“We cannot preach what we do not practice.” (Saint Josemaria).
I have bene reflecting on the preaching of the Saints. The other day I was sitting in Mass and listening to the priest and all I kept thinking to myself was tat he was taking a very long time to get everything done. It was not that he seemed more focused on the tasks, it was that he took a lot of breaks during the Mass to sit in silence. Coupled with this was the fact that his homily was usually long and this meant that the Mass ran over the normal time.
And I have been thinking about that. Saints like Saint John Vianney and Saint Padre Pio wre renowned for their LONG Mass times. Saint Padre Pio’s Mass was said to run in excess of three hours. And people travelled from far and wide to have the opportunity to celebrate Mass with this Saint who was observed in ecstasies during Mass.
And I was wondering what the difference really was between those Masses and the Mass that I attended the other day…
You see, my own frame of mind was wrong during Mass that day – why was I rushing? What was that other than a temptation to avoid an opportunity to pray…?
Saint Josemaria said that “we cannot preach what we do not practice.” Perhaps that is it…
The great Saints were able to bear witness through the example of their lives. And that meant that when they preached and offered the sacrifice of the Mass, they were able to show the love of God in a practical way through the example of their own lives…
“Doing God's work is not just a pretty phrase. It is an invitation to spend ourselves for Love's sake. We have to die to ourselves and be born again to a new life. Jesus Christ obeyed in this way, even unto death on a cross; that is why God exalted Him.” (Saint Josemaria, “Christ is passing by”, 21).
And I have been thinking about that today. For it seems to me that I sit there and count the flies in the room, while the Lord of the Universe is offered to me for MY SALVATION, I need to be looking to my own example of what I need to do. After all, that is what the Saints did. And because people could feel that inside their souls, they were willing to sit for hours and listen to what they had to say. For it was the Holy Spirit who spoke to people’s hearts through those Saints, and He did it through WORD and DEED. And without the Saints accepting the guidance of the Holy Spirit into their lives, all would have been lost.
I think we shall never understand the good that the Saints did for the world through their example, perhaps not even at the end of time, perhaps not even in eternity…
Thank God for the example of the Saints…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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