“The very quality of your life, whether you love it or hate it, is based upon how thankful you are toward God. It is one's attitude that determines whether life unfolds into a place of blessedness or wretchedness. It all depends on your perspective. . . .This is the only life you will have before you enter eternity. If you want to find joy, you must first find thankfulness. Indeed, the one who is thankful for even a little enjoys much. . . .Truly, there are people in this wounded country of ours who need special attention. However, most of us simply need to repent of ingratitude, for it is ingratitude itself that is keeping wounds alive! We simply need to forgive the wrongs of the past and become thankful for what we have in the present. It does not matter what your circumstances are; the instant you begin to thank God, even though your situation has not changed, you begin to change.”

“He said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied.” (LK 9:16). Today we pause in a special way to again remind ourselves of the gift, the blessing, the life affirming Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood our Lord Jesus Christ. And to be thankful. Two contrasting stories illuminate the grace of the real presence within the Eucharist, and how it affected the lives of these individuals. One is struggling to find his place and purpose, and the other that recognized his calling early on, choosing to minister to the segregated lepers in a leper colony. I grew up in a small community church, very Protestant, very anti-catholic. I remember asking Jesus into my heart at 6 years old. By the grace of God he made my heart a home. For the next 40 years I wandered in a vast desert of do-it-yourself Christianity. I studied the Bible intensely for 20 of those years. . . .One day I stumbled into a Catholic Church, I was praying, doing my own thing as usual, and suddenly the church started filling up with people. People from all walks of life. Near the end of the service, people formed a line to receive communion, but this form of communion was a little different than I was used to. There was a single cup and when I saw a rich, snobby old woman drinking directly after a bum off the streets of Portland, I thought to myself "This is what it's all about! . . .So after 40 years of hunger and thirst searching for the promised land in a desert of DIY Christianity, I found what Christianity was really all about in the Eucharist. Sharing Jesus Christ with others. Actually becoming his body, it was all so clear. What's even more amazing is that through the Eucharist I have learned more in the last 18 months about who God is, who I am in Christ.” (Anonymous)

The Blessed Sacrament is indeed the stimulus for us all, for me as it should be for you, to forsake all worldly ambitions. Without the constant presence of our Divine Master upon the altar in my poor chapels, I never could have persevered casting my lot with the lepers of Molokai; the foreseen consequence of which begins now to appear on my skin, and is felt throughout the body. Holy Communion being the daily bread of a priest, I feel myself happy, well pleased, and resigned in the rather exceptional circumstances in which it has pleased Divine Providence to put me.” (Blessed Fr. Damien, Apostle of the Lepers)

God Bless, Fr. Tim

FYI: "I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days." (Henry David Thoreau)