“The sacraments are not magic; rather, they are a personal encounter with the Lord who has real power to heal us. They admit us to the redemptive grace of Jesus and make the mysteries of Christ effective in our lives. Through the acts of the penitent, the one confessing opens his or her heart to God.”Cardinal Justin Rigali, Let the Oppressed Go Free: Breaking the Bond’s of Addiction [emphasis mine]
I don’t often experience this personal encounter in a lightening bolt way. It’s usually more like a soft touch that moves me to tears.
I need healing, and I pray for it at every Mass. It’s through the grace of the sacraments that I even recognize my need for healing.
We all need healing. All of us are wounded in some way, little birds who are struggling to fly. We’re at different points in our healing, some of us stronger than others. Approaching the Healer, we hold out our hands, trying to trust as a child.
The sacraments are a Catholic’s secret to the most important kind of success, and the more often I can remember this, the closer I will be to Jesus’ arms.
Amen!….Why aren’t you teaching RCIA? You are fantastic. Would love to teach along side of you…you say things in a way I wish I could. There is a book or two in you…we need it!
Oh, and the reference to the earlier column, what a lump in my throat! I just became an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and it feels like a miracle with every communicant. I can describe it no other way, just a mystery of Christ’s complete beauty through my unworthy hands feeding His people…a real and present EXPERIENCE of the miracle of the Eucharist. It has and continues to change me.