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Jim Gruden is a lay pastoral minister, senior design engineer, and major in the Air Force Reserve. He shares his personal transformation through Eucharistic devotion. Despite being Catholic his whole life, he only discovered the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist in 1997. His encounter with the Eucharist led him to pray, read the daily readings, and embrace a deeper relationship with God. He also shares how the Eucharist guided him in making important life decisions. Jim challenges others to embrace the transforming power of the Eucharist and recognize Satan's influence in their lives. Jim Gruden is currently a lay pastoral minister, a senior design engineer and a major in the Air Force Reserve, that's Jim Gruden. Jim's military experience is a testimony to strong personal attributes of perseverance and dedication. You heard that this morning from Jack McKeon also. He joined the Air Force right out of high school and spent two years as an enlisted man before joining the officer ranks through the Air Force ROTC program. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh and his master's degree at the Air Force Institute of Technology while assigned to the Wright-Patt Air Force Base. Jim later spent two years as an assistant professor of aerospace studies at North Carolina State University. Here's a man who rose from an enlisted man to earning two degrees and actually teaching as a college professor of Air Force ROTC. Although a Catholic his whole life, it wasn't until 1997 that Jim began to encounter the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist through Eucharistic devotion. Jim has given his testimony to a number of men's fellowship groups in the southwestern Ohio area. He will tell you the impact on his life has been surprising, amazing, and life-saving. His talk includes personal witness, analogies, examples, and reflections. He challenges us to discern and then accept and do God's will through the transforming power of the Eucharist. Jim is a 20-year member of St. Francis of Assisi in Centerville where he is active in a number of ministries, mainly related to music where he plays his accordion. Jim is married with three children. Gentlemen, let's give a warm welcome to Jim Gruden, a man with a remarkable personal story from which we can all learn some important lessons. Thank you for that warm welcome. I've got a riddle for you. What is more powerful than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, you will die. One more time. What is more powerful than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, you will die. Now, before you shout out the answer, children usually get the answer in 5 to 10 seconds. Women get the answer in 5 to 10 minutes. Men, well, let me just say somebody had to tell me the answer. I've got the answer for you in my talk. Before we begin, let's take a moment for prayer. Heavenly Father, please send your Holy Spirit upon everyone listening and enable them to hear and embrace what you want them to hear and embrace during this talk. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Eucharistic King, truly present in all the tabernacles throughout the world. Amen. Eucharist, when you hear that word, Eucharist, what comes to mind? Many of you just finished eating lunch, so you may be thinking about food, the bread of life, the living bread come down from heaven. You might be thinking about the word Thanksgiving, the holy sacrifice of the mass. Transubstantiation, body, blood, soul and divinity, adoration, exposition. But the word I want you to focus on today is transformation. Transformation is that change which can and should happen to me and to each one of us every time we receive the Eucharist during the holy sacrifice of the mass. And every time we worship the Eucharist outside of the mass. I believe it is that transformation that can help us to overcome obstacles in relationships to other people. I believe it is that change that can help us see who we really are. I believe it is that change that can open up our relationship to God, Father, Son and Spirit, to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And I also believe it's the change that can open our eyes to recognize the relationship that Satan is desperately trying to have with each one of us. To help you appreciate that transforming power of the Eucharist, I'm going to share with you a little bit about how Eucharistic devotion has transformed my life. I'm going to give you a couple analogies to help you better relate to the transforming power of the Eucharist. We'll be talking about the Blessed Virgin Mary and her connection with the Eucharist. And then I'll leave you with one challenge. I'm an engineer by trade. And in the engineering community, we have a saying that without data, you're just another opinion. So during this talk, I'm going to give you data. I'm going to give you facts. Now, Gus has already provided some of that data. I'm almost 52 years old. I've been married for almost 26 years to my first wife. I live in Centerville, which is a suburb of Dayton, and my home parish is St. Francis of Assisi. I've been a Catholic my whole life. Never drifted from the church. Never drifted from the church. Teenage years, going off to college, 20 years in the military, never drifted. But somehow, for the first 39 years, I missed one of the most basic, fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church, that Jesus Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist. I don't know if it wasn't taught in CCD or if I didn't pay attention during the Mass and the homilies, but I missed it. Seventy-five percent of my life, I missed it. In fact, when I would come to Mass, how much I got out of Mass was basically on two different factors, the homily and the music. When I look back at that, that's more than just sad. That's a tragedy. But that all changed in 1997. February 14, 1997, it was the first Friday in Lent. I was working in Kettering, suburb of Dayton, on Flora Boulevard near Woodman Drive. And the thought occurred to me, instead of giving something up for Lent, how about I go and do something? So I thought, I'll walk about a quarter mile to the nearby Catholic Church by the name of Ascension, and I'll pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I'd call it my lunch with the Lord. So I was pretty excited about this. I get over to the church, and the doors are locked. So then I go to the office, and I spend the next couple minutes trying to explain to them, I'm not there to vandalize the church. I'm really a Catholic who came to pray. They let me in. I go into their day chapel, holds about 50 people. There's the altar. There's the ambo, crucifix, beautiful tabernacle. I kneel down to pray, and guess what happened? Absolutely nothing. If I had to come up with one word that describes that initial visit, it's awkward. You see, I'd never been in a classroom of silence in front of the tabernacle. I had no clue that Jesus Christ was truly present inside the tabernacle. And at that time, I don't think I could even spell the word Eucharist. But I kept coming back. For the rest of Lent, Monday through Friday, I was there with lunch with the Lord. By the time Lent was up, an hour was not enough. What started out as, well, let me think of some things to be thankful for. What prayers can I say that I memorized? And here's my list of petitions. It all changed. I started praying the rosary, which I knew about, but hadn't prayed. I started reading the daily readings, which I knew about, but didn't read. The bottom line, I had encountered the true presence of Jesus in the most blessed sacrament and his mother. And my life has never been the same since. Let's fast forward about five months to July 1997. I become aware of a new job opportunity north of Dayton in Bandalia. In prayer, I feel like I'm supposed to apply for it. So I send a resume. They like what they read. They ask me for an interview. I go up. They liked what I had to say. They make me a job offer. It really didn't make a lot of sense. I'd been in my current job for eight years, liked what I did, had a good supervisor, the pay and the benefits were good. But as I continued to pray, I felt this urging. I felt this urging to go forward and take the job. And I did. So in August of 1997, I started working at a new company. No big deal, right? Many of you have changed jobs. Many of you have had to relocate. But when I look back, here's what took place. About a year later, a European company came in and bought my previous company where I worked. About two years after that, they closed the company. And if you look for the building today, it's not there. It's been demolished. The debris has been hauled away and it's gone. Years before I even knew I had a problem, God picked me up and put me in a safe place. Things were relatively normal for a while. Let's fast forward to November of 1998. I was continuing my daily adoration, reading about the lives of the saints and the mystics. And I read this line where Jesus says to the mystic, I am your employer. It cut right to my heart and soul. I felt God call me to start working for the church. So I continued to pray about this. And the point in time came when I needed to discuss this with my wife. So I said, hi, I've been praying. I feel like God's calling me to work for the church. And I think I need to turn in a letter of resignation and a two week notice. She looked at me and she stated the obvious in a way that only a loving spouse could, as she said, you're nuts. But we continued to pray. In January of 1999, I turned in my letter of resignation. And needless to say, my supervisor was just a little surprised. And the conversation went something like this. Well, what are you going to do? I don't know. Where are you going to go? I don't know. Well, you certainly have a resume out, right? No. Okay, well, you're married, right? Yes, I am. Your wife works? Well, she works at home. She's a domestic engineer. You have children, right? Three. With nothing else left to say, he said, good luck. As odd as that sounds, as uncomfortable as that sounds, there was a tremendous sense of peace about the whole situation. A day or two later, my supervisor calls me back in his office and he says, Jim, we are not going to try to change your mind. However, would you consider working for us 30 hours a week? And that'll be a 25% cut in pay, 25% reduction in vacation, but just enough hours to give you medical coverage. I prayed over it, accepted the offer, and since February of 1999, I've been working Monday through Thursday. And what's that done for me? It opened up Fridays, Fridays that I dedicated to the Lord, started going to morning mass, got more involved in the different ministries in my church, allowed me to take four years of classes at the Athenaeum. Two of those years included the lay pastoral ministry program. If there's anybody out there considering going through the lay pastoral ministry program, do it. I think I learned more in those two years about my Catholic faith than I did for the whole 40 years previously. Life continued to go on, continued with the adoration. I'm going to fast forward now to August of 2003. I was on my way home from work, stopped at my parish, St. Francis of Assisi, to talk to the adult faith formation minister by the name of Kathleen Kammer. She was on the phone, so I waited till she got off. I go in and we start talking. She says, Jim, I just got off the phone with a Dr. Emmanuel Ruggina. He's a refugee located in Dayton from the African country of Rwanda. Okay. She started to tell me a story. He was caught up in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. And if you have any doubt in your mind as to whether or not evil exists, I recommend you do a little research on that genocide. It's estimated that up to a million people were butchered and killed in only 100 days. They came after Emmanuel. He fled with his family to the nearby seminary. Thought he would be safe. Tracked him down at the seminary, killed two priests in cold blood before they found him, shot him three times, left him for dead in a puddle of blood. His wife puts a rosary around his neck. Through a series of miracles, he got some limited medical attention. He was able to get out of the country. And he lived in Kenya for three years. And he lived in Kenya for three years. And through a Marianist brother in the Dayton area, his family was relocated to the Dayton area. Now, because he lost so much blood, he experienced chronic renal failure. So for five years, he had been on kidney dialysis. His body was wearing out. If he didn't come up with a donor, his time was limited. So he was calling Kathleen to spread the word. So I'm listening to this story and I am getting moved. And when Kathleen Kammerer said, and by the way, his donor needs to be A-positive, I felt the call. Because I knew from my military ID that I was A-positive. And I immediately thought a gospel of Luke and Mary. The angel comes. I don't think she expected it. She certainly didn't understand it. But what did she say? Yes. So I said, yes, Lord, I'll do it. But I remember chuckling going, I don't have a clue how you're going to pull this off. So the time came to discuss this with my wife. I said, hon, I feel this calling to donate a kidney to a guy I've never met before. So in a very loving way, she made a brief statement. Once again, this time, not a statement, but a question. And it went like this. Are you crazy? But just as Joseph was challenged when he found out that Mary was pregnant and God sent a sign, I believe God sent the sign to my wife as well. The same day that my wife, Marian, and I would meet Emmanuel and his wife, Leah Coddy, for the first time. She's driving through a parking lot. She's leaving. This van cuts in front of her. In front of her, they come to a traffic light. And on the back of the van are two bumper stickers. Eye level. First bumper sticker reads, retired Air Force. Describes me. Second bumper sticker, don't take your organs to heaven. Heaven knows we could use them down here. Needless to say, that was a turning point for my wife. And to make a long story short, on the 12th of December, 2003, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a successful kidney transplantation took place. And Emmanuel is alive and here today. And I'd like to direct your attention up to that area. And I'd like to ask Emmanuel to stand. There he is. I believe that Emmanuel is here today because of the transforming power of the Eucharist. And I ask you, what are the odds that two people from two different hemispheres, two different continents, two different countries, two different cultures, two different skin colors could come together and be a perfect match for a donor and recipient? Small? Very, very small. I think the answer is in the Bible. It's the same odds that a young teenage girl can become pregnant without having relations with a man. And that child become our Lord and Savior. You see, it's 100% because nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible with God. Amen. Take a moment to reflect on what you just heard as you listen to this verse. Amen. When Jesus had difficult things to explain, he often used parables, right? I don't have any parables for you today, but I do have some analogies. First one has to do with rain. If it's raining outside and you go out, you get wet. If it's pouring rain, you get soaking wet, unless you choose to put up an umbrella, put on a raincoat, or not go out at all. Yes? When you receive the Eucharist during the Mass, or when you worship the Eucharist outside of the Mass, God is pouring out His graces, His blessings, His mercy, His love, His forgiveness, His compassion, and it's all free, and it's all yours, unless you choose not to receive it. Or you choose to put up your spiritual umbrella, or you choose to put on your spiritual raincoat, or you choose not to show up at all. Please, take advantage of the Eucharist, and don't let personal pride, or spiritual pride, prevent you from coming. Second analogy, I'm sure most of you, or a lot of you, are very handy with tools. So my next analogy has to do with tools. Let's assume you are doing a remodeling project at your church. So they wheel in this big box of tools, and the first wave of volunteers comes up, anxious to work, and they look in there, and they see battery-powered tools, but there's no battery packs. So they keep looking, and they take out a saw, and they take out a screwdriver, and they take out a standing block, and they go off, and they get busy, and they're working. Second wave of volunteers comes in, and they look in that box and say, isn't that odd that you would have battery-powered tools, and no battery packs? So they start moving things around, and digging around, and lo and behold, at the bottom of that toolbox, there are battery packs, and these battery packs are fully charged, and they are universal to fit all of those cordless tools. So they take those battery packs, they plug them in, and they go off. At the end of the day, who's going to get more work done? Who's going to be less tired? The people with the battery-powered tools, right? To me, those battery-powered... I'm sorry, the batteries that are fully charged and universal represent the Eucharist. It is the source of power we need to go out and evangelize the world. Take the Eucharist and plug it into your prayer life, plug it into your marriage, plug it into your family, plug it into your men's groups, plug it into your ministries, and you'd be amazed what can be done. I suspect all of you are familiar with Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her missionaries of charity. In 1973, they decided instead of once a week having a holy hour, they would do it daily. And as a result, Mother Teresa said, that is when our ministry started to grow and blossom. Vocations doubled. And you know what's really amazing? One hour less to do the work, they got the same amount of work done, if not more. I read one article where Mother Teresa did two holy hours every day, one in the morning and one at night. Do the math. If she started that, let's assume she started in 1973 and did that until the day she died in 1997. That 17,000 hours of adoration in front of the true presence of Christ, do you think that might have had an influence on what she was able to accomplish? Do you think it might have had an influence on the holiness that she had? Simply amazing. Pope John Paul II did a daily holy hour. Archbishop Fulton Sheen did a daily holy hour. I read an article where Archbishop Schnur does a daily holy hour. What might we be able to accomplish if we also did daily holy hours? The next analogy has to do with the military. I want to take just a second to recognize all of the veterans in this room, because I know there's a ton. So if you have spent any active duty or reserve time in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, Merchant Marines, please stand up so we can thank you for your service and allowing us to meet as we are today. Thank you so much for your service to God and to country. Let's assume for a moment that you're fighting a battle and you want to inflict as much damage as you can on the enemy. You want to inflict as much damage as you can on the enemy. You want to inflict as much damage as you can on the enemy. You want to inflict as much damage as you can on the enemy. And you want to inflict as much damage as you can on the enemy. If you had a choice between taking out a fighter aircraft from an aircraft carrier or taking out the whole aircraft carrier, the source of that fighter, many other fighters, helicopters, personnel, communications, which would you take out? Aircraft carrier. Aircraft carrier. If you could take out one tank or you could take out a fuel depot, the source of fuel for that tank, other tanks, Humvees, generators, which would you choose to take out? The fuel depot. If you could take out one mobile command post or you could take out the satellite, source of the communications for that mobile command post and many others, which would you take out? The satellite. Whether you realize it or not, we are all in a battle. And it's been going on for a long, long time. Satan prowls the earth seeking the ruin of souls. Could he take out one person through drugs, alcohol, pornography? Yes, he could. And he does. Could he take out one marriage through infidelity? Yes, he could. And he does. Could he take out one priest by being unfaithful to his calling? Yes, he could. And he does. But when he looks at the Eucharist, what does he see? He sees the source and the summit of the Christian life. Of the Christian life. The crosshairs of his sight are fixed on the Eucharist because he hates the Eucharist, because he hates Jesus Christ. And he hates me for telling you this. What other explanation do you have for a website called 40 ways to desecrate the Eucharist? People videotaping consecrated hosts being smuggled out of mass only to be flushed down a toilet. Put in a pan of boiling water. Taped to a piece of wood and nailed with a pneumatic nail gun. Don't be surprised if and when you choose to increase your Eucharistic devotion that you come across hurdles and obstacles that you or your family come under attack. Nothing is off limits. But you can't let that stop you. Because the Bible again has the answer. Be not afraid. Because nothing is more powerful than God. Final analogy. Many of you are businessmen or your own companies. If there was one thing you could do that would increase the price of your stock, improve your sales, increase your profits, increase your productivity, improve your quality, reduce your scrap, improve the morale of all of your employees, would you do it? Sure you would. And what is that? I don't know. If I did, I'd be talking at a different conference. However, if there was one thing you could do that resulted in the following, would you do it? Increased mass attendance, increased attendance at confession, an increase in priestly vocations, an increase in religious vocations, return of fallen away Catholics, increased conversions to Catholicism, heightened spirituality, restored marriages and greater unity. Would you do it? You know what that one thing is? Eucharistic adoration. And some of you are saying, oh, Jim, those are just hopes. Those are ideals. The reason I read from the list, it's a quote from a 1991 church document by the Pontifical Council for the Laity to start perpetual Eucharistic adoration. So let's just take a moment to think about what it is that you could do. Eucharistic adoration. So let's just take one of those items and see if it's true. If I ask you what one of the biggest problems is in the Catholic Church, many of you might say lack of vocations. When I look at the data, it doesn't say that's a problem. It says that's a symptom. Data point number one, let's go 250 miles north to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Christ the King Catholic Church. They have perpetual Eucharistic adoration and a beautiful chapel. They even have reserved parking spaces for those that come to adore. I've been there twice. No less than five people adoring either one of those times. You know how many young men they have in the seminary? Twenty-two. And I didn't stutter. Twenty-two. And that doesn't include the additional 11 young women who are also in formation. A few miles north and east of that, Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. They started in 1997, just 13 years ago, with only four sisters. They built a motherhouse. That became too small, so they had to grow their property, increase. So they had a second addition. That became too small. And they just finished their third addition. They now have almost 100 young ladies. With an average age of 26. Now, you don't have to go 250 miles to get a data point. Take a look at your own parishes. Think of every young man from your parish that's gone into the seminary. Is there a correlation between the number of names on that list and the scheduled opportunities for Eucharistic adoration at your church? It's only natural when talking about the Eucharist or relationships that we spend a few moments talking about the Blessed Virgin Mary. As you know, she has a whole litany of titles. Two you might want to focus on during your devotion to the Eucharist. Mother of the Eucharist and Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament. And when we talk about relationships, look at her relationship to the Holy Trinity. Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, Spouse of the Holy Spirit. And of course, the one obstacle we all have in our relationships, she didn't have, which is sin. Think how pleasing her life and her soul was to God. Think about the wonderful model we have for humility, faithfulness, and holiness. Consider entering the school of Mary and allow her to lead you to her Son. And when you pray the rosary, allow her to lead you in Eucharistic reflections. For example, the first joyful mystery is the Annunciation. So the angel Gabriel comes to Mary. She says yes, and she conceives by the power of the Holy Spirit. And she becomes the first tabernacle of the true presence. A living tabernacle. And we look at that and we say, wow, that's pretty special. And of course it is. But in a short while, you too have an opportunity to receive the Eucharist at Mass. And when you receive the Eucharist, don't you also become a living tabernacle? And when you receive the Eucharist this afternoon and you come back into your seats, what will you be thinking of? The third joyful mystery is the Nativity. Jesus is born in Bethlehem. Mary holds the infant child in her arms. Does she not become the first monstrance? There is Jesus exposed to the cold and all those who come. And so Joseph adores, the shepherds adore, the wise men come and they adore. Would we not also be wise men if we came and adored? Fifth, sorrowful mystery. Don't expect everything related with the Eucharist to be joyful and happy. The rosary tapes that I listened to on my way to work have this following line on that sorrowful mystery when Jesus suffers and dies on the cross. The rain from the storm that erupted when Jesus died washes the blood and the sins of when Jesus died washes the blood and the sweat from his body before he is taken down from the cross and placed in the arms of his mother, Mary. Her tears anoint him. What a powerful image. What a powerful image. You know, we only have 12 or so days in Lent. You might want to consider at least one time going to your tabernacle, getting down on your knees and just saying, thank you, Lord, for your suffering and your death so that I could live forever with you in eternity. The third glorious mystery, the ascension. The ascension. Jesus is going back to his father. But before he goes, what does he say? Go forth and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And remember that I am with you always, even until the end of the age. Personally, I believe the greatest manifestation of that statement, that he would be with us forever until the end of time, is his true presence in the Eucharist. Take a moment to reflect on what you just heard as you listen to this verse. One challenge for you as you head out of here. I would like everyone listening to strive to become a dad. Men, women, children, young and old. Dad is an acronym I have coined for someone who discerns, accepts and does the divine will of the Heavenly Father. I believe, after reading about the lives of the saints and what I've personally experienced, is that if you want to discern what your calling is, the best place to hear and listen and talk through it is in Eucharistic adoration. I am not saying that is the only way to discern. But I did hear Archbishop Schnurr say in a vocations talk that at his last diocese, 90 percent of the seminarians discerned their calling while in adoration. If we are going to accept the divine plan from heaven for us, I don't think we can do it merely on our own merits or on earthly food. I think we need divine food. I think we need that Eucharist. In fact, I know we do. So go to Mass as often as you can and take advantage of Jesus' true presence in the Eucharist. And if you're going to do that divine calling, I believe that's a 24-7 calling. It's going to have to take place at home, at work, at school, at church, at your ministries everywhere. And I believe you need to get into a rhythm and you need to get into a routine of going to Mass, the source of the Eucharist. And that should lead you to adoration. And that should lead you right back to Mass. And one should feed upon the other. Upon the other. Discern, accept, and do. So if you've come here today to gain some insight about how to overcome obstacles in relationships, the best advice I can give you is take your obstacles, take your troubles, take your fears to Jesus in the Eucharist. He is the divine healer. He is the divine physician. He is the divine forgiver who can unite us with our families and our relatives, with our co-workers, our fellow parishioners, and our clergy. He is the one who can unite us with his sacred heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He is the one who can unite us with the divine will of our Heavenly Father. And ultimately, he will unite us as the one true body of Christ now and in the new Jerusalem for all eternity. So in closing, may the transforming power of the Eucharist help you to overcome obstacles to all relationships, past, present, and future. May Eucharistic devotion transform you into the holy person God created you to be and wants you to be. May your next Eucharist be your best Eucharist. Regarding the riddle, the reason children get that in five to ten seconds, they don't have to go past the first line. What is more powerful than God? Nothing. What is more evil than the devil? Nothing. The poor need it? Nothing. The rich have it? Nothing. If you eat it, you will die. Nothing. May we all think like children of God. Now, you heard that I play the accordion, and you kind of heard that I sing. But I'm not a songwriter. But in 1999, that changed during Eucharistic adoration when God inspired me to write a song. You've heard three verses so far. I would like to finish with the final verse. Please be pleased, for you are kind and full of mercy, Jesus, please be pleased as I attempt to do your will. You are the light that guides me home to my salvation, please be pleased as I serve you. May you embrace what you've heard today. May the transforming power of the Eucharist enable you to discern, accept, and do the divine will of the Heavenly Father. And remember, if God can get through to an engineer who plays the accordion, hope reigns eternal for everyone. Goodbye and God bless.
