Waiting on the Master
- fatheratchley
- Mar 19
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 20
A former parishioner asked me today, after I offered advice, why should she bother to visit Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament? For her, it doesn't seem to be enough to present herself before her Redeemer. Here was my response:
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What more have you to offer our Lord than your very self? Pretend you were a puppy, wanting to express gratitude to your owner. Wouldn't you bound awkwardly across the kitchen floor, slipping and sliding, tongue hanging out, even making little "yips" in excitement, making yourself present whenever she came home? Only an ungrateful puppy would lie on the couch, thinking "why bother?" when the master returns.
A humorous story: we had miniature toy poodles growing up. My sisters loved playing a prank on one of them: they'd step outside the front door, wait a minute, then come back in yelling "Gina! Gina!" (the dog's name) while it flipped and bounced, presumably happy to see them. My wicked :-) sisters did this a couple of times in a row with the dog, always reacting the same way, until the whole family was laughing.
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The parishioner laughed and got my point. I'm sharing this here because I want the best for you and your familes, and also because it's a pretty funny story.
Hopefully Lent is going well. If not, make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament; if it is going well, even more reason to...make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. Invite family members to join you, or go alone. And yes, I get busy, forgeting my own advice, so please pray for me, too!
Fr. Jonathan Atchley
Father, you are always in our prayers. As you know, you are one of my favorite writers, so I hope you don't stay away too long. I look forward to your posts. I miss our little chats. Most blessed Easter to you! 🕊️🙏
One only need listen to one of the many YouTube videos of the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who all through his life made a holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament. He emphasized this constantly in his many retreats to priests. He mentioned that he did this in spite of the efforts in terms of time that he had to endure to stick to this practice. I think that he even said that had more priests kept close to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament that there would have been a lot less priests who left the priesthood after the Second Vatican Council.