Jesus said, “Do your plans include me?”

05-29-2016Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

Recent celebrations of Easter, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and today's celebration of Corpus Christi ought to get us excited about our faith. Our faith, of course, has to do with bringing Jesus deeper into our lives. As a consequence, we choose to deepen our relationship with Him. That ongoing relationship began at our baptism and is enriched each time we pause to pray. While we celebrate Corpus Christi this weekend, we might spend some time pondering the title of this article. Let me explain.

Corpus Christi Sunday is an annual celebration. The day provides us yet another opportunity to enrich our relationship with Jesus. Some priests, including me, choose to provide an extended time of Eucharistic Adoration as an avenue for Catholics to enrich their relationship with Jesus which began at baptism. In recent weeks, when promoting the afternoon of adoration, I was met with comments like, "Father, you know its Memorial Day weekend and no one is going to be around." And yes, some of the comments were exaggerated like that. Priests, as ordained witnesses to Jesus, take just a little offense at comments like these. Not so much because of the exaggeration, but because of the diminishing priority of every Christian's call to foster a relationship with Jesus. Somehow a national holiday, or personal recreational plans, cannot be used to spend a few extra moments in prayer honoring our Lord who gave His life for us.

Turn the table for a moment and consider how your family and friends would react if you told them you were breaking away from the gathering to spend some time praying in church Sunday afternoon. Hopefully, if you had the courage to take action, some of them would not only encourage you, they might also join you. Regularly I field questions about how to be a greater witness to Jesus. We do not have to look to profound and spirited statements to live out our baptismal missionary call; we just need to make a statement that on Memorial Day Sunday, our plans include Jesus.

I realize that a choice like this might invite some minor persecution into your life. Again, not to point out the obvious, but Jesus blesses those who are persecuted for His sake. We know in our minds that He gives us strength when we need it, do we give Him enough chances to deliver that grace by taking risks in faith knowing that we are choosing a path of virtue.

My intention here is not to guilt anyone into visiting the church on Sunday afternoon. My intention is to provide a gentle reminder about how easy it is for us to justify choices contrary to the Gospel. Our life provides countless ways for us to evade putting ourselves into a position to receive graces from our God. My intention is also to provide a concrete example regarding how simple it is for us to witness to Jesus. Yet, in the midst of the simplicity, we fear the reaction to our steps in faith. Our Lord would remind us to "be not afraid," and we ought to listen to those words of strength.

Returning to our baptism, we have been given all we need at that moment of grace to fulfill our baptismal call. That baptismal call means rejoicing in the grace-filled moments, and also trusting that we will be filled with grace during some of the trying moments. Understanding that Corpus Christi Sunday grounds us in the core of our faith; Jesus fully present in the Eucharistic species, we rejoice in His choice to be with us until He comes back again. Our plans for Memorial Day weekend will include Jesus, I count on that. Beyond that, we remember that everything we do begins and ends with the Lord and we plan to keep Him at the center of our life today and always.

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