Take C.A.R.E.

There are many things in life that I can be grateful for.  A beautiful wife, amazing family and friends, a great job and so much more.  But taking a step back I wouldn't be disposed to receive any of these gratefully if it wasn't for such a Good God who was gracious and merciful enough to constantly remind me to take C.A.R.E.

For those who don't know what that is, it may be because you haven't known me long enough or because I haven't been doing my duty.  C.A.R.E. is an acronym for Confession, Adoration, Rosary, Eucharist (Holy Mass).  Within the prayer community that my wife and I spent a better part of our lives in it was the very gauge in which we measured our spiritual lives.  We could consider ourselves spiritually nurtured if we remembered to Take CARE.  To be honest, I attribute this very lifestyle of taking care what lead my wife and I to our vocations and many will attest to same fruits.

Confession: Because none of us are perfect and all of us need grace.  Most importantly, all of us need Sanctifying Grace which is the very life of our soul.  St. John Bosco would warn the boys of his oratory that when they were in mortal sin that shouldn't simply just go to confession but that they should run to it.  

The question may come up how often should I really go?  Here's a good article that I think may help

http://rcspirituality.org/ask-priest-often-can-go-confession/

Why is it important?  Because Christ waits for us so that he may free us from the bondage of sin in the Sacrament of Confession.  Because we can and should approach the One whom we have offended by our sin like a child approaches his/her mother when they have done something wrong.  Humbly, lovingly and sorrowfully.

Eucharist & Adoration: In C.A.R.E. we speak of the reception of the Eucharist in Holy Mass.  St. Peter Julian Eymard, the great saint of the Blessed Eucharist said the following about it:

"WHY is Jesus Christ in the Eucharist? Many answers could be given to that question. The one that sums them all runs as follows: because He loves us and because He wants us to love Him. Love, that is the motive for the institution of the Eucharist. Without the Eucharist Christ's love would be nothing more for us than a lifeless love, a love of the past, which we would quickly forget and which it would be almost excusable for us to forget. Love has its laws, its requirements, which the Eucharist alone fully satisfies. On account of the Eucharist Jesus has every right to be loved because in it He gives us a proof of infinite love."

In our reception of the Eucharist through Holy Communion we live out the famous saying "You are what you eat."  In our receiving more frequently and more reverently our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament we receive the grace to be more and more like Him.  

 After receiving Jesus in Holy Communion let us spend time with Him.  He is after all a prisoner of Love in the Tabernacle.  He chooses to not press himself into our own space but waits for us to enter into His.  How often do things of great significance happen and we immediately feel the urge to share the news.  Our desire to communicate our emotions, thoughts, hardships, excitements and anxieties stem from God's desire to draw us to Him.  Adoration is where these both are quenched and our love is nurtured. 

Never heard of adoration before?  Don't worry I didn't hear about it until college!  Here's a resource you can learn a little bit more about it:

http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/pea/a2.html

Rosary: 

The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying." - Pope Leo XIII

It is through the Blessed Mother that we come to know our Lord more intimately.  He came to us through her and we find our way to our Lord through the same means, His Mother.  If you haven't already, pick up a book about the rosary and about the Blessed Mother.  One saint that changed my life and the role the Blessed Virgin Mary plays in it is St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort.  If you would allow me I recommend Secret of the Rosary and True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

Taking CARE is also referred to as the Communion of Reparation Lifestyle.  Our faith is not simply for our own personal benefit so neither should our spiritual acts be for our own gain.  When we take C.A.R.E. we do so in order that we may love God well now for the times we have not before or even for those who fail to do so now.  In doing this we fulfill those two greatest commandments mentioned by Christ in the Gospel, To love God and to love neighbor.  May we do both in living a grace-filled life, one where there is only room for Christ where He is our Lord and no one or nothing else.

AMDG+