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714-206-0443 looks worse. The challenge is to look at us with the eyes of faith. Just as faith is requisite to discern the Real Presence of Christ — His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity — under the appearances of bread and wine Christ’s love in a married couple can also be hidden without faith. But the sacrament is efficacious, no matter the holiness of the minister. (Remember, the minister of the sacrament of marriage is the couple!) At any moment, with conversion and opening our eyes of faith, we can see the sign — married couples can be the sign — of Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church.

Within the messy sandbox of our lives—corporate workplace, public school, financial debt, leaky roof, illness, our past wounds, our present selfishness—my husband and I have our Passion moments and days, weeks and years. Last year, my husband carried me and our children through my cancer treatment journey: moments of immense pain, days in and out of the hospital, weeks of slow recovery. In marriage, we take up our cross and sacrifice for each other and our family and community. Often imperfectly executed but always leaning on God’s strength and grace, our spousal relationship reveals the nuptial mystery of salvation in Christ.

Blindness to the Eucharist is tied to blindness to sacramental marriage or any of the sacraments. It is a loss of our sacramental imagination, our eyes of faith. The

Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom who suffered and died for his Bride. A revival of sacramental marriage will help us open our eyes to the Eucharist by reflecting Christ’s Passion, death, and resurrection lived out in the everyday lives of married couples. This is all very lofty sounding, but how are married couples to do this in the messy sandbox of earthly life? Like any other disciple, married couples must discern, submit, and be nourished. Remembering that marriage is a vocation, a sacrament in the service of communion, married couples continuously discern in prayer how God is calling us specifically to be signs of Christ’s love. As the Spirit moves, the couple also moves, submitting our will to that of the Father who with the Son created us to be images of God. We eat Jesus’ Body and Blood for the strength and courage to carry our own cross. We receive the gift of the Bridegroom in the Eucharist to be gifts ourselves to our spouse and in the service of the Bride of Christ.

If none of this sounds new, it is because a revival is really a call for us to recall what has been there all along and enliven it once more. Let us open our eyes of faith and see Christ’s real presence in the sacraments. For those of us who are married, let us be what we are: a living reflection of God who is love in the world. C

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 that led to their multiple incarcerations. Baldo recruited help in fellow church members, baseball buddies and work associates to engage large groups of teens and adolescents in public parks in five orange county cities.

In late 2012, the city of Anaheim requested that Baldo concentrate solely on engaging the youth of Anaheim full time. Initially Baldo declined, but when a second offer included selecting a park in Anaheim to permanently house his vision, he accepted the generous offer.

In 2012, Lincoln Park was selected to become the home for Baldo’s nonprofit called Higher Ground Youth & Family Services (HG).

“Higher Ground is a mentoring machine,” he said.

The facility is made up of 12 modular buildings including a creative learning center, kitchen, mental wellness center, music studio, video production and postproduction studio, as well as a STEM lab (for science, technology, engineering and math) and office space for staff, interns, field study students and volunteers. There is even a clubhouse and locker room to facilitate uniform and equipment storage for HG run athletic teams and leagues, furnished by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Today, HG in Anaheim has over 200 registered youth with approximately 150 being engaged on any given day. A similar program is functioning at HG’s recently opened second location within Fullerton elementary schools.

The major goal for HG is to help children with negative role models and help them create positive roles for themselves. The children who attend HG receive free snacks every afternoon and twice a week, hot dinners are served for the children and their families. Homework assistance, new skill development, the opportunity to have sports programs that could not under normal circumstances be afforded by the families are just a few more of the offerings from HG.

Services provided include multiple afterschool programs in Anaheim and Fullerton, a full-scale summer camp, a Teens2Work program that hires teens from underserved communities, a mental health and wellness program with counseling available and a human trafficking prevention program.

Baldo has never taken a salary and has a large yearly budget that is only partially offset with grants.

“The money to fund HG comes from God,” said Baldo, sometimes “begging for assistance” wherever he can.

He receives key support from Chapman University, CSUF, UCI, CSULB, BIOLA and Concordia University. Volunteering and mentoring support also comes from St. Martin de Porres parishioners, who help with a multitude of tasks. Barbara Baldo helps with the day-to-day programming, including all special events and fundraisers.

Joe Baldo has had that rare experience of finding his passion twice in his lifetime. From starting and operating his successful Baldo Productions to founding Higher Ground.

“Life has been a spectacular gift, and HG is the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae,” he said.

Higher Ground is having its first ever Open House on Saturday, March 25. All are welcome. To learn more, donate or volunteer, email info@highergroundoc.org. C