Church Tours: Part 2

Vietnamese Martyrs Mission, Santa Rosa, CA

Our novices continue their reflections on the Eucharist and the priesthood each Thursday in August in light of their recent pilgrimage to many of the churches in our diocese.

Reflection: Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

The Eucharist is the heart that radiates the life of our churches and animates the love within the community. Jesus in the Eucharist is the source of all life-giving grace. He draws us to the summit to which we all aspire, that is, union with Him here and in Heaven. 

Every baptized soul has the grace of God dwelling in Him. He need only to look within himself in periods of silent prayer to find the power of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, residing within. This presence of God informs his whole person and makes him believe what he is by grace – a temple of the Holy Spirit, a dwelling place of God, and therefore an icon of the Church.

​Each parish had its own unique grandeur yet flowing from the one same fount. For one of the novices, it was the power of God radiating out from the tabernacle and filling the silence of each church that moved her most. It brought to her mind Friday Night Week I’s psalm: “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold”. It is the mighty silence of God within, dwelling in us through baptism, that upholds us, just as it does each parish community, its priests, deacons, parishioners, and visitors. The presence of God, who can shake Him? He works from within to make us the sturdy shelter He desires us to be.

Daily Mass Chapel, St. John, Healdsburg

Psalm 46 ends with these words “He puts an end to wars over all the earth; the bow he breaks; the spear he snaps; He burns the shields with fire. ‘Be still and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme on the earth’ The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold”. As this young sister was kneeling in the silent Eucharistic presence of Jesus in our parishes, she felt not the emptiness of the space, but rather, that He filled the whole place, and by His grace, made it what it is- His dwelling place. 

St. Rose Catholic Church, Santa Rosa, CA