God Is At Work In You!: Obedience, God's Love, and the Usefulness of Broken Vessels

Know, love, and serve Him, all the days of your life.

Just a few years ago, I was on my way to daily Mass when the good Lord instructed me to start taking my children to Holy Mass at a different parish, specifically Ss. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Catholic Church. So we met with the pastor, and became members. Since it was the middle of the school year, arrangements were made for my three children to attend Catechism on Wednesday nights.

We learned that Eucharistic Exposition and Adoration is followed by Benediction on Catechism evenings. Half the Catechism students attend Benediction on alternating weeks. I had never been to Benediction anywhere else except for the handful of times I was able to attend early in the morning before daily Mass at our former parish.

After accompanying my children to their respective classrooms on their first night of classes, I headed for the church to adore our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Benediction was to follow about an hour later.

It is worth noting that when my family received our summons from the Lord to go to Ss. Cyril & Methodius, I was very sick, was getting sicker, and was in no shape to transition to anything.

My children and I had been members of our former parish for ten years. Many parishioners were like family to us, we had not planned on leaving, and we didn’t want to, either.

Nevertheless, God always knows best. He sent us somewhere else, and so we went where He told us to go and when (He also had us take some pictures).

After we complied, the good Lord welcomed me in several astonishing, beautiful, and unexpected ways.

How unfathomably compassionate and loving our Savior is!

The Lord welcomed us for the first time shortly before we joined the Catechism program, when we met with our new pastor. Father Ben meets with new parishioners personally. The evening of our appointment Jesus appeared; He was standing right next to Father Ben. Together, they made a very lovely welcoming committee.

God is so incredibly generous. He just cannot be outdone in generosity.

As soon as I had opened the doors leading to the church that first evening of Catechism, Eucharistic Adoration, and Benediction at our new parish, I was greeted by a force the likes of which I had never before encountered.

Immediately upon entering the church, it felt like a massive bomb containing God’s love had exploded.

The effects of this "explosion" radiated out to me and to everyone. The action of this force was so strong and so profound that it could not only be felt, it could also be seen.

The Source was very clear, and He was on the altar.

All that incredible love was radiating out from the Sacred Body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the monstrance.

Although I had previously known, worshipped, received, and loved the Source of so much goodness, that particular manifestation of the love of God was unprecedented to me.

There are no words that can adequately describe what that experience was like. The entire church was filled with the love of Jesus Christ and it kept coming, without stopping, from the Sacred Host on the altar.

The love pouring out of the Blessed Sacrament permeated my entire being immediately and completely, and it permeated everyone else, too.

Every single person in the church continuously absorbed the love of Jesus radiating out from the Eucharist. This expression of God’s love was made known to me in this way to welcome me after responding to His summons. His love was also made so clearly known to me in this way so that I would share this story with you.

As I stepped into the church, my senses were absolutely flooded by that supernatural expression of God's love, and I had to exert extra effort to focus on selecting a place in the church to pray.

While walking toward a pew, I had to fight very hard to control my emotions because the experience was so powerfully and lovingly consuming that I immediately felt like bursting into tears.

As a matter of fact, I fought back tears the entire time I remained in the church with Jesus that night.

What a very, very special memory Jesus' loving expression that night remains to me. God called, we complied, and He personally welcomed us.

We just cannot fathom as mortals the kindness and humility of our Creator, whose love is so boundless that He makes it a point to show His appreciation for our cooperation!

From time to time when I am in the church participating in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or visiting with our Lord during Eucharistic Adoration, Jesus and I fondly share an exchange and reflect back on that moment.

Jesus asks if I remember that moment, and I respond with a smile, "I remember."

When it was time for Benediction, I knelt down and was astounded to see my late father kneeling right next to me. Together, we sang and prayed in Latin and in English.

I became absolutely convinced that night that the Lord had summoned my family to a very extraordinary parish.

My children and I were reunited when Catechism ended, and the effects of the Lord’s greeting did not disappear when I left the church. As soon as I got in the car, I could no longer withhold my emotions and began weeping. I cried all the way home and for the rest of the evening.

Two and a half years later, I formally thanked God in the confessional for sending us to our beautiful new parish. There, my family and I are able to experience the authentic, majestic, and profound Catholicism I had longed for my entire life.

How pleased the Lord is by our obedience and humble submission to His most perfect will. How much He can accomplish through us when we comply.

Not only can God use us as channels of His extraordinary graces, we can be even better channels when we are broken. Why? Because His graces are able to pour through us more liberally, and perhaps that way in more abundant measure.

Discover or rediscover the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and Pro-Life Church,
and the majestic full expression of Christianity
as established by its very Founder, Jesus Christ.

God is so in love with you!