Tag: Sacraments

Zion.

I just came from Hillsong United’s Zion concert, and it had a very profound effect on me. It was something unexpected for sure. Having been listening to Hillsong for most of my YFC life, it’s hard not to dream that one day you’ll worship with the band who actually made the songs. And they did not disappoint, the lights were on point, the songs sounded like they came off a CD played on loud speakers, they sang some of their old songs and of course their new songs. If I was in the same concert 5 years ago, I would’ve easily said that this was the best experience of my life. But tonight, everything about it was off.

I understand that Hillsong is a different church altogether, that I had to do the sign of the cross myself when they started and ended. I knew that, and I was okay with that. In one of their first few songs however, I found myself crying, not because of the song being sung – which was musically beautiful by the way – but because there was a real longing and realization of the truth.

I cried not because it was a song I would play when I wanted to be in prayer, but because today was a Tuesday. Tuesday is the one day of the week that I go to Adoration, Confession, and Mass aside from my Sunday obligation. I cried because I thought I made the better decision in spending my Tuesday night in Hamilton with thousands to “worship” The Lord, only to realize I left The Lord at the altar waiting for me for our weekly date. You see, I realized that though worship is beautiful and should be done, it fails in comparison to the actual presence of God in the blessed Sacrament. To actually behold Him in adoration, to be reunited with Him in confession, and to be offered Him in the Eucharist. No amount of jumping up and down can compare to being with the real presence of Jesus in the blessed Sacrament.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. – CCC 1324

The mountain upon which the City of God is built is called Zion. But its source and summit will always be the Eucharist.

And I say this with complete confidence because I say this in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

And let all the people say, Amen.

This blog is originally hosted on my personal blog at http://www.kevinmuico.com/2013/11/13/zion/

The Vine

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
—John 15:5

The community is not the one true source of the grace of God. The only one true source is Jesus through Mary, and we receive that grace in abundance through the Church and her Sacraments that Jesus instituted Himself. The common misconception for the youth in our community is that they might think that Jesus is only found in the community and once one leaves the community, he/she leaves Jesus. We definitely experience the presence of Jesus in each other in a community in our brothers and sisters, but one cannot bank one’s entire faith in the community alone. We must be rooted in the Church first and foremost.

Community life is an extension of the life in the Church. It is an extension of the life and love in our families. A community can only truly thrive if its members are thriving in the Eucharist. A community will only truly grow if its members are growing in their interior life with God.

As a community, let us pray that we always encourage one another to thrive in the Sacraments, especially in the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation. Let us inspire one another to abide in Him so that we can all truly bear fruit—fruit that will last.

Truly we can do nothing apart from Him, so let’s remain and abide in Him, The Vine, always.

May God grant us the grace to make a daily resolve to abide in Him. Amen.