32 TIMES ALL EQUALS 100

God “has made [Jesus]…Head of the church, which is His body.” —Ephesians 1:22-23

As I write this, a speaker quoted a statistic that only thirty-two percent of registered Catholics in the USA attend Sunday Mass. Our Catholic Church is emaciated. Our spiritual arteries are blocked. Our lifeblood, that is, the Precious Blood of Jesus, is literally not circulating throughout the full body.

Jesus cares deeply about any wounded area of His body. He would leave the ninety-nine in the “wasteland” to save the one missing (Lk 15:4). We are in the 32% going to Sunday Mass. The word Mass means “sent.” We are being sent to the 68% who are not coming to Mass (Mt 10:16).

Thirty-two percent won’t reach sixty-eight percent by a partial effort. If we insist on holding back anything from Jesus, then we’re like spiritual cholesterol that blocks the other 68% from receiving Jesus’ life. When we give less than all to Jesus, soon we’re down to 32%. It takes all-giving to be all-reaching. When we give to the full, we’ll see life to the full (Jn 10:10).

Repent of giving Jesus less than your all. He has given His all to you. Give your all to Him. Then distribute His life to the members of the Church (see Eph 1:18). Go to them, and “do not worry” about “what to say. The Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment all that should be said” (Lk 12:11-12).

Prayer: “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, grant you a spirit of wisdom and insight to know Him clearly” (Eph 1:17).

Promise: “Whoever acknowledges Me before men — the Son of Man will acknowledge him before the angels of God.” —Lk 12:8

Praise: St Ignatius was a pillar of the early Church. He was the third Bishop of Antioch, St. Peter having been the first. While he traveled to Rome where he was martyred, he authored seven influential letters. As death neared, he said, “I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth.”