Devotion for today: If the Lord does not build the house…

Psalm 127:1-2
If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor; if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil.

In vain is your earlier rising, your going later to rest, you who toil for the bread you eat: when he pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber.

I had a fascinating conversation recently. “Sandy, I think if I had an extra hour in my day, I would spend it at a soup kitchen helping in a tangible way. I don’t see the point in just sitting and staring  in adoration when work needs to be done.” Ahhh. How many of us have had these exact thoughts! I bet you quite a few of us. Here is the thing. If you were recently hired into a very large corporation, and were told to get to know the boss and find out what He wanted you to do, wouldn’t you do it? Let’s say instead you notice that there are things wrong and that, with your gifts and talents, you could come up with a way to make them better. So you launch into a plan of action and soon have a program going and people involved and then you get called into the boss’ office. Your heart races as you try to picture the size of the medal he is going to put around your neck for making such a difference in his corporation. Instead he sits you down and asks you why you didn’t ask him before taking off on an idea of your own. He explains that although you did a good thing, it wasn’t the good thing he had hired you to do. By jumping in and doing it yourself, you denied another person the opportunity to do it, and it was this very person who needed to do this job, not you. Besides, you used gifts and talents you already had, but the boss had a plan for you which would force you to do things you didn’t even know you could do. So although you did a good thing, you didn’t bother to find out what the plan was. You cost someone else the opportunity to grow, and you cost yourself the chance to do something new and unique. God is our boss, and we need to ask Him what He wants of us. We are not in charge; He is. The mere fact that food needs to be distributed doesn’t mean you are the one to do it. This doesn’t mean you must launch into hours of prayer every time the Church asks you to help out, but it does mean that you need to know if you are on a path God has chosen for you, and you are only going to know that if you spend time getting to know the Boss, and recognizing His voice and how He speaks to you. Someone once told me that the greatest tool the devil has to get really good Christian workers to burn out and get out of ministry is to tell them that it is a really bad thing to say, “No, I am sorry. I just can’t do that right now.” Spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament removes us from the world and places us in front of God, who alone knows what His world needs from us, and who knows exactly what we need for our salvation. Remember ol’ Joshua who was told to march around the walls of Jericho blowing a horn. I am sure that if he had not taken time to listen to God, he would have taken a different course of action. Yet, the walls fell, didn’t they, and the Chosen People entered the Promised Land. Just believe that is what God wants to do for us. Pray, listen and “the walls will come tumblin’ down”! (Remember to ask Mary, your Mother, to help you adore with a sense of importance and purpose. She will show you the way to her Son!)

Prayer: The Adoration of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament (parts one and two)

1. Holy, holy, holy, Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Yes, holy and all-holy are You, Jesus. You are silently present in a simple small piece of bread. You are in front of me. Grant that I may understand with the heart that You are alive here for me and because of me! O, grant me grace that I may adore You this evening with all my being: soul, spirit and body!

O, all you saints and angels, be here now! Adore the living Lord Jesus Christ with me! Mary, Mother of my Savior and Mother of us all, be with us, too. You called me to adore and assured me that I would not be alone at the moment before your living Son. Thank you for this message:

“This evening, too, dear children, I am grateful in a special way that you are here. Adore the Most Blessed Sacrament all the time! I am always present when the faithful are adoring. Special graces are received then.” (March 15, 1984, Marian apparition in Medugorje) O Mary, thank you for your presence!

Like St. Thomas I would like to say this evening: My Lord and My God! I am not asking You, Lord Jesus, to hold out Your hands with the wounds for me. I believe that You are alive here and that You are really present with the fullness of Your life and love. I remain in silence before You… (keep silent and meditate). Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be…

2. Jesus, You are my God. You are the fountain of holiness and holiness itself. Only to You is my adoration due, to nobody else. Therefore, I leave all things, all persons, all programs. I leave everything and adore You. I want my heart and my mind to become one with You. I give myself up to You with all my being.

Mother Mary, I feel how unworthy I am to adore Jesus. Thank you for being  with me! You were worthy of adoring and loving Him more than anybody else in the world, because you are His Mother, loving and faithful. So, Mary, to you do I give my heart that you may adore Jesus in me and with me. To you do I devote my family, my friends, my community, my people and my Church.

O my Mother! I love you immensely and offer myself to you. Through your goodness, love and grace, save me! I want to be yours. I love you endlessly and I want you to protect me. I ask you, Mother of Goodness, from my whole heart, to give me your goodness that I may be able to love everybody as you loved Jesus Christ! And I also ask grace of you that I may be gracious to you. I present myself completely to you and want you to be with me at every step, for you are full of grace. Amen.

Jesus, I have devoted myself to Your Mother now, that I may be Yours with her, as she was Yours! Look on her love! Grant that I may love You all the days of my life as she loved You! Remove from my heart every haughtiness, selfishness, and all that is in the way of my adoring You deeply! (Remain in deep silence). Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be… (taken from Pray With the Heart! Medugorje Manual of Prayer by Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M., Franciscan University Press, Steubenville,  Ohio, 1988).