A heart at peace gives life to the
body... Prov
14:30
“Some years ago, on
my annual retreat, I found myself under terrible temptations and
discouragement. Every temptation you can think of, I had that night. On my way
to Mass the next morning, I felt very battered and discouraged because of the
attacks and temptations of the preceding night.
As
I walked up to Communion, I made an act of faith. I said, ‘Jesus, I know I am receiving You, but I
feel so discouraged, so downhearted, and so unworthy to receive
You.’ This
was the way I felt as I received Communion.
As
I received the Sacred Host and turned to go back to my place, I received a clear
image of a tent. I
remember looking at the tent and thinking, ‘Well,
that poor tent is really battered.’ I
remember examining it and saying, ‘It
must have gone through a terrible storm.’
As
I got to my pew and knelt down, I saw a man coming to go into the tent. I saw myself in the image and I was
telling the man, ‘Oh, you can't go
in there, it’s a mess. It’s all battered. There are big holes in it.’ The
man looked at me and smiled and said, ‘What do you mean? I live in
here.’
At that moment, I
realized that I was the battered tent, that I had been battered with the
temptations to sin and discouragement and all those things that had harassed me
during the night. Now, Jesus was showing me
that, battered and all, He still made His home in me – and that He had just come to me
again under the appearance of the sacred
Host.”
Sr Breige McKenna,
OSC
Miracles
Do Happen
