20th Sunday after Pentecost - The Dying Minister's Faith
"The man believed the word which Jesus said to him."
A PRIEST and a baptist minister who lived in the same town used to talk a lot about religion. As time went on the minister began to believe in the truths of the Catholic religion one by one. He believed in everything except one truth - that of the real presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. This one truth he could not bring himself too accept. He used to keep saying, "If I could believe that I really and truly received God in Communion, I would be the happiest man on earth; but I just can't seem to do it."
Some time passed and the minister became very ill. The priest came to see him but he was unconscious. Kneeling down, the priest prayed that the dying man would regain his senses and the prayer was answered. The dying minister smiled and asked to be allowed to sit up and lean comfortably against the pillows. He might have gone on speaking but his eyes were fixed on something at the foot of the bed. He pointed, but the priest could see nothing. Then the dying man gazed and suddenly his face shone with joy. He gasped, "Really present - if I had only know in time, I would have preached it to the whole world." With that, he died.
We are very lucky, very, very lucky, that we were given the gift of faith at birth. Other people often have to struggle to believe in things which come to us without any trouble.
One of the easiest and surest ways to guard this gift of faith is by receiving Communion frequently. Wherever the Blessed Sacrament is, there the faith is strongest. In Sidney, Australia, there was once a prison colony. Convicts were sent there from England. Since it was a crime in those days to be a Catholic, many Catholics were among them. They lived on, trying to keep their faith as best they could until priests came to say Mass for them. Now we have a Cathedral in Sidney. Where the Blessed Sacrament is, there the faith of the martyrs strong when they hid in the catacombs from the soldiers of Rome. It is the Blessed Sacrament that will keep your faith strong. If we are unable to receive Jesus sacramentally, we can still receive Him spiritually by reciting a fervent Act of Spiritual Communion.
The last words of the dying minister were, "Really present - if only I had known it in time, I would have preached it to the whole world." You have known it all your lives and will know it all your lives. Be sure you make the most of it.
~ adapted: Sunday Morning Storyland, Imprimatur 1945 ~
A PRIEST and a baptist minister who lived in the same town used to talk a lot about religion. As time went on the minister began to believe in the truths of the Catholic religion one by one. He believed in everything except one truth - that of the real presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. This one truth he could not bring himself too accept. He used to keep saying, "If I could believe that I really and truly received God in Communion, I would be the happiest man on earth; but I just can't seem to do it."
Some time passed and the minister became very ill. The priest came to see him but he was unconscious. Kneeling down, the priest prayed that the dying man would regain his senses and the prayer was answered. The dying minister smiled and asked to be allowed to sit up and lean comfortably against the pillows. He might have gone on speaking but his eyes were fixed on something at the foot of the bed. He pointed, but the priest could see nothing. Then the dying man gazed and suddenly his face shone with joy. He gasped, "Really present - if I had only know in time, I would have preached it to the whole world." With that, he died.
We are very lucky, very, very lucky, that we were given the gift of faith at birth. Other people often have to struggle to believe in things which come to us without any trouble.
One of the easiest and surest ways to guard this gift of faith is by receiving Communion frequently. Wherever the Blessed Sacrament is, there the faith is strongest. In Sidney, Australia, there was once a prison colony. Convicts were sent there from England. Since it was a crime in those days to be a Catholic, many Catholics were among them. They lived on, trying to keep their faith as best they could until priests came to say Mass for them. Now we have a Cathedral in Sidney. Where the Blessed Sacrament is, there the faith of the martyrs strong when they hid in the catacombs from the soldiers of Rome. It is the Blessed Sacrament that will keep your faith strong. If we are unable to receive Jesus sacramentally, we can still receive Him spiritually by reciting a fervent Act of Spiritual Communion.
The last words of the dying minister were, "Really present - if only I had known it in time, I would have preached it to the whole world." You have known it all your lives and will know it all your lives. Be sure you make the most of it.
~ adapted: Sunday Morning Storyland, Imprimatur 1945 ~