“Grant, Lord, that I may love you always, and do with me as you will.” - prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
From being “Adrift” to seeking “The Heart of Jesus” to attending “The Wedding Feast,” parishioners from the One Catholic Family parishes gathered for 40 Hours of Devotion on the weekend of Nov. 21-23.
Those were the themes of the reflections offered by Father Ian Williams, priest-in-residence at St. Helen in Hebron, during the three-day event, opening Friday at St. Helen, continuing on Saturday at St. Mary in Kouts, and concluding on Sunday at Holy Spirit in Winfield, in a lead-up to Advent.
“Remember that you are loved … you are a unique creation of God. God loves you, and so do I,” said Father Williams as he opened his address to worshipper on the final day of the 40 Hours of Devotion, ending three days of Eucharistic adoration, Masses, music, confessions, Rosaries, children’s liturgies, lay witness and mission presentations.
“Thank you, all of you, for responding, for persevering and for being witness to all of what God’s grace can accomplish,” he added.
“All three days of devotion brought me closer to God,” said Jim Starkey, a parishioner at St. Helen. “It definitely makes you want to be a better person, with respect and kindness.”
While the first day of devotion spoke of God’s faithful being “Adrift” and needing an anchor, the second day focused on seeking “The Heart of Jesus” as the answer to their longing. “The Wedding Feast,” with Christ as the bridegroom and the Catholic Church as his bride, was the topic on the final day.
“You are all guests at ‘The Wedding Feast,’” and just as with a married couple, “When you face difficulties, your faithfulness to each other calls us to be faithful to the Lord.
“I tell couples (at their ceremony) that marriage means, ‘I am yours and you are mine,’ as Christ is ours and we are his.”
It was in Cana that Jesus “worked his first sign, at a wedding, and I don’t believe that was an accident. It is a deeply rooted theme in the covenant with God … Union is what we’re about today, a longing for union with Jesus,” Father Williams said.
“The first night was very intense, when Father Ian talked about people in a cesspool they don’t want to come out of and how they have to be saved. He is a good speaker and good storyteller,” said Patricia Sims, of St. Helen. “I liked the image he used tonight about the three chords, representing a bridegroom, the bride and Jesus. One or two can be broken, but when you wrap all three together as a rope, it is too strong to pull apart.”
On Friday, Father Williams used the imagery of a cesspool to explain how prophets comforted the afflicted who were adrift without God, while Saturday’s message “began with the song ‘Hosea’ as a husband calls out to his loved one to ‘Come back to me, with all your heart.’
“Christ mostly seems like gloom and doom, proclaiming the bad news that must come before the good news can be proclaimed,” he said. “God calls us like a husband to his wife, and we betray him, but he keeps calling. We are incomplete without a relationship with Christ.”
At the end of the Gospels, Father Williams reminded his audience, “Jesus broke bread at Passover with his disciples and told them, ‘I am yours, you are mine.’ Our prayer should be, he added, ‘My heart is ready, oh Lord, my heart is ready for union with you.’”
The final day of the 40 Hours of Devotion also included a bilingual Rosary recitation, music provided by the Holy Spirit Youth Choir, a Eucharistic procession and a potluck dinner.
“Sometimes in life we are adrift, usually because of sin, but the heart of Jesus wants to pull us out of the doldrums, from drifting to a union with Christ,” reiterated Father Thomas Mischler, pastor. “Today is about how we can enter into a fuller relationship with Christ and be closer to the Lord.”
Caption: The Holy Spirit Youth Choir participates in the Eucharistic Procession at the Winfield church on the final day of the 40 Hours of Devotion hosted by the One Catholic Family parishes on the weekend of Nov. 21-23. The services began on Friday at St. Helen in Hebron, continued on Saturday at St. Mary in Kouts, and concluded on Sunday at Holy Spirit. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
