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Nicole Berlucchi shares a reminder that Adoration and receiving Jesus in the Eucharist helps us to quiet our hearts and trust the Lord in His work.


I am at a new crossroads in my life. I’ve started a new business. I decided this through prayer and won’t bore you with the confirmations God provided, but as push comes to shove, I am doubting, second-guessing and pausing about my decision. My position toward God has been I’m trying to trust you, and I feel confused about what I should be chasing. I'm torn between what people seem to have approached me to do versus what I had planned to do. In a Praisewriters webinar last week, I asked a question about public speaking (unrelated to my new business) but what the guest, Michele Faehnle, said reminded me of where I needed to go. 

 

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Making the Eucharist a priority

The speaker had talked about how praying and being prayed over before speaking can be so powerful that the nerves you normally experience seem to pass away. She also touched on how important it was for her to prioritize Mass and her Holy Hour. These were two things that totally fell out of my life after I took on a full-time job for a local university. Even though that job ended May 31st, I had not found my way back to daily Mass or regular Adoration. 

The webinar prompted me to return to Adoration, and in my Holy Hour, I pulled out my Pocket Guide to Adoration by Fr. Josh Johnson because I felt distracted by my worries and fears rather than focused on Jesus.  

I opened to where I had left off. It was focused on one of Jesus’ appearances after the Resurrection. The one where they go out to fish but cannot catch anything and He calls to them from the shore and tells them to lower the net. A huge catch! 

You know the story. John says it’s Jesus, and Peter jumps out of the boat. Jesus has a fire going, ready to cook them breakfast. However, my prayer became fixated on this line:

And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. (John 21:12) 

 

I was experiencing a tension with these words. Why would it have been a dare to ask Him who He was? Wouldn’t Jesus be gentle in answering? Why is this line in here? Shouldn’t it just say, they came to shore realizing it was the Lord. Why can’t they question Him? And then it clicked. Because He was feeding them. 

They did not dare question Him because He was there ready to feed them and they knew what He offers. I could feel myself on the beach in that moment. I could feel the Lord say, Easy, Nicole, with your need to get results. Listen to me. I’m going to tell you where to lower your nets, but you can only recognize Me when you are being fed by Me. Are you going to keep asking me for confirmation that I am Lord or are you going to come and eat? 

 

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Jesus offers the sustenance I need as I seek to fulfill His will

I walked away from Adoration, sitting with this verse and these ideas recognizing how crucial receiving Holy Communion and going to my Holy Hour is to how I am able to trust in Jesus, trust that He has not led me astray, but instead is going to direct my next steps to fulfill His will, all while offering me sustenance for my weak moments, my blind moments, my deaf moments.  

“Come, have breakfast.” (John 21:12) suddenly reminded me that the best way to start my day is with Him, receiving Him. As we gear up for the Eucharistic Revival Juan Diego path to come to Nashville next week, I am so grateful for a Lord who continually makes Himself present to us in the Eucharist to help us remember His care and love for us. 

 

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Copyright 2024 Nicole Berlucchi
Images: (top, bottom) Canva; (center) copyright Holy Cross Family Ministries.