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These Last Days News - August 9, 2012

Special Operations Sergeant Tells of Eucharistic Starvation...

"My Son is very lonely in his House. Won't you come with compassion and ease His loneliness? You do not abandon those you love. Have you no love for your Creator? Have you no love for He Who gave His life upon earth for you? Have you no love for He Who still sheds His Blood for you?" - Our Lady of the Roses, March 18, 1973

Catholic Lane reported on August 7, 2012:

In March of 2007, less than a month after I had turned twenty-two years old, I was deployed to Afghanistan with my engineer unit. I would remain in Afghanistan, with the exception of twenty day’s vacation in January of 2008, for the next fifteen months. At that point in my life my faith was quietly growing from a very important part of my life, to the most important part of my life.

I had been receiving the Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist at least weekly all my life, and had been saying the Rosary and reading the Bible daily for a couple of years, and it was at this point that I think all of these habits were really beginning to bear fruit, particularly in the shape of a strong desire to go to Mass, every day if possible. During my pre-deployment leave I went to Mass every day while I was at home.

The military has a chaplain corps, and some of those chaplains are Catholic priests (although at the moment the Catholic Chaplain strength in the army is at about 1/3 of ideal). Stateside there is at least a couple of priests assigned to every installation. Afghanistan, however, is a different story. The country is big, the terrain is rugged, and American troops are spread out across hundreds of miles of winding mountain passes. There are only a few large bases, a handful of medium sized ones, and then dozens, or perhaps hundreds of small, isolated outposts spread out throughout the country.

When I was in country there were only two or three Roman Catholic chaplains and one Greek Orthodox chaplain in the eastern half of the country. There was guaranteed to be one priest in Bagram, since that is the biggest base in the country. Kandahar might also have one, and for a while there was a priest, an Air Force Major, in Sharanam, who was one of the kindest and holiest chaplains I have ever met. Looking back, I realize that I owe him an unpayable debt for his patience and dedication to his vocation, and to my shame I do not even remember his name.

These few priests were run to the limits. Some would say as many as six or eight masses in a single day, each one separated by a helicopter flight of an hour or more. Others would travel for hours by convoy to far flung bases in order to minister to any who would show up.

So here I was, with a newfound hunger for the Sacrament of the Eucharist, suddenly stuck in the middle of a country in which priests were rare, harried and hurried. Throughout the fifteen months I was there my platoon was shuffled around the country. I don’t think we stayed more than two months at any single base. It was nothing short of miraculous how often I was able to get to Mass. Priests would show up just as I was off mission. We got stationed in Bagram for a short time, and while there I was able to go to Mass more than once a week, and there was even a Eucharistic chapel. I got moved to Sharana and about that time the Air Force chaplain showed up.

There were, however, times when I just couldn’t get to Mass. The spring of 2008, from the end of February almost to the end of the tour, I did not see a priest even once.

The lack of Confession was the most frightening to me. Since I was still a sinner, I still needed forgiveness as often and as direly as I ever had, but was unable to seek it out in the way I was accustomed to. I was still required to risk my life every day, unshriven. The fear of getting blown into little pieces with my soul all heavy with unconfessed sins was a very real thing that I had to come to terms with and doing so has forever altered and deepened my understanding of the Sacrament of Mercy. I may write about that someday.

However, right now I want to write about what that abstinence, just then, did for my understanding of the Eucharist.

The Air Force chaplain told me, “What we do here, in this little plywood building, does more good for this country than all the missions the military has ever run.”  In those long, empty months of spiritual isolation I came to understand that, in a way that transcended understanding. I was not sensible of any deep emotional hunger, but I knew that I was missing something.

Furthermore I knew, with the cold clear light of reason, that it was not something but rather Someone. I knew who He was, and I knew where to go to find Him. I watched my spiritual and emotional state slowly crumbling, my confidence in myself and my abilities being eroded (despite unparalleled success in all my missions). I learned the logic of nothingness, that I am emptiness needing to be filled. The Eucharist is the Fullness of He That IS, desiring to pour Himself into my emptiness.

When I returned home I began going to daily Mass. Every single day, if I could, I did. I didn’t  always want to. I didn’t always feel like it, but I knew that there was a time when I had felt the need. It was as if, by withdrawing Himself for that time (under one mode) God had given Himself more fully in another mode.

In the years since Afghanistan I have continued to go to daily Mass every time I get the chance. I still, don’t always feel like it. There are times I want to take a day off, and go take a leisurely lunch instead (on the very rare days when I actually have enough of a lunch hour to make Mass feasible.) But I made my choice four years ago in the desert and now it is just a matter of living up to it.

I was able to go to Mass this morning after a long, hard week of training. In my worship of the Eucharist I have so much to be thankful for. God has been shaping things. Opportunities for Mass still arise, seemingly out of nowhere (during a trip to Thailand this spring I got stationed in the one of the only cities outside of Bangkok with a Catholic Church and school) and today, after Mass, I realized something.

It hit my heart with a shuddering clarity of wonderment, that my desire for the Eucharist, for union with Jesus in that Blessed Sacrament, is a mere nothing. It is a shadow, a distant echo, of His desire to receive me in the Eucharist. For as surely as I receive Him, I am received up into Him, and this could only happen by His desire. He will, and Has, moved Heaven and Earth, to draw me to Him.

Every moment of my twenty-seven years He has been working tirelessly, ceaselessly, gently, to enkindle in me a spark of desire for Him. Even at my most desirous, that is all it is, a spark. Like trying to start a fire with tinder and flint, My desire for Him is just the tiny red glow on the very end of one miniscule filament of dried moss. It cannot sustain itself. It can be killed in an instant by a ghost of too much breath, or half a molecule too little breath. It cannot be fed twigs, or even straws yet. It wouldn’t know what to do with them. This tiny little glow is barely holding its own, unsure whether growing into a bonfire is really worth it, or whether it wouldn’t be much less bother simply to die out. But He will never quench that smoldering wick.

And God? God is the Sun! God is the boiling furnace of a thousand times a thousand suns, a blazing inferno (pun intended) of desire for me. God is the Love that exists from all eternity, Love that loved me into existence, Love that loves me into love with the Triune Love.

This is why I go to Communion! Not because I am so in love with God, but because He is eternally in love with me.

As of this writing I am facing the prospect of a very long time in a desert where there are no priests. At first this panicked me, but now I am at peace with it. The God who has worked so hard to bring me to Him (despite my best efforts to the contrary at times) will not abandon me. If it is His will to starve me for a year, or for the rest of my life, then starvation is what is best for me.

What saddens me, though, is the number of people who starve themselves. Millions upon millions of Americans live within walking distance, or ten minutes driving distance of a Catholic Church. Millions of people, all living next door to the God of the Universe, and yet daily Mass is empty. A handful of elderly retired people and a homeschooling family or two, that is all the attendance you are likely to get at the Eternal Sacrifice. In Afghanistan I would give up sleep, shower, food and internet time without a second thought if there was an opportunity for Mass, but here in the States it gets crowded out so easily. I do the same thing. I get busy. Other things crowd out what is truly important. Then the other things get taken away and I wonder what I ever saw in them.

So these days, when I receive the Eucharist I think about the people who want to receive and cannot. I feel sorry for them, and I pray for them, but they are not that badly off. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. I am far sorrier for those who do not hunger and thirst for righteousness. Those who don’t even know enough to be hungry for the God who is hungry for them. I pray for those who starve themselves, day in and day out, years at a time, out of pride, ignorance, apathy, laziness, fear, doubt, insecurity, or just plain old human woundedness.

Lord, make them hungry.

Ryan Kraeger is a cradle Catholic homeschool graduate, currently serving as an Army Special Forces Medical Sergeant, stationed on the West Coast. 

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ELIXIR OF LOVE
"Less and less honor is being given to My Son in the Eucharist. Will you not love Him? Express and act upon your love by comforting My Son in the tabernacles of the world. Visit Him more often, for He grows lonely in His House. Graces in abundance shall be given to all who seek My Son in the Eucharist.
     "Hasten, repair to the tabernacles of the world, My children, while the doors of My Son's houses, His Church upon earth, are still open to you. Many countries shall be deprived of this source of great grace, and there shall be anguish of heart. Accept this elixir of love, My children-the Bread of life, the Eucharist." - Our Lady, November 20, 1979

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 Let Us All Pray the Rosary Together Around the World for a Renewed Understanding of the Importance of the Eucharist... Click here...

The amazing Bayside Prophecies... https://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm
These prophecies came from Jesus, Mary, and the saints to Veronica Lueken at Bayside, NY, from 1968 to 1995.

BREAD
"Your children are wandering. . . . their souls will be destroyed when they are not given the Bread of living life. This Bread will only be obtained in the sanctified House of My Son. Satan seeks to remove the Tabernacle from among you." - Our Lady, August 5, 1973

KNEEL
"My children, kneel before your God in the Eucharist. Do not stand like you stand in meeting halls, but kneel and give Him a just love and observance of honor." - Our Lady, July 14, 1979

HONOR
"All honor must be given to My Son in the Eucharist. Man must kneel. My Son's House is the House of God and a house of prayer, and it must not be turned into a meeting hall." - Our Lady, July 25, 1979

RECEIVE DAILY
"Receive the Eucharist daily. I come to you; I am with you." - Jesus, August 4, 1979

REVERENCE
"My children, you must join your hands in reverence at the Sacrifice of My Son. It is an expression of love, gratitude, and respect. Reverence and respect and holiness must be returned to My Son's Houses, churches, throughout the world, reverence, holiness, and respect from the beginning to the end of the sacred service!" - Our Lady, September 6, 1975

QUIETUDE
"You must enter the houses of your God properly clothed and with goodness of heart, not disporting yourselves as pagans.
     "A quietude must be returned to the House of God. You come to communicate, My children, in spirit and body with My Son Who is with you in your Eucharist in Spirit and Body, a true physical Presence. Many now are despoiling His Body! How many have set themselves to solace Him in the evil that is about the world now?" - Our Lady, March 22, 1975

HANDS FOLDED
"My child, I repeat Myself to you: at the start of the Consecration in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, you will join your hands together and remain this way until all have received the Body and Blood of My beloved Son, respectfully and rightfully." - Our Lady, May 18, 1977

CONFESS
"My Son is much grieved, My child, in the manner in which many come to Him in His House. They come with disrespect. They do not have love for Him in their hearts.
     "My child, please, they lead themselves onto the road to satan. They must not accept My Son with sin in their hearts. Many do not go to Our representatives. They accept My Son with sin on their souls! Shout it, My child, from the roofs: you must honor the Eucharist!" - Our Lady, November 23, 1974

PURIFIED
"When a man has stepped over the threshold and allowed himself to fall into mortal sin, he must be purified by trial, but he must also, My children, be purified by the rule of penance and confession. "What manner of evil is being set now upon mankind that compels him to lose his soul by rejecting the Sacraments, by no longer confessing to his confessor, but coming to receive My Son in sacrifice, while his soul is degraded by sin of mortal nature!" - Our Lady, September 7, 1976

BREAD OF LIFE
"I left with you the Bread of life; I gave Myself to you. I am always among you in the tabernacles of your world. No man shall enter the Kingdom unless he eats of the Bread of life." - Jesus, May 26, 1976

HEAD COVERING
"Women must keep their heads covered, My child. It is not because of fashion or modes; it is because the Eternal Father and the angels demand proper deportment during the Holy Sacrifice!" - Our Lady, September 6, 1975

VERY LONELY
"My Son is very lonely in His House. Won't you come with compassion and ease His loneliness? You do not abandon those you love. Have you no love for your Creator? Have you no love for He Who gave His life upon earth for you? Have you no love for He Who still sheds His Blood for you?" - Our Lady, March 18, 1973

DO NOT CHEW
"You will not chew My Son; you will not defame Him." - Our Lady, June 8, 1974

WEEP
"The greatest strength for you, My children, is to remain with My Son by the tabernacles of your world. Go to them, My children, while you still can, for the day will come when they will be closed to you. Weep with My Son; pray with Him, for you hold the balance for the destruction or the salvation of mankind." - Our Lady, April 17, 1976

ELIXIR OF LOVE
"Less and less honor is being given to My Son in the Eucharist. Will you not love Him? Express and act upon your love by comforting My Son in the tabernacles of the world. Visit Him more often, for He grows lonely in His House. Graces in abundance shall be given to all who seek My Son in the Eucharist.
     "Hasten, repair to the tabernacles of the world, My children, while the doors of My Son's houses, His Church upon earth, are still open to you. Many countries shall be deprived of this source of great grace, and there shall be anguish of heart. Accept this elixir of love, My children-the Bread of life, the Eucharist." - Our Lady, November 20, 1979

TABERNACLES
"Satan cannot take the light from you if you remain with My Son in the Eucharist. Pray, My child, that the doors of the tabernacles are not shut to your country--so great are the conquests of satan." - Our Lady, December 24, 1974

Directives from Heaven...

D2 - The Holy Eucharist PDF Order copies...
D146 - Honor the Eucharist, Part 1 PDF Order copies...
D147 - Honor the Eucharist, Part 2 PDF Order copies...
D148 - Adoration PDF Order copies...

EDITOR'S COMMENT:  Evil is accelerating and the Anti-Christ forces are gaining power in the world.  When the persecution starts, all Christian web sites on the internet will be forced to close.  Be sure to have in your possession all the following items: the Bayside Prophecy books, Bayside Medals, Douay-Rheims Bibles, the Protection Packets, Candles, Sacramentals, and Religious Books.  Purchase these items now while they are still available!  You will urgently need them in the days ahead.  Also, you can print out all PDF files for the Directives from Heaven and all of the Bayside Prophecies.  Copy Our Lady's messages and the Directives from Heaven now while they are still available!  Pray to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance on how to prepare now and for the days ahead when the Antichrist is revealed.  Viva Cristo Rey!

Articles...

The Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation
https://www.tldm.org/news6/transubstantiation.htm

What inspired Archbishop Sheen to make the daily holy hour?
https://www.tldm.org/News3/sheen.htm

I wait for you
https://www.tldm.org/News3/i_wait.htm

Eucharistic Miracle at Lanciano, Italy
https://www.tldm.org/misc/holyhour.htm

John Paul II speaks out against laity distributing Holy Communion
https://www.tldm.org/News5/distributing.htm

The consecrated hands of a priest
https://www.tldm.org/News7/ConsecratedHands.htm

Links...

Transubstantiation and reason, Homiletic & Pastoral Review, January 1998
http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Homiletic/Jan98/transubstantiation.html

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