< Previous10 was in the metal reliquary. Many people saw the host and were just as aston- ished as I was. I told Father Tim, a very close friend of mine, what I saw. He told me that all that had happened was something special for me, and that I should consume the host. I did con- sume the host, but I kept the picture of that special host with the faces of our Blessed Mother and Jesus. I still have the picture and I respect it very much. I think, as Father Tim sug- gested, it was a special message for me and maybe for others too—that the Blessed Mother is also with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. All honor and glory to God the Father, and to Our Lord Jesus, and to his Blessed Mother who is also our spir- itual mother. And honor and glory to the Holy Spirit too! n T his miraculous event happened about 10 years ago in my parish in San Pedro Puxtla, El Salvador, Central America. We celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi (the presence of Our Lord in a consecrated host or unleavened bread). It was on a Thursday—40 days after Easter. I had celebrated the feast day with a Mass and a procession in my parish church. The following Sunday I went to say Mass in a new church that I had built in Guaymango —a town in my parish. I celebrated the same feast day of Corpus Christi in the same way as I had in San Pedro. In Guaymango, after the solemn Mass, we had a procession with the Blessed Sacrament. In the procession I carried the monstrance. A monstrance is a metal reliquary coated with gold or sil- ver and having within it a thin flat glass container, wherein is placed the conse- crated host—the Body and Blood of Christ (holy communion). While I was walking in the proces- sion with the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament, I noticed the face of the Blessed Mother, and within her face was a profile of the face of Christ!!! I didn’t say anything until the procession was over. Shortly after the procession, I took a picture of the sacred host that THE FACES OF THE BLESSED MOTHER AND CHRIST ON A CONSECRATED HOST Fr. Guy, O.F.M. 71013 Franciscan Focus Vol 55 no 4.r1.qxp_Focus 3/24/22 8:33 AM Page 1011 Words Worth Noting 71013 Franciscan Focus Vol 55 no 4.r1.qxp_Focus 3/24/22 8:33 AM Page 1112 FRANCISCAN MISSION ASSOCIATES P.O. BOX 598 MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. 10551 Dear Father Robert, I have great admiration for the Franciscan Mission Associates. Your letter to me reflect integrity and character and warmth with your prayerful and comforting state- ments. Enclosed you will find my normal monthly check, in the amount of $25.00. Also enclosed is $50.00 – and this is my explanation: I found this recently and hoped I could find its owner, to no avail. So, God’s graces inspiration is to send it to your organization for whatever purpose you deem worthwhile. (Perhaps you can say a prayer for its owner.) God’s loving care of you and of all your dear ones always! Thank you deeply for your prayers for my daughter. With deep respect and love. D.G. Pittsburgh, PA Dear Father, God bless you all and the work you do to feed and care for all in the Missions. Thank you for the special birthday greetings you sent. Please accept this donation and my prayers. In Christ, E.T.B. Cleveland, Oh Dear Father, Thanks so much for your prayers. I was never so scared!! I was tense as a “cement block” during the pro- cedure. Thanks be to God and your prayers and intercession to Saint Anthony. The procedure was a suc- cess. I still have some discomfort but came through. Gratefully, M.D.G. Hollywood, CA Dear Father, My thanks to St. Jude for all he has done for me in the past as well as lately. I prayed the Novena for nine days for my business to pick up. It has been terrible for many years. And things are getting better. Please accept this small monetary gift and keep me in your prayers. Sincerely, P.M. Sedalia, MO 71013 Franciscan Focus Vol 55 no 4.r1.qxp_Focus 3/24/22 8:33 AM Page 1213 The Lord speaks to us through inspiration and perspiration. He may send us great thoughts (inspi- ration), but He also expects us to take His message from the context of our work and our daily lives (per- spiration). Active listening is a tech- nique to draw out the other person to speak clearly what’s on his or her mind. Active listening has been described as making a conscious effort to hear, understand, and retain information that’s being relayed to you. This is not some- thing we usually associate with prayer. Unfortunately, many of us pray as if trying to rush to the end of a chore. We say the rote prayers and rush through, sometimes with another thought, plan or idea perco- lating through our heads. But that is where we might try to employ some active listening. In a conversa- tion with a friend, do we rush in when there is a breath? Do we only wait until our turn without respond- ing to the actual conversation or question? Sometimes we do, and we regret it, and we miss the main point, or the main concern. This active listening, this purposeful silence is critical when we pray. Paul’s letter to the Philippians was written when he was in prison and likely going to be put to death. He had nothing but silence and fear. Even with that he told the faithful he was listening to God and that gave him peace and they should do the same. “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanks- giving, make your requests known to God.” (Phil 4:6-7) With God we must be silenced and listen but we must also think wisely as we exam- ine the events of our lives. Pope Benedict XVI told followers in Rome in an address during his Papacy that it is in the silence we will hear our Lord. “God speaks in silence, but you need to know how to listen.” (General Audience, August 10, 2011) And how do we listen? We clear our minds and hands of dis- tractions. Perhaps, because we are so attuned to our phones and devices, we pick up a rosary and recite the rosary, alone or with the community after Mass. After the rosary when we are contemplating, we sit in silence, surrounded by oth- ers who are also communing with our Lord. He is there. He is, of course, everywhere and will always be. Work up to the full rosary this summer. Begin by going off for a 10 minute daily spiritual retreat and do some active listening to the Lord. God is waiting for you. n Learn more by visiting online www.franciscanmissionassoc.org or follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/FranciscanMissionAssoc Active listening – Try it with the Lord 71013 Franciscan Focus Vol 55 no 4.r1.qxp_Focus 3/24/22 8:33 AM Page 13One of the reasons for St. Jude’s continued popularity today is because everything seems impossi- ble. In our difficult society, still bat- tling Covid 19 and other powerful forces, constantly making decisions that impact our lives and yet we seem to have no input. It’s frustrat- ing and frightening. Freedom seems to mean people can assault our sense and sensibility on television, on our small screens and phones, with outrageous material that once would have been avoided by all decent citizens of every faith, so we turn to the Saint of the Impossible and ask him to help us live through these impossible times. Not a lot is written about St. Jude, but we do know he was one of the twelve apos- tles. He is usually pictured with a book or pen because of his epistle in the New Testament. He also often has a club indicating his martyrs’ death and the flame above his head denoting inspiration and assistance of the Holy Spirit. Many have had their desper- ate pleas answered by faith- ful devotion to St. Jude. Although St. Jude is not mentioned much in the Bible and only had one quote attributed to him in the Gospel of John (14:22), this quiet apostle is extremely pop- ular among Catholics today. St. Jude’s popularity probably stems from his patronage of lost causes. An experience St. Jude had while in the city of Edessa is said to be the rea- son why St. Jude is associat- ed with lost causes. Ancient church history attributes Jude’s association with lost causes to his healing of Abgar V. of Edessa. Abgar was afflicted with an incurable and painful disease. Abgar wrote to Jesus asking for a visit. Jesus responded that he would send one of his apostles. After Jesus’ Ascension into heaven St. Jude visited Abgar while ministering to new Christians near the city of Edessa. The sick ruler was healed with one touch of St. Jude’s hands. After St. Jude’s death many flocked to his burial site in Rome and reported powerful intercessions on their behalf, confirming his place as the saint of lost causes. The world is often a seemingly impossible place. We can pray to St. Jude for his intercession on our behalf as we navigate our chal- lenges. Many people choose to carry the image of St. Jude on a medal or as a pendant on a necklace for comfort and call on him in their time of need and heal- ing. In addition, they recite the below prayer or pray a novena to St. Jude. Prayer to St. Jude Blessed Apostle, St. Jude, we call upon you for help in hope and utmost confidence. St. Jude renowned help of the hopeless, come to our aid in this time of distress. St. Jude cousin of our Lord, obtain from our Savior the favors we now need and seek. n Nothing is impossible with God (St. Jude) 14 71013 Franciscan Focus Vol 55 no 4.r1.qxp_Focus 3/24/22 8:33 AM Page 14For most Catholics on vacation, finding a nearby parish for Sunday Mass is fairly easy. While traveling this summer why not take a well-earned detour to a local Catholic Shrine? Start with your own pastor and a shrine in your own backyard. Many parishes already have a schedule of pilgrim- age options and special events that local faithful often attend. A quick internet search leads you to so many. Some shrines like the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. or the nearby Saint John Paul II shrine host more than a million pilgrims and visitors each year. Many shrines will give you an opportunity to go to a differ- ent Mass other than your own home parish or join a rosary prayer circle or go to confession. Shrine visits and pilgrimage jour- neys are educational and spiritually fulfilling. First of all, they enrich our faith life and history, providing pil- grims with an in-person experience, likely to be shared with others. Shrines also let us travel back in time, to an era when faith was test- ed by very tough standards and liv- ing conditions were much starker than today. Children are often moved to silence, with no prompt- ing, and to ask very basic questions just walking the ground where mar- tyrs gave their lives. Shrines also involve homes where holy persons may have lived or where they developed their min- istries. These hands-on experiences for children allow them to see them- selves as saints one day, perhaps. It brings the idea of sainthood closer to home for them. Others simply draw great numbers of peo- ple who come to pray for specific reasons. Perhaps they want to present their concerns about health or per- sonal need in a place where others bring similar spiritual issues. Missionary Franciscans, Jesuits and Dominicans are some of the great men and women who brought Catholicism to this New World in the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th cen- turies. With the echo of Jesus’ com- mand to evangelize “all nations” ringing in their hearts, they endured hardship and often little cooperation from governments and commercial sponsors of their jour- ney. Today, some 500 years after those missionaries arrived, and yes, where Catholic laymen like Pierre Toussaint left individual faith expe- rience wherever they went, there are Catholic shrines in nearly every part of the USA, including Alaska and Hawaii. Shrines offer an opportunity to bring our intentions to God’s ever inviting arms. Shrines are holy ground and reminders to us all that “home” is really not in this world. That we are all on pilgrimage, until that day when God calls us home to himself. n 15 The Shrines of the Summertime 71013 Franciscan Focus Vol 55 no 4.r1.qxp_Focus 3/24/22 8:33 AM Page 15Special Novena Schedule Summer 2022 All year round Franciscan Mission Associates conducts a regular schedule of spiritual and devotional exercises in which all benefactors are invited to take part. During the summer months the Special Novena schedule is: May 7-15 and May 16-24....................................Feast of St. Dymphna (May 15) May 26-June 3 and June 4-12......................................Novena of the Holy Spirit June 5-21................................................................Feast of St. Anthony (June 13) June 16-24......................................................................Feast of the Sacred Heart June 22-June 30....................................................St. Anthony for a safe summer July 18-July 26............................................................................Feast of St. Anne August 2-10 and August 11-19..........................................St. Anthony (in Padua) August 7-15....................................................................Assumption of Our Lady Sept. 2-10 and Sept. 11-19............................................................St. Jude Novena Father Robert, O.F.M., Franciscan Mission Associates PO Box 598, Dept. 4221, Mount Vernon, NY 10551-0598 Support Our Work by Donating Online Each day families in the poorest and most dangerous nations see hope and light because of your donations. And now you can offer your financial support online. The link below will direct you to our website. You can read about our work and see how a small sacrifice from you can make life-changing differences for so many. https://franciscanmissionassoc.org/support-our-work/ 71013 Franciscan Focus Vol 55 no 4.r1.qxp_Focus 3/24/22 8:33 AM Page 16Next >