"Jesus said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’”

Have you noticed how easy it can be to hear this weekend’s Gospel and accept that Jesus spoke these words to the Apostles, but to believe that He speaks these words to you and me…well, that’s a whole different thing. Maybe it’s because we think we aren’t worth it, or that somehow it won’t last in the midst of our everyday life. It took most of my life to realize that coming away by yourself to a deserted place doesn’t always mean silence and being alone. In fact sometimes we miss it because it’s right in front of us and we just don’t accept it. Such is the case of what I’m feeling this week. You see, earlier this year I was given several chances to signup for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress with some seminarians and parish groups from our diocese to journey to Indianapolis for the revival. It is safe to say I love the promotion of the Eucharist in our country, especially since we watched the assassination attempt last weekend, but the problem is I just didn’t sign up for this gathering. I guess I didn’t understand what it was really all about. But I was wrong…I should have gone. I should have been present as tens of thousands of Catholics gathered in streets and centers, halls and churches to remind everyone what we believe is True and Real about Jesus in the Eucharist. I regret that I did not accept the invitation Jesus offered me.

This doesn’t mean if we didn’t go that we missed out on everything. The Eucharistic Revival IS NOT SOMETHING WE DO. It’s God stirring up the hearts of His people. It’s longing for the Holy Spirit to fill us with grace and zeal - setting our hearts ablaze with His love we find and receive in The Eucharist and sending us out to share Him with the world. The National Eucharistic Revival movement is the joyful, expectant, grassroots response of the Church in the United States to God’s invitation to be united once again around the source and summit of our faith in the celebration of the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist, God desires to heal, renew, and unify the Church and the world.

Why not consider spending some time in Eucharistic Adoration this week or read some amazing testimonies from the saints. As Saint Mary Seminarians return to the seminary August 10th we will begin our opening house retreat. They will be given a book by St. Manuel Gonzalez Garcia, What the Heart of Jesus Does and Says in the Tabernacle. It’s wonderful and inspiring. I hope you enjoy it too.

+Pax,
Fr. G. David Bline

"I ask to be buried next to a tabernacle, so that my bones, after death, as my tongue and my pen in life, are saying to those who pass: there is Jesus! Do not leave Him!" St. Manuel González García