Dear Friends,
The feasts of Christmas, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother
of God and Epiphany saw church attendance spike, as it does on major holydays.
People’s reasons for coming are many, and may even vary from time to time.
After the holidays, people move on to other Sunday morning activities. They are
gone.
Somehow, the fact that, from our Baptism, we have belonged
to the Church and from our First Communion, we have belonged at the table
escapes the Christmas/Easter (Chreaster) Catholic. The truths that the
Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life, that it is a meal of
grace, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross made present and indeed, Christ’s Real
Presence, are not enough to hold and sustain many of today’s Catholics. What
keeps people away is not theology - not even belief. Adult Catholics, who have
outgrown their childhood clothes, have also outgrown their childhood sense of
Eucharist. Their interest has drifted away, is circumscribed by today’s culture
and absorbed by today’s needs and desires.
Before even acquiring with an adult mind and heart the deep
meanings of Eucharist, one needs to take small steps to reclaim our sense of
belonging – like coming to Mass and sitting closer to the altar than is
first appealing. Be attentive to the moment, to the people seated nearby. Pay
attention to the flow of the liturgy: welcome, an all-embracing reconciliation and
prayer. Listen to the readings and homily. Fix on one word, one phrase, one sentence
to take home to feed on from time to time during the week. Pick up the hymnal
and follow the hymn. Hymns are designed to speak to the heart. Say the Creed found
in the front cover of the hymnal. The Creed puts believers in touch with the rich
history of belief before our time and around us. Let the Eucharistic Prayer wash over you. Say
the Our Father with openness. Greet others before coming to communion. Be aware
of others doing the same. Receive communion and become what you receive. Be
sent forth. The work of the Eucharist is intended to mix with your own work
until the next time you come.
Becoming attentive to the depth of Eucharist takes effort,
and time. It also means being willing to welcome such change in ourselves. Pope
Francis, in his Epiphany homily this year, said that when we allow it, “holy
longing for God” wells up in us. This longing for God, Pope Francis, went on,
“shatters routines and impels us to change.” St. Augustine, in Book Seven of
his Confessions, has Jesus say to the
reader “I am the food of grown men and women. Grow, and you shall feed upon me.
You will not change me into yourself, as you change food into flesh, but you
will be changed into me.”
What God and the messengers of God say so often in the
Scriptures, “Don’t be afraid.” Do not be afraid of what can happen when longing
for God becomes real. Do not be afraid that your zest for life will be
diminished or your loved ones will find you altered in an unwelcome way. God’s
Eucharistic love offers believers no diminishment - only life restored,
renewed, returned to your heart.
~ Sister Joan Sobala
