I had a daydream. At least I think it was a daydream. I was awake, and I perceived these thoughts going through my mind, but it seemed more like they were happening to me than that I was controlling them. Anyways, I could "hear" this voice saying, “why do people ignore me? they don't visit me; they usually walk right past me without even acknowledging my existence.” At first I thought it was a vagrant on the street, and when I finally realized who it was, I could not get the idea out of my head.
You see, the One speaking was Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He was telling me that it is easy to "visit" Him in spirit because He is, in this way, present everywhere. All you have to do is speak and He will hear you. Yet, that is not the same as His physical presence in the Sacrament Itself. In the couple years since I had this "thought" I have not been able to shake the feeling that we all need to put a concentrated effort into increasing our respect and reverence for the presence of Christ. I would go so far as to say that lack of reverence for Christ is at the very core of the current trend of weakening faith in the Church.
This is not something that we can take lightly. Whenever our devotion to the Blessed Sacrament wanes, we always fall into some kind of idolatry, for if we refuse to worship the (miraculous) physical presence of Christ in the Sacrament, then we will have to dedicate ourselves to worship something else. Remarkably, there are many (especially from among our protestant brethren) who would say that deep devotion to the Sacrament and adoration of it is a form of idolatry; when in truth the exact opposite is true.
It is because of this that I believe that it is essential for all Roman Catholics to make an active effort to increase their devotion to Christ, most especially in the Sacrament, and to do so while seeking the intercession of all the Saints, but most especially the Blessed Virgin. I have noticed that fewer and fewer people feel drawn to spend time in adoration of the blessed Sacrament. It seems like "wasted time" to a large percentage of Catholics. In fact, if a Catholic says that he is not interested in spending time in the adoration of Christ in the Sacrament, then something is seriously wrong with his spirituality.
When it becomes time to prepare for battle, then a soldier will put more effort into getting himself ready (and not less). It certainly seems that we have already in this day and age entered into a serious battle for the integrity of the Church, and that means that we all need to work harder to remain faithful, because the evil one does not want us to be equipped to resist him. Scripture passages like, Ephesians 6:10-20, and 2 Peter 1:3-8, come to mind right now; especially because they both speak about doing the spiritual work necessary to ready oneself to say "No" to the world.
This cannot be merely a vague idea, or an idea that never comes to fruition. As a priest of God I am called to help the people of God grow in the faith and find greater commitment to our Lord. Yet, I cannot do this by myself. I therefore am calling anyone who is reading this, to come alongside me in this effort. Let us not accept the status quo of mediocre faith and wishy-washy spirituality (for to do so is to surrender to wickedness). Let us commit together to resist the increasing tide of immorality and choose instead the path of righteousness, grace, and peace. Let us sit down together and discuss how to go about this, so that we strive toward true holiness and never compromise.
