Renewal of faith in the Eucharist

By Trinna Leong 

“A mother who went to communion came back home and her son, seeing her, quickly asked, ‘Is He inside you?’”

“The mother said ‘Yes’ and the boy knelt in presence of Christ who is in her.”

The Rev. Deo Rosales told that story to a group of 30 middle-aged women at a retreat for professional women at the New York headquarters of Opus Dei in Midtown East. The women sat quietly as the priest lectured in a calm monotonous tone that barely showed any emotion.  His message, as illustrated in the story of the child and mother, was that the women should pay special attention to the Eucharist because it is the center of Catholic worship. He preached about the virtues of attending mass while weaving in the historical importance of the ceremony the mass.

“The greatest event in history,” Rosales said, “is the sacrifice of God.”

Opus Dei, a conservative lay organization, is the first and only Personal Prelature of the Catholic Church. Personal prelature is an institution in the Catholic Church comprising of a prelate, clergy and laity.

However, the mostly-private organization has many followers, including some influential wealthy supporters who have kept its 16-floor building on Lexington Avenue and 34^th Street open and active. Every Saturday afternoon, lay members meet for a recollection session at either Murray Hill Place, the headquarters or Alderton House, the residential hall for women and retreats are held several times a year for members of different demographics. For example, young professional women and older married professional women have their own separate retreats, twice a year each.

Father Rosales is an Opus Dei priest and a Chaplain at Schuyler Hall, a center for young men that work toward helping youths go through professional and character development. During the meditation, Rosales repeatedly emphasized the importance of mass because of God’s contributions, and reminded the congregants to not forget or sideline the mass.

“In the bloody sacrifices of the Holy Sacrament, Christ turned his flesh into bread and his blood into wine,” he goes on explaining.

Just as the Super Bowl was available to sports goers worldwide, Rosales felt the same with God.

“Last Sunday, the Super Bowl was important for some people,” he said, drawing comparison between sports and religion.

“That event was made present to thousands of places through television so many people can participate in it,” he added. “Just as how sports is available everywhere, God made his presence everywhere. Through space, through time.”

His congregants, all were dressed immaculately, sat quietly throughout the meditation session, which was attended by married women, most of them mothers.  ,.

Rosales provided many examples to convey his point, while quoting Pope Benedict XVI and Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei who was elevated to sainthood by John Paul II. .

“As Pope Benedict said, ‘Only a communion with Christ does the world become a mirror of what we see it to be.”

The Opus Dei chapel where the group met is unlike what one would see in a Baptist church, which is often loud with plenty of joyous singing. Here, no one speaks during meditation except for the priest and the congregants sit solemnly, not even muttering a single “yeah” or “praise the Lord.”

The focus was on Rosales and his words.

“Christ is more than a symbol. The Eucharist should be the center of existence in each of us,” he emphasized more than once.

In some ways, the meditation session served more as a reminder to congregants on their basic practice in particular while attending the mass.

“Hopefully you are not asleep in mass,” Rosales said. “ Hopefully you fight against distractions. Hopefully you review the readings before you go to mass. Hopefully you are not late, early at least. Prepare yourself. Be hopeful in receiving our God. With joy. Welcoming Him.”

Father Rosales told another story to capture the audience’s attention.

“There was this man taking a walk with a friend. When they passed by a Catholic church, he tells his friend, ‘Oh I have this custom of paying respect to the Blessed Sacrament, would you like to come in with me?’ His friend said ‘No’.”

“When he came out, his friend jokingly teased him and said, ‘So what did he tell you?’”

“He said, ‘He told me that he’s waiting for you.”

With that, the crowd laughed softly, hardly hinting toward the type of uproarious laughter one would see in Nazarene or Baptist churches.

Father Rosales then wraps up the session and knelt a few feet away from the tabernacle. He said the closing of the “mental prayer”, a form of prayer where one meditates on God’s words.

“I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections and inspirations that you have communicated to me in this meditation. I ask your help to put them into effect. My immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 at 3:46 pm. It is filed under News, Trinna Leong, View From NYC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.