Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

Courtesy of turnbacktogod.com

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday, I invited us to sing, "O come all ye faithful" because Christ in the Liturgy prepares us to be the prophets of the Most High like St. John the Baptist and await the coming of Jesus.

Now, I invite us to sing "Silent Night" as our way of contemplating the presence of the Child now born in our midst.  "Round yon virgin mother and child Holy infant so tender and mild sleep in heavenly peace."

As we know, Jesus was born in this world without a dwelling place.  But surely, he must have a dwelling place - right in the center of our hearts.  To help us prepare ourselves to be the dwelling place of the Lord, let us reflect on the many time we have received our Lord in the Most Holy Communion.  We pray that we may rid our hearts of any impure intentions and wrong notions of the Eucharist that drown our knowledge and appreciation of it.


The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us the contemplative encounter in the Lord in the same we encounter Him in the Eucharist.

First, "we gather up: our hearts, recollect our being, and allow ourselves to become his dwelling place which we are."  Here, we make an inventory of where we have been, what happened to us, what wounds we have inflicted by ourselves through sin, and we ask to be forgiven.  We also become aware that God is present in others, that is why together, we make an honest admittance to allow Him to touch our lives.

As the mass progresses, our faith is slowly awakened.  We are confronted with who we are and are encouraged to remove all defenses and masks.  As we try to cover up, the Lord invites us to be who we really are - in need of Him.  Because the more we come to know ourselves, the more he reveals his love to us.

We now come to the best part.  Eventually, we are quietly immersed into the sea of His love that we find ourselves offering who we are and what we have.  We allow ourselves to be the living offerings of Jesus to His loving Father and meanwhile, we allow Him to continue purifying us and transforming us until we are born now in God.

This is what Jesus wants, with this new birth of ours, we can fully sing "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" and that we may rejoice fully with the angels as heaven unites with earth through the presence of Jesus.

May we enjoy our union with Jesus and utilize this strength to touch people's lives with His loving presence.  Please greet one another with the love of Jesus!