|
Getting a Treat at Mass
A "FIRESTARTER" Spiritual Essay by Rev.
Dr. Benjamin
Berinti, C.Pp.S.
Once again, one of the younger
parishioners at St. Andrew’s Parish got the prize for theological insight of the
week! It’s amazing how often our children find their way to the heart of our
Catholic faith so easily, while the rest of us are struggling with the
complexities of ritual and regulations.
As his mother was coming out after church on that
weekend, she stopped to share a cute story about her young son. One Sunday,
after Communion, as he witnessed the Eucharistic Ministers to the Sick being
sent forth in their ministry to the sick and homebound of the community, he
leaned over and shared a pearl of great wisdom with his mother. He told her,
although this is not a verbatim quote: “Boy,
those people are lucky. I wish I could go up there with them. Fr. Ben gives
them a treat every week!”
Now that’s a profound theology, even
though that wonderful youngster wasn’t fully aware of the meaning of his
insight! Yes, Johnny, they were getting a
treat
each week. We might also call it an
honor, privilege, grace.
But they were not given it for themselves, but rather for others. These are
people called out from among us who have a special love and care for the sick
and homebound. Each week they share God’s Word and the Body and Blood of Christ
with those who are unable to gather with the community at Sunday Eucharist. As
we prayed each week in their sending forth, we charged them with a commission: “be
to our brothers and sisters living signs of hope and witnesses to Christ’s
abiding presence.”
Yes, indeed, this is a
treat,
and those who receive these Ministers of the Eucharist into their homes or at
the bedside of their rooms in the nursing home or hospital, know full well that
this bread from heaven, and the food of human compassion which the Eucharistic
Ministers share so freely, is indeed the most gracious
treat they receive each week.
Perhaps, like so many things that we
do on a regular basis at Sunday worship, the simple ritual of sending forth
Ministers to the Sick seemed trite or bothersome, especially for those always in
a hurry to exit liturgy. Yet, we were called to send them forth as a
community;
in other words, a part of us went with them as they visited with the sick and
homebound—our wishes, our care, our warmth, our love. We are all part of that
treat that went forth each week!
Index to
Spiritual Essays
Nativity Home Page
|
