July : Month Devoted to the Eucharist and Prayer

Intention of the month

TO BECOME MORE AWARE  OF THE INCARNATIONAL GIFT OF CHRIST’S BODY AND BLOOD

“When you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled,

the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed…

that they cannot pay you back,

means that you are fortunate…”

Luke 14:12-14

The Face of Christ

The tragic beauty of the face of Christ shines in our faces.

The abandoned old live on in shabby rooms far from comfort.

Outside, din and purpose, the world a fiery animal

reined in by youth. Within, a pallid, tiring heart

shuffles about its dwelling.

Nothing, so little, comes of life’s promise!

What does one make of broken, despised minds,

A roadside show? A graveyard of the heart?

Christ, fowler of street and hedgerow –

of cripples, the distempered old, eyes blind as woodknots –

tongues tight as immigrants, all taken into his gospel net –

the hue and cry of existence.

Heaven of such imperfection? Wary, ravaged, wild?

Yes, compel them in!

 Daniel Berrigan