Palmira Tafani, Apostolic Oblate, She will celebrate 50 year of loving Jesus, this Wednesday in Fullerton, California!!
Year of the Priesthood 2010Pentecost Novena – May 16
Need what you give and give what you need.
Today was the first Holy Communion at St. Polycarp Parish in Stanton California where I attended Mass. The children were beautiful and everyone seemed to have the sense of something great happening – yet, after the children and the congregation had received Jesus there was no silence – no moment to pause and say to Jesus, “I love you, thank you for loving me so much that you have come to me in this way.” The pastor at the end of Mass must have sensed something missing and did not want to let pass exhorting us all to pay attention to Jesus in our hearts. He especially encouraged the children to come to Mass often – to ask their parents to bring them- and to remember that this was not the end of their first holy communion but the beginning of a whole new wonderful relationship with the Lord.
At this point in the Mass, I became more aware that as a church we have the duty and the responsibility to stir into flame the gift that was given, and the more we encourage our children to pay attention to Jesus and remind them of how much he loves them and cannot keep his eyes off of them, the more they will find the silence in their hearts and stay with him, talk to him and have deep and meaningful relationship with him. We must witness that this is a real friendship that happens on Sundays, when we go to Mass, pause before the Blessed Sacrament and in reality every moment of our lives.
If we love Jesus and need him, then all the more we will want to witness this awareness of what we need and give to others what we have received.
I wish to ask every priest…
Dear fathers, cultivate this love for the Eucharistic Jesus in your heart and you will encourage this same love, this ardent flame of love in the hearts of your people. I pray it be so. Amen
Teresa Monaghen
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