The Unprofitable Servant: Lord, help me in my weakness

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Lord, help me in my weakness

That which is sacred and deserves all our attention

I love going to church and being in the presence of Our Eucharistic Lord. But I am a weak human being, and sometimes, human thoughts supersede my focus on the Holy Sacrifice that takes place at the altar. Somewhere between the time Father was placing the consecrated Host on the corporal and when he lifted the chalice, I lost my concentration. I thought I'd go to Mass a little hungry yesterday and add an element of sacrifice, and the result was that I caught myself thinking of what I would have for lunch when I got home.

What a loser.

I wonder sometimes why God does what He does for us. It's bad enough that I lack the discipline to pay Him homage as I should, but then I go a step further in the wrong direction and try to assign human flaws and failings to Him.

I have no trouble believing in the Real Presence, so why can't I accord Jesus in the Eucharist the attention He deserves? If there is any time to pay rapt attention and adore the Lord, it is during the Canon of the Mass.

So I once again ask for your help. I'd like to think I love the Lord so much that I don't need help in this regard, but I do. How do you clear such distracting thoughts from your mind?

I know that St. Teresa of Avila once said we should treat distractions like bees that we wave away. Bees while you're praying are one thing. Bees during the most critical part of the Mass are another.

6 comments:

MannyJune 14, 2011 at 9:16 PM
This is just a thought. But could you going to mass every day make it so repetitious that you lose focus? I know I personally don't handle repetition well.
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meJune 15, 2011 at 1:12 AM
It's not for us to judge how our offering to God in worship, is being received. The aim is to try, put the footwork in (my favourite expression at the moment).
Your instinctive thought about food is a gift of your nature, given by God. If you didn't have it, your feelings of hunger might not prompt you to eat. Then you would die.
Your will, decided to withold food from your body, as an act of sacrifice (love for God), Jesus would have received this act of surrender as a gift offering.

What happened in your mind and body afterwards, was something that as a human, you are subject to. Hunger, survival instincts. Gifts! You didn't run out of Mass and grab a burger at that minute, did you?

Be gentle with the old flesh sometimes, it takes a bit of time for it to catch up with the will, especially if the will belongs to a conscientious person, such as yourself.
If it happens again, I would just quietly say to your body, through your mind, "We will eat later body, for now it is our soul we are tending and God to whom, we are attending it." If it keeps on nagging, tell it to be quiet! You can take authority over it, after all, God given authority. You're it's steward! Treat it as you would a small child. You wouldn't despair and reject the child, you would cope! Don't forget to love yourself, in a childlike way too!

God bless!

Sorry, I've gone on a bit.
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TLWJune 15, 2011 at 4:27 PM
No Manny, the more one goes to Mass, the more one wants to go to Mass. Besides, I only get to Mass in the EF once a week so there really is no daily "repetition". This was just a case of human weakness.

Ros, leave it to you to make me feel better. Thanks :)
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MannyJune 15, 2011 at 7:19 PM
Oh I wasn't saying not to go to mass. I was suggesting that your problem of focus is a result of too much familiarity, repetition. No go to mass, but if your mind drifts on the repetitive parts, that's to be expected. I guess that would be human weakness. I'm just explaining from where the weakness comes from.
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AnonymousJune 16, 2011 at 4:08 AM
Little Way: of course, you're a loser, we all are! If we weren't, there would be no need for Jesus. Don't despise your "human weakness". Jesus didn't and He still doesn't.

If I may, can I suggest that you read a bit of St. Francis de Sales? "Thy Will Be Done: Letters to Persons in the World" is a well of spiritual comfort and refreshement.
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TLWJune 16, 2011 at 5:06 PM
Anonymous, thank you. In a short while I hope to have some time off where I will be staying off the computer and doing more spiritual reading than I have been I will definitely add your suggestion to the list. Thanks and God Bless!
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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God Bless You!

The Unprofitable Servant

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Lord, help me in my weakness

6 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross