In January, I
was riding home with my 16 year old grandson from a very moving Mass at Our
Lady of Lourdes Church in Atlanta . . . we’d sung a beautiful song that kept
running thru my thoughts. I asked my
grandson for his thoughts about Holy Communion.
After a pause he said he wasn’t sure; what they taught in Sunday school
makes it seem ‘like magic’—the priest says some words and poof, the wafer turns
in to Jesus—that’s pretty hard to believe.
I agreed. I asked if he wanted to
hear my thoughts on it—he said yes.
I said that to
me, it was like the words of the song we’d just sung "because we called, you
have come". God is everywhere and in
everything. The Bible quotes Jesus as
having said: “When two or more are gathered in my name, I am there in their
midst.” In church as we pray and sing we
are calling God to be with us; the ‘Godness’ that is everywhere becomes more
concentrated and focused on the host as the priest’s words are said. Our valuing something makes it MORE than just
the thing itself—like a wedding ring or a trophy for winning a tournament—it carries
meaning far beyond the metal of which it is made. So it is with the host.
He said he
liked that explanation. Some time later
I wrote the following.
*
* *
Eucharist
Because we called,
You have
come . . .
Candles flicker, hands bless,
words are
said . .
Not magic here—
but mystery
profound . . .
a humble offering
is
transformed.
There was a long, slow Coming-to-be
--human
hands, with hope
planted seeds in the soil
--God
blessed the earth
with sun and rain.
Seasons, and eons passed
as nature gifted humans with harvest
--grapes
fat on the vine
--wheat
bursting its husks
and
mankind was fed.
Jesus came to tell us of the
mystery of God
we
hadn’t yet comprehended:
“This
is my body,
This
is my blood”
His words lead us to see that God’s
blessings
have
joined with human labor
in
a co-creative offering:
--grapes
to wine
--wheat
to bread
Your presence, God,
steeped in the
All
is called
forth.
And because we call,
You come
closer.
Not magic . . .
but the
revelation
to us, of
that which
is already there.
is already there.
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