FOODFORTHOUGHT

SPIRITUAL HOUSEKEEPING
Author Unknown
September 30, 2010

I do not know about you but I don't like cockroaches. We had them in a
house that we bought in Long Island. I did not know anything about
hiring exterminators so I decided to get rid of them myself. I bought
a sprayer and bought some chemicals to kill them. To measure the
chemicals I took a
measuring spoon and wired it to the outside of the sprayer. I did this
to make sure that I didn't make a mistake and use the measuring spoon
again in the house. How could I ever clean it well enough to use it
again safely for cooking?

Imagine going in your china closet, getting one of your best crystal
glasses, and then using it to measure chemicals to kill the bugs
around your house. Then let's imagine that you take it in the house
and wash it. Would you dare to use it again? Of course not! It would
be contaminated with a toxic film invisible to your eye that might
poison anyone who used this glass.

Now imagine that your soul and mine are like this glass. It has been
so easy for me to fall victim to the attractive but false temptations
of our contemporary world. For example, power, money, liquor, sex, and
possessing more and more material possessions are alluring. These are
played up so seductively on television and in the media. These can
become our golden calves, our false idols! Who has time for God or
Church? Perhaps unwittingly or even deliberately I have filled up my
glass with these toxins
that may kill my soul and potentially others whom I know and love. We
call these toxins sin. This mix more importantly is toxic to God and
poisons our relationship with Him. The worst of these is so strong
that it totally poisons our relationship with God.

Imagine that we determine to do better and try to rid ourselves of
these toxins. Can you or I wash the glass of our soul clean enough by
ourselves? It would be like trying to wash the lethal chemicals out of
our glass with household soap.

Let's assume, however, that we turn to Our Savior, Jesus Christ, and
ask Him with a contrite heart to wash our glass. Is there a sin that
He cannot forgive? His Mercy is boundless. He died to redeem us of our
sins and is prepared always to forgive us.

How can we avoid refilling the glass to the brim with another toxic
brew? This also is very difficult to do by ourselves. No matter how I
have tried to do this the devil always seems to find a way to slip a
temptation in my life when I am weak. My glass, you see, is terribly
weak and fragile. The toxins once again begin to fill my glass.

Imagine that Christ not only cleans our glass but also puts a
protective substance in the glass that makes it difficult for the
devil to introduce any more toxins. Is this possible? The answer is
yes. We call this protection grace. The Sacraments are the greatest
source of this protection. The more grace that we have in our glass
the stronger that this protection is. The greatest of the Sacraments
is the Communion. We have the blessing and privilege to be able to
receive Our Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and
Divinity, in Communion. The grace that He brings surpasses all human
understanding. Communion is the food of Eternal Life. Jesus Himself,
who suffered and died for us on the Cross, gives Himself willingly,
joyfully, lovingly, mercifully, to us. This protection increases the
more frequently that we receive Communion. The devil, compared to
Christ, is a grain of sand. When Christ fills our soul there is no
room for the toxins that the devil seeks to tempt us with. May we get
in the habit of receiving Jesus in the Communion as often as we can to
take full advantage of this protection.

When Christ has cleaned and filled the glass of our soul whom do you
imagine others see when they look at us? My we pray that they no
longer see us - - but only see Jesus Christ Himself!

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