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Sunday, July 6, 2008

A Date with the Lord

I came 45 minutes early for mass at my parish, so I was reading my Legion handbook while waiting for my choir-mates to come and for mass to start. Incidentally, a local Legionary who was also early for Legion meeting glanced upon the little red book I was holding and, after taking a moment to realize what it was, excitedly asked me, "Hey, you're Legion too?" That was the start of a memorable ten-minute conversation with the Legionary named Ed, my first official contact with the Legion in my parish here in Manila.

We talked about the usual things - our devotion, contact work, and other experiences in the Legion. He mentioned something which struck me: once, during one of his house visitations in the neighborhood, he came across a born-again Christian with a lot of questions. He told her he was no expert on doctrine because he wasn't a priest, but he did encourage her to go for mass. He advised her to imagine Mother Mary walking beside her each time she walks to attend mass, and to imagine having a date with Jesus who was waiting for her in the church. Wow. I was blown off by that thought! How beautiful it is to attend mass with this in mind - not even the strongest of winds or heaviest of rains could bring down one's fervor and one's eagerness to meet a loved one on a date, let alone to meet our Ultimate Lover at mass! And to have Mary bringing you to Her Son!

True enough, I found these lines on the Legion handbook:

"Her motherhood is particularly noted and experienced by the Christian people at the Sacred Banquet - the liturgical celebration of the mystery of the Redemption - at which Christ, his true body born of the Virgin Mary, becomes present.
The piety of the Christian people has always very rightly sensed a profound link between devotion to the Blessed Virgin and worship of the Eucharist: ... Mary guides the faithful to the Eucharist." (RMat 44) - Pt. 3, Chapter 8: The Legionary and the Eucharist

By the way, that born-again Christian eventually got baptised into the Catholic Church. It's always amazing how the Legion works through the ordinariness of its members. And thanks to my encounter with Ed, I was able to participate mass with a new sense of enthusiasm and purpose today - the beginning of many exciting dates with the Lord to look forward to.

1 comment:

-Im- said...

Thanks for the inspiration Krizia... :). I remembered one conversation with Stephanie when we bumped each other at evening Mass on the Valentine's day last Feb....she was saying that ya, shouldnt we also have a date with our Lord? He has fallen in love to us that much then He remains in the Tabernacle..that long...

Oh well, maybe we need to be fall in love again... :)