A Eucharist Starved World

J.M.J
As Catholics we have been given by Christ the most awesome gift of the Holy Eucharist. We have a God who loves us so completely He suffered, died, and rose for our salvation and then went on to make it so we would never be without Him, by sending His Spirit and by giving Himself to us so completely Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. In a world that is love starved and where love is replaced with counterfeit substitutes, Jesus remains waiting for us in the Blessed Sacrament as Love itself. A love so pure and true that when we bask in His Eucharistic presence we cannot help but to be changed, for if we could feel His love we would surely become transformed into the likeness of Him who is Love. As we gaze at His Holy Presence we are reminded that love is freely giving all that we have so that others may have life.
In viewing the world which surrounds us one often wonders of whom the world learns of that which is love. We see families divided by divorce, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, war, attack on human dignity, as well as on the institution of marriage. And we ask ourselves where we are going wrong? How can it be we are in such a state of moral and spiritual crisis in our world?
The world’s portrayal of love as conditional and self fulfilling is the very reason that parents, as the first educators of their children, need to understand and live out their Catholic Faith. The Domestic Church is an integral part of Christ’s Body. The Catholic family should be a fruitful place where the seeds of catechismic faith are planted and nourished to grow. It is where our children build a foundation of Faith along with the skills of critical thinking in preparation for the adult years ahead. The Domestic Church should be in itself a sacred place where our children begin to understand and hear the vocation to which God is calling them. The Catholic home should be a haven which fosters vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life where as much as possible, the constant noise and message of the secular world is absent. As parents our lives should be a living testament to our faith through great love for and obedience to our Holy Father as well as the Magisterium of the Church. It is through this obedience as well as utilizing the Sacraments that we come to understand and radiate the treasure of God’s Church, a gift to which no worldly treasure could ever compare. I pray my children will come to know in their hearts, that God loves them so much He sent His only Son so that they might have eternal life, this eternal life which is attainable through His Church.
It is no secret our world is in a state of turmoil, chaos, and unrest. We know by the news and media our country is physically at war and in a battle where sadly men and woman must die every day to defend our freedom. Our hearts pour out to these families with loved ones who are lost at war and we pray for them. However we must also be attentive that there is a much greater spiritual war going on in our own homes and in our own families to which we need to know how to fight. As Father John Corapi so often preaches, have we forgotten that this war is a war for souls, that including the souls of our children? The difference with this spiritual war is that the consequence of fatality is eternal.
The only way to bring peace to our world is to bring peace within our families. This must happen through prayer. Father Peyton’s saying of “A family that prays together stays together” has taken on an even deeper meaning particularly now when there is such a blatant attack on the family as well as the institution of marriage. Is not the ultimate goal of the family for husband and wife to help one another get to heaven as well as their children? If this is true Father Peyton’s message becomes even more profound. For a family that prays together on earth will ultimately stay together in heaven for all eternity.
In a world that is no longer black nor white but grey, there remains a Eucharistic hunger only God can fulfill, a hunger mistaken as that of which earthly pleasures can satiate. The spiritual root of addiction to things such as drugs, pornography, sex, and gambling is nothing short of one’s misdirected need to satiate the hunger which only God can fill. It is only the One who suffered and died on the Cross who can lift us up and make us whole.
My husband Michael and I, after much prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, have made the decision to home school our son within our Catholic Faith as well as any other children God Wills to send to us. We have already hit many road blocks in regards to those who believe we are unrealistic in our quest to teach Michael Mario as God has called us to teach him. We have heard the argument that educating our son in this way could cause great harm to him psychologically and socially. We have been accused of keeping him from understanding what the real world has to offer. In a world which hides the Truth by emphasizing an anti-Christian message our response to them is we sure hope so!
Through the teaching of Holy Mother Church, with our guidance as parents led by the Holy Spirit, and along with a network of other Catholic home schooling families we feel God will provide the education and understanding our son needs. We will nurture Michael’s seeds of Faith and when he is grown hope our efforts will have set deep roots in good soil to which that Faith will continue to grow. We pray he may come to understand that a world without God hungers for that which only our Eucharistic Lord can satisfy. As parents my husband and I will continue in prayer asking that through God’s grace we may come to mirror for our son the Love which gazes back at us from the Cross and fills our every hunger with the Bread of Life.