Sunday Sharing 6.23.19
By Deacon David Reyes
Once upon a time there were two friends, Alex and Najib. They were friends since they were 8 years old. They grew up in the same neighborhood, attended different grammar schools and colleges but went to the same high school. They had a good deep friendship. They socialized and enjoyed each other’s company. Alex was a Roman Catholic and Najib was a Muslim. At times they would discuss their respective faiths and how important it was to them. As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. -- 1 Corinthians 11:26
One day Najib asked Alex, “Would it be permissible for me to attend one of your religious services? I think you call it a mass.”
Alex said, “Yeah, I think my pastor would be cool with that. Tell me why do you want to come?”
“Just curious, that’s all.” They set up a date and time and eventually the day rolled around.
After the mass Alex was anxious to hear his friend’s thoughts. They went to a coffee shop afterwards and Alex said, “So tell me what did you think?”
“Oh, it was pretty impressive! I was mesmerized by the beauty of the architecture of the church, as well as the art work... the statutes, the paintings. The music was most solemn, and the choir was excellent. Thanks for giving me a brief rundown beforehand of what would happen. I’m puzzled by one thing though: "You said the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. I don’t believe it.”
“Well, of course, you don’t. You believe Jesus was a prophet, we believe He is the Son of God.”
“My fault, I wasn’t clear. I mean I don’t think many who received Him believe they were receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. I saw some who were respectful but more who seemed to be just going through the motions. Some actually looked bored. Their body language had a lackadaisical appearance and they seemed to not really care. I mean if I was receiving the Son of God, I don’t think I’d be able to even lift up my eyes to look at Him much less to actually hold Him in my hands.”
“Hmmm, you know I respect your opinion, and you may be right about some of them, but we believe Jesus is our Savior. And yes, He deserves our respect, but many have a personal relationship with Him and perhaps that makes them feel they can be more “comfortable” around Him. I mean you and I are friends, and we joke around, but I certainly treat your family and Iman with more respect than I do you.”
“Good point! Let’s simply agree to disagree. I’ll pick up the check!”
I hope this little story doesn’t offend anyone, but I think it’s important for all of us to stop every now and then to reflect on our attitude towards the Body and Blood of Christ – not just in reception of communion but in other ways. What is our demeanor while we are coming up to communion? Are we singing the communion hymn or looking around to see who’s at mass? Do we bow just before reception of the host/cup? Do we say Amen or just take the host/cup? If we receive in hand do, we plop Jesus in our mouth or take the host reverentially, look and place Him in our mouth?
If we have a personal relationship with Jesus do we let our familiarity get the better of us? In my years of ministry, I’ve noticed the people who seem to receive the host most respectfully are the elderly, the sick and prisoners. I’m sure there are various reasons but to generalize perhaps it’s because these groups empathize with suffering and sacrifice of Jesus with what they are going through. Hopefully everyone who receives communion is not in pain or suffering. We may be feeling great and thankful that our lives, work/school, family and health are good. What should be our attitude? I remember when my uncles would get together at family functions. They would at times joke about their time in the military but would reflect at how lucky they were to return alive and in one piece. Hopefully we have a personal relationship with Jesus. However, we should be careful of how we treat Him. To paraphrase Ecclesiastes 3 – There is a time to joke and a time to be serious, a time to yell and a time to be silent, a time for prayer and a time for meditation… To this last point I’d like to pass along a prayer idea I learned of at the Diaconate Convocation a few weeks ago. The presenter was Todd Williamson, the director of the archdiocese’s Office of Divine Worship. He asked if we ever prayed outside of mass any of the Eucharistic prayers that are prayed at mass. This was something that never dawned on me. He went on to explain just how much is in these prayers if we only take the time to really mediate/pray them. I offer this to you to deepen your appreciation of the Eucharist.
The church gives us this Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ to remind us to pause and take time to reflect just how great a gift Jesus gave us. The words “Most Holy...” are there to emphasize how sacred and majestic they are, and they deserve our utmost respect.