My Daughters and the President's Communion

That was the phrase my daughters (aged 12 and 11) shouted happily when they saw, on television, the President receiving Communion at the Mass celebrated last week by Bishop Mario Moronta at the Military Academy in Caracas.

For as long as they have been aware of things (more or less five years), my daughters have prayed every day for the President’s conversion, as has our whole family.

And why? you may ask. Because every time they sadly saw him on television insulting the Church and its hierarchy (and saw the suffering on my face and my husband’s), they would ask me: “Mommy, is Chávez bad?” And I would answer: “No, girls, he doesn’t know what he is doing. You pray, pray a lot, that he may be converted.”

We have repeated that phrase to them so many times that for them the word conversion is something very ordinary and absolutely necessary.

Besides that, they know (because they received their First Communion not long ago, after intense preparation at school backed up at home) that for a person to receive Communion they must be very well prepared: it is necessary to have confessed all one’s sins with true contrition and to have a firm purpose of amendment, that is, not wanting to commit them again. At school they are taught to say the following prayer before each Communion: “I wish, Lord, to receive you with the purity, humility and devotion with which your most holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervor of the saints.” So simple and so profound at the same time. Because receiving the Body and Blood of Christ is something very serious; it is not a game.

So they were happy! Because at last! the President for whom they had prayed so much had been converted, since he received Communion before the whole world. That was the big news of the day in many national and international media.

I have great faith that the pastors who guided our President to receive these sacraments helped him with the proper preparation. I am very clear that no one can know or judge anyone’s spiritual state (only God knows that). Those of us who are Catholics know that conversion is a complex process that takes time, and we also know that illness is often the gift God sends us (as I said in an earlier article) so that we may draw closer to Him, ask forgiveness for our past mistakes and move forward with the strength that only God’s grace can give.

And since the President wanted to show the whole world, through the media, his return to the Church through her sacraments, I, as the Catholic sister I am (and one who prays a great deal for his physical and spiritual health), ask him to show his closeness to our Church by publicly asking forgiveness for so many insults and offenses against our Holy Catholic Church and many of our exemplary pastors, living and dead. And also to show his mercy to ALL his Venezuelan brothers and sisters, especially to those prisoners who are suffering from a cancer like his, whose lives he could change with a single phone call.

The Eucharist is the greatest Sacrament there is for Catholics, because it is God himself who gives himself to us in his Flesh and Blood to give us that Eternal Life which fills us with Love and Strength to continue the struggle in this “Valley of Tears,” living to Serve (as He himself taught us) and making life happy for EVERYONE around us.

Mr. President, remember that at this moment you are one of the Lord’s favorites (the sick are his favorites). Seek him often, spend time with him, love him greatly! Only He will give you the Peace and Life you now need, filling you with His Love so that you can share it with EVERYONE.

In the meantime we will keep praying, with great Love, for you and for all our authorities!