All of us may be a little excited to have more freedom to move about these days. But is it just a release from the four walls of our house, or is there a deeper invitation to freedom which will make this summer singular?
I think it’s an invitation to live more fully in the truth. And that always brings greater freedom.
What are the truths I’ve learned in this time? The past several months have been far too unique in all of our lives for there not to be an abundance of growth to emerge from them!
I can’t help but be fascinated by the fact that this pandemic, which attacks the body, has hit us at a time where there is so much confusion about the body. Does it matter what I do with my body? Is my body linked with my identity? Can I create my own body? Am I restricted by my body?
One thing we have all learned, in quite a dramatic way these last few months, with unprecedented precautions taken, is that the body matters. Virus or violence, every human body is worth protecting, reverencing, and upholding… especially the most vulnerable.
Because a body reveals a person, St. John Paul II explains in the Theology of the Body.
“The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world, the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it” (TOB 19:4).
The body makes visible that we were made for communion, to be united in love and not solitary creatures. Whether we live that union of love physically through marriage and family, or in the giving of ourselves exclusively to God in consecration, every heart is journeying toward complete communion with God. God’s love is what our bodies have been made to communicate and make visible!
It sounds like a tall order for us. But we’ve got some serious back-up.
As Catholics, we believe that the second person of the Trinity assumed our human flesh. Jesus, the Son of God, has a body. A human body. In a way, God could not have affirmed this truth more, that the body matters. He wanted to reveal Himself to us in a way we could receive.
This week, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. He is the perfect counterpart to our needs, supplying what our fragility lacks and transforms us into Himself. As the small host, offered in its entirety to God, is transformed into Christ Himself, so too the religious, offered entirely to God by the gift of consecration, makes Him visible to the world through our humanity.
Yes, it matters what I do with my body. It reveals my person, created out of love, for love. Let’s ask for the grace of reverence for the gift of the body – my own body!, to receive it as the gift that it is, and to allow it to reveal the love that is within. And, in celebrating that He gives us the gift of His Body, and entrusts Himself to me and to you when we receive Him, let us return that gift and entrust ourselves to Him. Holy Communion!
For we know now, perhaps more than ever, the truth that His flesh is true gift, never to be taken for granted. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” [Jn 6:54]. This is the truth that will launch us into a reckless freedom….in the best way. This is the truth that nothing in this world, not even death, can snatch from our hearts. He has come to dwell inside us, with the power of His resurrection and redeeming love.
Sr. Faustina Maria Pia, SV
Blessed Solemnity of Corpus Christi!
I pray that you are experiencing the love of Jesus’ Sacred Heart for you this month, in a particular way with these unusual circumstances.
A few updates since our last meditation:
God willing, God please, we will be hosting two Come&See Retreats in the Fall:
- October 15th-18th in Denver
- November 12th- 15th in New York
If you are interested in a conversation about your discernment journey, or desire to come on one of these retreats, please fill out this webform: https://sistersoflife.org/vocations/
If you’ve already been in touch with us through the webform, feel free to reach back out by e-mail! We loved hearing about your updates last month- the Lord is so very faithful in putting this desire on your heart so that you press into it and allow Him to speak clearly His particular love for you and their ultimate fulfillment!
With prayers for each of you,
Sr. Bethany Madonna
