God Who Is, and We Who Receive

Reading 060826 

God speaks to us in so many ways—
through nature, through art, through Scripture, through prayer,
through the quiet turns and bruised places of our lives .
But most of the time,
we get in the way of hearing His voice.
We hurry.
We fill the silence.
We forget to receive.

And this is where the deeper meaning begins.
Our awakening to God is ontological—
a matter of being, not doing.
God is not simply the Giver of things.
God is the Source of Being itself.
And the human person, before anything else,
is a receiver of that Being.

This is why trust matters.
For the Lord Himself sustains, guards, and blesses
those who entrust their lives to Him—
even when trust leads through scarcity,
through vulnerability,
or through the hidden persecutions of daily life.
God is not distant.
God is not asleep.
God is not defeated.
He provides, He protects, He purifies,
and He promises a joy the world cannot take.

And so the Beatitudes come to us
not as moral slogans,
but as the ontology of the Kingdom—
a revelation of what a human being becomes
when fully aligned with God.

So today,
let us step out of our own way.
Let us receive before we act.
Let us listen before we speak.
And let our very being
rest in the God who is always speaking.

Prayer 

Lord, 

You are the Source of all being.
You speak beneath every moment.
Teach my heart to receive before I act.
Clear the noise that clouds Your nearness.
Shape me in the truth of the Beatitudes.
Hold my life in Your sustaining love.

Amen

It Is Real

  Readings 060726  

I remember a boy who asked his priest,
“Father, when you say the words at the altar…
how does the bread become Jesus?”

The priest smiled,
“That’s a holy mystery.”

The boy frowned,
“Every time grown‑ups don’t know something,
they call it a mystery.”

But his grandmother whispered,
“Sweetheart, really smart grown‑ups
know when to stop pretending
we’re smarter than God.”

And the priest said,
“That’s why we kneel.”

Today we kneel before the greatest gift Christ left us—
His Real Presence.
Not a symbol.
Not a reminder.
Not a metaphor.

It is real.
It is Jesus.
And He comes for you.

The same God who fed Israel with manna
now feeds us with Himself.
The One who said,
“This is My Body… This is My Blood,”
keeps His word.

When you receive Him,
He strengthens you,
changes you,
and makes you part of His Body—
a family of faith,
a people of hope,
a community of love.

So come to the altar with wonder.
Come with joy.
Come knowing:

It is real.
It is Jesus.
And He comes for you.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You give Yourself to us in the Real Presence.
Open our hearts to adore You with wonder.
Strengthen our faith in Your living Body and Blood.
Make us worthy to receive so great a gift.
Remain with us always. 

Amen.