices in a way that we “know not how.” The bishops have called us to an awareness of the necessity of evaluating our own readiness for this participation, calling us into “a time of Eucharistic renewal, a time of prayer and reflection, acts of charity and sincere repentance.” (The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church, #58).
It is also not insignificant that this day is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose writings and teachings have continued to “seed” the Church for over eight hundred years. We still sing his hymns to the Eucharist. May we continue to offer the “seeds” of our lives for God’s purposes.
Great!!! Yes, The Eucharist is the sumit of our belives and life.
I really like the way Sr. speaks of the power of the Eucharist around the world as it is prayes continually. It is the source and strength in my life.