Your Holy Touch

                “Dear Almighty Lord, every day, every hour, throughout the entire world, You reach down from heaven, transform Yourself into the bread and wine we offer at mass, and become our food that we eat and drink, literally taking You into our bodies. You strengthen us, You nourish us, You heal us, every single hour throughout the world You created. I see Your hand reach down to the altar and touch the ciborium and the chalice. In an instant, heaven and earth are joined. Our exterior senses do not see it, only our interior senses and our faith reveal this instant. As we partake in Holy Communion, at that very instant, Your divine body and our human bodies are joined as one in total love. I am amazed by this and in awe that the divine hand of God reaches down to us from heaven all the time. That is the gift of Mass, the gift of the Eucharist. Dear Lord Almighty, I am awed and humbled by this generous gift You provide.

                “How can I possibly thank You for such a gift? All I have to offer You that You might be interested in is me and my love. All that I say and do and am, I offer to You. All the love that You placed in my heart bubbles up inside me and all I can do is pour it out back to You. So Lord, take me and my heart that You have strengthened, nourished, and healed with Your own body and blood and place me into Your body as part of You. With You, I am at peace. With You, I am full of joy. With You, as a part of You, I am pure love.

                “Oh my dear Lord, love of my life, I am amazed once again by You. I pray for all people everywhere that they will recognize this union You offer at every mass everywhere. I pray especially for those who say, “I just didn’t get anything out of mass today,” and then decide not to return. I pray for those who say they didn’t like the homily, or the pastor, or the kneelers, or the music, or the noisy children, or the quiet non-responsive crowd, or the heat or the cold. I pray for all those people, that You will sharpen their interior senses to recognize Your touch at Mass and in their lives. I pray that You will grant them a generous spirit to offer themselves to You instead of looking for what You offer them. The beauty of giving comes with maturity. Children at Christmas are thrilled with what they receive but the adults are filled with great joy at providing the gifts for others. Just as You gave Your entire self on the cross, we can give our entire selves to You. By offering oneself completely to You, in humble gratitude, recognizing that You are our creator and all powerful, then we can begin to find our place as part of You. By humbly offering ourselves and saying, ‘Do with me as You wish, You know best what I need and want. You know best how to make me useful, how to make me holy, how to make me all that You see in me.’ Then we can please You and begin to thank You for the precious gifts You have given us: the gift of life, the gift of holy union through the Eucharist and the most precious gift of love.

                “Oh dear Almighty Lord, as You reach down from heaven to the altars throughout the world, awaken the inner senses of all Your people and transform the world.”