Joe in Omaha, NE

This past Sunday, I went to St. Joseph's Church in Omaha for Mass. I truly was a beautiful church. I particularly loved the stained-glass which depicted scenes in Joe's life:

Returning Home and the Eucharist

In the Roman Rite, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) either tomorrow or this coming Sunday. A couple months ago, I had a post (House of Loreto) about the House of Loreto in Italy--the house of the Holy Family that was miraculously transported from Israel to Italy. St. Therese of Lisieux stopped at the House of Loreto on her pilgrimage to Rome. She wrote about this stop in her autobiography, particularly on receiving the Holy Eucharist there, A Story of a Soul (Chapter 6):

On to Loreto with my heart full of joy; Our Lady certainly chose an ideal setting for the Holy House, everything poor and simple and primitive, the women still in their charming national costumes, not as elsewhere in the latest Paris fashions, and I was enchanted. But what of the Holy House itself! This very roof had once sheltered the Holy Family; Our Lord's divine eyes had gazed upon these walls; the earth had known the sweat of Joseph's toil, and Mary had here borne Jesus in her womb, then in her arms; how deeply I was moved! I saw the little room where the Annunciation took place and put my Rosary in the bowl once used by Jesus as a child. What enchanting memories these are!

The greatest joy of all was to receive Jesus in His own house and become His living temple in the very place where He had dwelt on earth. According to the Roman custom, the Blessed Eucharist is only reserved at one altar in each church, and the priest only gives Communion to the faithful from there; in Loreto this Altar is in the Basilica which enshrines the Holy House like a priceless diamond in a casket of white marble. This would not do for us; it was in the diamond, not merely in its casket, that we wished to be given the Bread of Angels. Father, docile as ever, followed the rest, but his daughters, who were more independent, made for the Santa Casa itself. A priest with special dispensation was saying Mass there, and we told him what we wished so much to do. This considerate priest at once asked for two small hosts and placed them on the paten. You can guess what a joy that Communion was, a joy beyond words. So what will an eternal Communion be like in the House of the King of Heaven?

The joy of that will never be clouded by the sadness of farewell; there will be no need to steal fragments from the walls which His presence sanctified, for His house will be all our own forever and ever. It is not His earthly house He wants to give us. He shows us that only to make poverty and the bidden life dear to us. It is His palace of glory that He is keeping for us, and we shall see Him then, not in the guise of a child or under the form of bread, but as He is, radiant in His infinite beauty.

St. Joseph on Fire

I'm sure that Joe must have felt as if his own house was on fire when he found Mary to be pregnant. This past May 1st (coincidentally, Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker), the church of St. Joseph Parish in Phoenix, Arizona caught fire. You can check out pictures here. But very much like their patron, the did not allow the fire in their life to extinguish their worship of God. Now, they continue to celebrate the Mass and other sacraments.

If you are willing and able, you can donate to help with the reconstruction of their church in honor of Joe. You can do that either online at the parish website, or I'm sure that you could mail them a check:

St. Joseph Catholic Church

11001 N. 40th Street

Phoenix, AZ 85028

As in all things every little bit counts... most especially prayers!

Traveling to Bethlehem

I'm writing this post early because this week, I'm on an actual 8-day silent retreat--meaning, no internet! Yeah!!! Please, pray for me and the other men with me.

Last week, I shared a little about the Coptic feast of the Entrance into Egypt, but we know that this was not the first time the Holy Family had to travel.

I love this icon written by Brother Claude Lane, O.S.B. particularly because Mary is clothed the same as when she appeared at Guadalupe. You can learn more about the particular symbolism in this icon here. The last little section connects the Holy Eucharist with Joe. There will be more on this connection next week!

By the way, did you know that the Aztec symbols in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe indicate that she was pregnant. You can learn more about the symbolism in the Guadalupe image here.