{"id":964,"date":"2020-03-30T15:02:22","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T15:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/?p=964"},"modified":"2020-03-30T15:02:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T15:02:23","slug":"spiritual-director-march-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/?p=964","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Director &#8211; March 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cIt\nis the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; <strong><em>he will not leave you<\/em><\/strong>\nor forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.\u201d&nbsp;\n&#8211; Deuteronomy 31:8<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At\nthis time and place we find ourselves in the midst of great uncertainty!&nbsp; Uncertainty over the Coronavirus and its\nimpact on our health and that of those we love.&nbsp;\nUncertainty over school closings, business failures, loss of employment\nand income, and changes in our lives we could not have envisioned only a short\ntime ago.&nbsp; But of all these, as\nCatholics, the suspension of the celebration of the Eucharist in the Most Holy\nSacrifice of the Mass is perhaps the starkest reminder of the situation in\nwhich we find ourselves.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\nare we to take from the events of these past several days?&nbsp; We call on our faith in all things, this is\never important now.&nbsp; Our Spiritual Works\nof Mercy can be a comforting help in time of trouble and fear.&nbsp; Two of them in particular come to mind,\n\u201cComfort the Sorrowful\u201d and \u201cPray for the Living and the Dead.\u201d&nbsp; These are things we can do:&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Lend a listening ear to those who are\nworried or fearful over the unknown of COVID-19;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Write a letter or send a card to someone\nwho is suffering (instead of grouping write Palanca to your group mates and\nothers); <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Keep a list of prayer intentions,\nwriting down the names of those you are keeping in your prayers;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Ask a friend or family member if there\nis anything you can pray for them about;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>In prayer, entrust your cares and\nconcerns for those around you to God <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A\nfew moments of your time may make a lifetime of difference to someone who is\ncoping with uncertainty.&nbsp; Spiritual works\nof mercy lead us to piety, and must sustain us now.&nbsp; They are a reflection of grace given and\nfaith lived through concrete actions out of love for God and neighbor.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then,\nwhen we return to the table of Our Lord, we will do so with an increased\nyearning for that which sustains us all the more &#8211; the source and summit of our\nChristian lives &#8211; <strong><em>The Precious Body and Blood of Christ<\/em><\/strong>.&nbsp; He has not left us!&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While\nwe are temporarily unable to receive Him in Sacramental Communion, we may make\nan Act of Spiritual Communion, as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>My Jesus, I believe that You are present\nin the Most Holy Sacrament.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I love You above all things and I desire\nto receive You in my body,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>my soul, and my whole being.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Since I cannot at this moment receive\nyou sacramentally,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Come at least spiritually into my heart.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I embrace You as if you were already\nthere<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>And unite myself wholly to You.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Never permit me to be separated from\nYou. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Dear Lord, Hasten the day we return to Your Altar.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>De Colores! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deacon\nWayne<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIt is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":965,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964\/revisions\/965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bellevillecursillo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}