Prayer of Sacrifice

Last year was a very difficult year for me. I lost a lot of things that meant so dear to me. I lost friends, I lost money, my job, opportunities, trust, love, and even myself. Infact before the end of 2009, I nearly lost my sanity especially when my son, Joaquin Louise, died 14 days after he was born.

Words cannot describe the pain I had to endure just to get by.

I felt like a melting candle.

But if I lost to the world last year, I also gained my life back because if this very special prayer that I want to share with all of you. May the Prayer of Sacrifice empower you with strength, wisdom and humility to understand the course of time. May it uplift your spirit, the very same way it did to me.

Now, think of the Lord Jesus. Focus on his face. Offer to him everything that you hold deep in your heart ans say, the Prayer of Sacrifice.

Lord of the Holy Sacrifice, your saving oblation on the cross has given me new life. May I always recall your holy sacrifice on the cross and do it in remembrance of you. When tempted by selfishness, inspire me to be taken as an unworthy sacrifice. When burdened by envy, let me become an instrument of blessing for others. When afflicted by anger and pride, grant me the humility to be broken and given for others. When unsettled by anguish and troubled by worries, give me encouragement.


May your Spirit move my heart to see in your outstretched arms your loving embrace of everyone that I, too, may welcome others with the same love in an open hand. Teach my mind and direct my will to humbly endure the pain of undeserved suffering even when my intent was good and done what is right. May I understand that it is in the holy sacrifice of your wounds that my brokenness is healed. May I see in your sacrifice on the cross not only death and defeat but victory and life.

Loving Father, may the holy sacrifice of your Son cleanse my soul, strengthen my heart, pardon my past and restore me in your peace. May I always adore you by uniting myself in His holy sacrifice, the sacrament of your divine love. May I learn to sacrifice my own comfort, plans and dreams if it is not for your glory and the good of others.

With Mary, the mother of Jesus, who joined her heart with the sacrifice of her Son, may I become a holy sacrifice of love and service for others. Gathered around the altar of love, may all be united in listening to your word and sharing the one bread and cup and become one people, offering one holy sacrifice.

Amen.

Miraculous Abundance

By Ma. Teresa Torres



The multiplication of loaves was mentioned in all four gospels of the bible. However, there is inconsistency in the number of bread and fish multiplied mentioned by the evangelists. In Matthew’s account, there are seven loaves of bread and two fish whereas in the accounts of John, Mark, and Luke, there are five loaves of bread and two fish. The inconsistency is also found in the number of baskets of leftovers. In the former there are seven baskets, in the latter, there are twelve.


It may not mathematically make sense. How can seven loaves of bread and two fish, or five loaves and two fish, feed four thousand or five thousand mouths?

Maybe it is because they shared. The people only ate what they needed. Perhaps many of them gave their share to the others who needed it more. Or, many of them actually brought their own food and shared it with their neighbors. It is possible that because of these unwritten events, the five loaves of bread and the two fish was more than enough to feed the five thousand followers.

What is the moral of the story? That in each and every one of us, there is an abundance of gifts that God gave to us to share. Just as the sharing between the people who followed Jesus multiplied the loaves of bread and the few pieces of fish, sharing our blessing in effect multiplies it so that many will be able to receive and experience it.