Deacon Dennis Gorsuch, St. Claire's Church, Roseville, CA leads Benediction
I enjoyed a needed retreat with fellowship and community prayer time with my brothers and sisters in the diaconate community.
The first day was devoted to time with the Blessed Sacrament. This is the other "Deacon Dennis" in the Diocese of Sacramento. Here he is blessing us with the Blessed Sacrament. Yes, his name is Dennis like me.
I remember lunch with Deacon Dennis and a certain Deacon Carl who was proud to tell me about his father who died in the Battle of the Philippines in World War II. Deacon Dennis Gorsuch and I would joke with each other about how great a name we have in common.
The speaker for the retreat mentioned 3 areas of healing needed today in our time of scandal.
He focused on healing for the traditional 3 vows in the Church: healing sins against poverty; healing sins of abuse of power and cover-ups (which is related to why we have a vow of obedience); and healing for sins against chastity or celibacy.
I walked away from the weekend hoping to use the same talking points one day.
I am grateful the speaker acknowledged the crisis in the Church in his talk. For me, since it was a big elephant in the room.
If he didn't say anything about the growing scandals, I personally would have perceived him as being part of the systemic problem so was grateful he said something.
Later that weekend, the Vigano bombshell happened. In the past, I have done my utmost to avoid using my phone on retreats, but I didn't this weekend. Something of this magnitude could not be ignored.
I couldn't not follow what was happening. I think any clergy or Catholic for that matter not following the Vigano case in the capacity that they are able is either in indifferent denial or deliberately complicit. There is no middle ground.
But back to more local matters. This is a handful of the Solano deacons group. Deacon Bobby Peregrino was elected on the diocesan deacons' council.
And here's a random photo with some of my classmates from the Class of 2014.
Right to left: Deacon Mark Honrick; Deacon Juan Moreno; Deacon David Leatherby, Jr.; and then there's me on the left.
Deacon Leatherby is part of the Leatherby Creamery family. You can visit any one of his branches HERE. I enjoy their crab sandwich, along with their ice cream.
I finished this book about military chaplains during the retreat.
For many months now, I have thought about changing the name of this blog site from "Mary's Deacon" to "Queen's Servant". The website will remain the same, but the title change will take place.
This shift will emphasize the Queen's role and even downplay my own as her unworthy servant. "Deacon" is commonly translated as "Servant."
Part of what motivated this came from listening to Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich's "The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary," especially her vision of Mary's coronation.
I credit my unworthy admission to the Order of Deacon to Mary. I have not been a zealous son. But the little I do is consecrated to her.
* * *
I am all thine, my Queen and my Mother, and all that I have is thine.
On the way to the hospital, I actually passed by a local abortion clinic in my car. As a deacon, blessings can be imparted as permitted by Church law. So I made the Sign of the Cross over the abortion clinic with the Blessed Sacrament in the pyx and sung Tantum Ergo. My hope was that conversions would take place.
I was on my way to celebrate new life, by bringing the Bread of Life, and praying that an institution that kills new life may be brought to Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Choose life!
Then, on my way from the hospital to my car, a lady told me that her husband was in the hospital. I then said a prayer with some words of comfort and then gave her a blessing. In retrospect, I wish I had recommended the Chaplet of Mercy to her.
I am grateful for this opportunity to serve this unassuming family in their great moment of childbirth.
I remember my own experiences of having to stay at the hospital and how, on more than one occasion, as a new dad, I had difficulty getting someone to bring us Holy Communion to my wife who had requested the Eucharist.
Not all hospitals have chaplain services aware of what to do for Catholics, and the Catholic chaplain, if any, was not always readily available. My wife and I once had a Baptist chaplain sent to our room out of what I guess was a misunderstanding on the part of the hospital staff.
We repeatedly asked for a Catholic to bring us Holy Communion, and we were explicit in saying that the person didn't need to be a priest. We just needed the Eucharist for the day, as we were in the state of grace and didn't need Confession at that moment.
Out of 6 childbirth experiences, the 6th childbirth was when a priest was actually available, but for the other 5 childbirths the Catholics that brought us Holy Communion from the local parishes were lay people.
While deacons and commissioned laity can bring the Eucharist to the sick and homebound, the two sacraments that only a priest may administer are Anointing of the Sick and Confession. These are gifts. My wife received all three before the birth of our 6th child.
I was grateful for the gift of the Eucharist, even on the journey of being confined in a hospital labor and delivery room. As Jesus said, "I am with you always until the end of the world." He is with us always and most especially in hospitals throughout the world through the Sacraments.
* * *
I hope our industrialized society has a greater understanding that when a woman delivers, there is a period of healing that needs to take place with her body. She is not lickity-split ready to be her ol'chippery self as if it's business as usual. Childbirth is taxing on a woman's body.
There is a certain wisdom with the Sacramental life of the Church. And especially in the cases of labor, delivery and post-delivery care, the Sacraments strengthen and remind us that Jesus is present all the more during the mystery of the birth of a child.
* * *
Thank you, Baby Joan, for letting me and Jesus's Church be part of your family history.
May you be a great saint in Our Heavenly Father's Kingdom!
During family dinner last night, my wife asked me what
the readings were for Sunday and what I planned to say for the homily today.I replied that the Gospel is on Jesus as the
Bread of Life, the Living Bread from Heaven.I also said that I have two simple points: The first is on worthy
reception the Bread of Life.And the
second is unworthy reception of the Bread of Life.
And then, my 7-year old daughter remarked that it was
a sacrilege to receive Communion in mortal sin.I then said, yes, and that our hearts must not be cold and ungrateful,
and not warm or lukewarm, but our hearts should be hot like fire when receiving
the Bread of Life.She then started
singing, “This girl is on fire!”
So, my family helped me write my two main points: (1) The
first is on the worthy hot fiery reception of the Bread of Life where one is
filled with love and gratitude.(2) And
the second is on the unworthy, cold and lukewarmness receiving Communion.
Concerning the first point of worthy reception of the
Eucharist, we can start by pondering the Scripture readings for the past 2
Sundays, the readings today, and the readings for the next 2 Sundays.The Church gives us 5 Sundays to reflect on
the Gospel of St. John Chapter 6, and we are in the middle of it now.
To receive the Bread of Life worthily and on fire with love, one should be in the state of grace, or the state of
friendship with God.Being in the state
of grace means that we are not conscious of living in serious, deadly sin
before receiving the Bread of Life at Mass.St. Angela said that the very
thought of Christ’s love for us would transform the coldness of our hearts
into a fire of love and gratitude.We
taste the goodness of the Good Shepherd who feeds us with his very self.
I mean, have you ever had days where you clean the
kitchen all day and prepare a really great meal for hours and go out of your
way.And then when those who come for
the meal sit down, not only are they heartless and thankless for all your hard
work but actually complained or murmured about how you served them, how would
you feel?How would you feel for giving
so much for little return?The same is
true for the tender Heart of Jesus who gave His all in the adorable Sacrament
of the Holy Eucharist, the work of His Love, His work of redemption to save us so
we can go to Heaven one day.
So that’s the first internal way to receive the
Eucharist worthily, to prepare our souls to be on fire and love with our union
with Jesus.St. Francis de Sales said
that after receiving Him in Communion in a few minutes, stir up all the details
of your heart to Him where he is present for your happiness on your journey
home [to Heaven].
In the 1st Reading in the First Book of
Kings, the Prophet Elijah was tired in his journey that he wanted to give up
and die – twice.But after receiving
heavenly food of cake and water, Elijah was strengthened and continued his
journey.Elijah’s fruit is that he
tasted and saw the goodness of the Lord.We see the fruits of Communion in the state of grace.The Catechism
of the Catholic Church says that the fruits of Holy Communion are (1) Our
union with Christ is greater; (2) it separates us from future mortal sins and (3)
wipes away venial sins; (4) it unites us to the Mystical Body of Christ, the
Church; and (5) the Eucharist commits us to the poor.[If time allows, talk about St.
Lawrence.I love St. Lawrence and “Here
are the treasures of the Church!”]
Now, for the 2nd point about an unworthy
reception of the Bread of Life, we see in the Gospel how the Jews murmured.To “murmur” here is to complain about this
teaching.They said how can you, who are
just that lowly son of a carpenter give us your flesh.But we will see how Jesus doesn’t back down from
this argument but rather says, “Amen.Amen, I am the Bread of Life.”And
in John 6: 6 6, His followers walked away from [Jesus in] the Eucharist.If we are in mortal sin, we should go to
Confession first.Or if we have missed a
Sunday Mass without sufficient reason, we should first confess this serious
matter before receiving Holy Communion; otherwise, it is a sacrilege – as my
daughter said – to receive Communion.A
sacrilege is defined as violating or misusing what is regarded as sacred.
Another way we receive Communion unworthily is if our
marital statuses and marriages are not in good standing with the Church’s
teachings on marriage and family life.In
U.S., we not only celebrate the 50th anniversary of opening the
permanent deacons to married men, but this year, we also honor the 50th
anniversary of Humanae Vitae.Humanae
Vitae was a letter by Pope Paul VI on the beauty of human life and married
love as total, human, exclusive, and fruitful (which means no affairs), the
opposite of which is contraception.The
Bread of Life leads us to reflect on human life.Sexual activity is reserved to the married.Contraception is the opposite of the Bread of
Life who said, “This is my body, which I give up totally for you”[a
total gift of self in kenosis] because contraception says “This is my body, and
I do not give it totally up for you.”Catholics are called to be married in the Church before receiving
Communion (and not to be simply living together without a vow).As we reflect on the Bread of Life, it is
fitting to see where human life is related to the Bread of Life.Let us examine whether our conscience has
been correctly formed on marriage and family.
I actually have a close relative who would cross his
arms before me during Communion time, and I would give him a blessing.And I respected him [more] and I loved him even more for honoring the
Eucharist instead of committing a sacrilege [by receiving Holy Communion].He didn’t receive Communion because he knew that
he still needed to convalidate his civil marriage, and he was still waiting for
his annulment process with the Diocese [so that he can marry his second wife in
the Catholic Church].[If time allows,
explain how an annulment is like a nurse healing the core/root of the
hurt.]May our marriages taste and see
the goodness of the Lord!As St. Paul
wrote to the Ephesians, let us be “imitators of God” and think with the mind of
Christ, dearly beloved, instead of how the world thinks.
So in summary, dear brothers and sisters, those are
the two points as seen with two-point wisdom of my 7-year old daughter who
received her First Holy Communion a few months ago: (1) First, let us have hot,
fiery love for the worthy reception of Sunday Eucharist.(2) And second, let us avoid cold sacrileges
for an unworthy reception of Sunday Eucharist.
As we sang in the Responsorial Psalm, “Taste and see
the goodness of the Lord.”Thank you,
Jesus, for giving us the goodness of your very self, the Bread of Life.And may Mama Mary help us to love the Eucharis.
Jesus said, “Amen.Amen.I say to you, whoever
believes has eternal life.… I am the
living bread that came down from heaven; whoever easts this bread will live
forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”Amen.
Homily #140: “Worthy v. Unworthy
Reception of the Bread of Life
(With
Reference to 50th Anniversary of ‘Humanae Vitae’ on Contraception)”
