Dear Liz,<\/p>\n
I know how hard it is to maintain peace in your heart while so much activity and so many problems are swirling all around you.\u00a0 But I have to tell you that it is possible.\u00a0 This, in fact, is one of the most remarkable characteristics of the saints.\u00a0 They are able to live peacefully and joyfully amidst the most adverse circumstances.\u00a0 How?\u00a0 Because they have made Jesus the center of their attention.\u00a0 Not just theoretically, but actually.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s one of the (many) lessons that today\u2019s beautiful Feast teaches us.<\/p>\n
You remember the event, right?\u00a0 It\u2019s described in the first chapter of Luke\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 The Archangel Gabriel appeared to Elizabeth\u2019s husband, Zechariah, promising that he and Elizabeth would have a child, even though they were now past their childbearing years.\u00a0 So Elizabeth indeed gets pregnant, and in her sixth month of pregnancy Gabriel appears to Mary to announce that she will be the mother of Jesus (Gabriel was keeping busy back in those days).\u00a0 In the course of that conversation, the Archangel mentioned Elizabeth\u2019s pregnancy \u2013 Elizabeth was a relative of Mary\u2019s.\u00a0 So then Mary goes \u201cin haste\u201d to visit her cousin and take care of her until she has her baby, who turns out to be St John the Baptist.\u00a0 Well, as soon as Mary shows up, John jumps for joy in Elizabeth\u2019s womb, and Elizabeth blesses Mary, then Mary sings praise to God.\u00a0 And the first line of her song is: \u201cMy soul magnifies the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.\u201d<\/p>\n
John the Baptist jumps for joy, Mary\u2019s spirit rejoices, and Elizabeth exclaims that Mary is the most blessed of women\u2026 Where Christ is the center of attention, there you find JOY, that\u2019s all there is to it.\u00a0 And that, my beloved niece, is why TODAY you need to start making Christ in the Eucharist your favorite place to relax.\u00a0 He has chosen to stay with us in such a humble, silent way precisely in order to give us an opportunity to keep him in the center of our lives \u2013 not just symbolically, but really.\u00a0 To make his Real Presence the axis around which your physical, historical, everyday life revolves \u2013 how could you go wrong doing that?<\/p>\n
Your loving uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Liz, I know how hard it is to maintain peace in your heart while so much activity and so many problems are swirling all around you.\u00a0 But I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n