The most precious gift

For those who do not believe

The last part of today’s second reading is often quoted at weddings, but the first part of Paul’s words addressed to the Ephesians today are seldom voiced.  True, the language seems antiquated for the modern western world, but if this passage is read in its entirety, we might come to understand that it’s not meant as a measurement of the worth of women versus men.  Rather it’s meant to show us that all of us are meant to complement one another.

• Listen to this homily

The believing community that gathers to pray is more and more today like the gathering of Israelites who stood with Joshua and heard him ask them to choose which god they would follow.  They made a choice that day, and we have the heritage of faith to show for it, but we too make a choice today: ours is the choice to accept the inheritance of faith that has been passed down to us; ours is the choice to learn it well; ours is the choice to pass it on to future generations so that they too can come to know the Lord.

Before we can make such a choice, we must first be given the opportunity to meet the Lord, to come to know who God is, for our God is not an inanimate statue that stands far off and gazes at us.  Jesus came to teach us that our God cares deeply for us, our God loves us, our God wants to lavish us with gifts like parents, grandparents and godparents might lavish them upon a newborn infant.  The gifts that God offers are not tangible, but they are enduring.  These gifts will never clutter our shelves, but they will always remain with us to guide us and to enliven us.

Beginning in October of this year, the Church will live a Year of Faith.  This is a special invitation for us to discover or to re-discover the treasures of our faith; an invitation for children of all ages to discover or to re-discover that faith is about a relationship that is cultivated between people and God.  There are some aspects of our faith that are meant to be discovered one-on-one in the quiet of individual prayer, and there are others that are meant to be enjoyed in community.  The secret is to understand that faith begins with a personal relationship, and once that relationship has had a chance to grow, we too will respond like Saint Peter: Lord, to whom can we go?  You have the words of eternal life.

Soul food

To be broken and poured

There were two weddings celebrated here this weekend, and there will also be five baptisms before the weekend gatherings of this community are finished.  Two couples invited their families and friends to witness the moment in their lives when they committed themselves to living (along with their spouses) as witnesses of Christ’s love in the world, and three families will present their five children, asking that they be included in this family of believers, and the family of believers gathers here each week for the celebration of the Eucharist.  These are important moments; these are moments that need to be heeded so that the lessons they teach might truly find a home in our hearts.

The book of Proverbs reminds us this week that every time this community gathers, whether to celebrate a wedding, a baptism, the Eucharist or any other sacrament, we do so at the invitation of the One who speaks words of wisdom for our souls, inviting us to eat and drink, inviting us to walk in the way of insight.  Saint Paul reiterates this invitation by encouraging us to be wise about the way we live our lives, because in the words we speak and in the attitudes we adopt people in our world will see the extent to which we ourselves have been nourished by our faith.

Perhaps a few questions will help to focus our reflection for this week:  Do we truly believe that what we receive in the Eucharist is true food and true drink?  Do we truly believe that the Eucharist is not so much a thing that we receive, as it is the body and blood of Jesus, and therefore a person who we receive each week?  Do we truly believe that when we gather for this celebration, Christ himself forgives us of our sins, heals us and restores us?  Do we truly believe that we in turn are then sent into the world to bring life to the world, to be instruments of reconciliation, joy and hope for our world, to comfort and to love as Christ has loved us?  From the moment of our baptism, we ourselves receive these gifts from our God when we celebrate the Sacraments.  Abiding in him, we are then broken and poured out in love for the sake of those we are called to serve.

Something we do

Eat this bread

Henri Nouwen tells the story of his father who would sit at the dinner table on Sunday and uncork a bottle of wine.  He would carefully pour a bit of the liquid into his glass and then would hold the glass, admire the colour of the wine, sniff its bouquet as though he were drinking the scent, and only then would take a bit of it into his mouth, where he would let it sit so he could absorb all its layers before he would finally swallow.  Ever since I first read this account, I’ve tried (admittedly not with much success at times) to experience life in this way, for is this not what Jesus asks us to do?

• Listen to this homily

In today’s gospel, he tells us: I am the living bread … We can easily associate the Eucharist with the images of bread and wine, but these are most often the subject of static pictures.  If the bread that we receive is to be living bread, and if the wine we receive is to truly become the cup of eternal salvation, then we must see these gifts not as things on a plate or in a cup, but as Jesus himself who offers his own body and pours out his own blood (Sacramentum Caritatis, 7).  Having received these gifts of life, our task is then to walk out of the doors of this church and to be living signs of God in the world.  We do this by following the advice that Paul offers to the Ephesians in today’s second reading: Put away from you all bitterness, wrath and anger … and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Receiving bread and wine are easy tasks; receiving the gift of Christ’s body and blood though adds a different dimension, because this latter is not a passive action.  Instead it compels us to live what we believe.  This is not always easy; in fact it can at times be the most difficult of tasks because it often means that we must set aside our own wants and desires.  If however we truly understand the power of the Eucharistic gifts, then we will aim every day to taste them with our entire beings, and seek always to be witnesses of the life that they offer.

After the fact

Sorry, my intentions were good but as it turns out, I was not able to connect to the cyber world while I was in Dearborn this week.  Instead, circumstances allowed me to soak up the entire expereince (which was really good on so many levels), and now that it's over for another two years, I can begin to put some of it into action.

The Daughters of Isabella are organized into local Circles, a group of local Circles make up a State, and all States are part of the International organization.  Local Circles meet usually monthly to discuss the successes and challenges of promoting unity, friendship and charity, while State conventions are held every two years.  On opposite years, International conventions are also held on a bi-annual basis.


This meeting in Dearborn was an International convention so even a new-comer to the organization such as I, had an opportunity to meet some of the women of faith who are living these ideals in places as close to me as the cities located a few hours' away to those who are located at the other end of the country and continent.

Throughout the past year, Daughters of Isabella have donated a total of $2,914,550.88 to various charitable organizations, and they have volunteered a total of 3,465,162.75 hours in prayer and presence to God's people in schools, hospitals, nursing homes and in many other ways.  Even the baby shower that was held during these days was impresive to see.  Gifts which were donated filled the room in which they were arranged, and before we left the convention, these were donated to three pregnancy crisis centres, just one of which serves more than 1000 clients each year.

This gathering was capped off with a banquet which celebrated Christmas in Dearborn.  It was like celebrating Christmas in August, complete with a Christmas tree, decorations and even a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Existing friendships were strengthened, new friendships were forged and now we look forward to the future with renewed energy and hope that the delegates to this convention and those who are part of their local Circles can continue to be living witnesses of the motto they profess: Unity, Friendship and Charity!

Off to convention

At the end of the liturgies today, I'm headed south to join the Daughters of Isabella for their bi-annual International Convention which this year is being held in Dearborn, Michigan.

By the time the sun sets, I'll be at the Hyatt Regency (pictured above) where the meetings are being held.  There's a long road ahead, but every journey starts with one footstep (or with putting the keys into the ignition).

Look forward to more posts from there.

A remedy for our hunger

Our daily bread

Have you ever stopped to think that the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, is the most recited prayer that we have in our repertoire?  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve uttered it: at Mass, at weddings, at funerals, while reciting a rosary, while anointing someone lying in a sick bed … but for the number of times the words of this prayer have tumbled from my lips, I must admit that there are still times when parts of this prayer cause me to stop what I’m doing and to truly wonder in awe at what has just come out of my mouth.

• Listen to this homily

Give us this day our daily bread.  It seems like a simple enough phrase, but what does it truly mean?  I’m sure that when the disciples learned this prayer, they were perhaps thinking about the unleavened bread (not unlike a pita) that was so commonly on their table.  Perhaps they also thought of the mannah in the dessert that we heard about in the first reading today, but I wonder if they were even dimly aware of the depth of these simple words.  I wonder if we today realize their true meaning.

Our daily bread is everything that we need to live today, everything that we need to live a life of faith, everything that we need to be happy, everything we need, but nothing more.  Our daily bread is a promise made by God that he will provide for us, but it’s also an act of faith on our part, and a promise that we will be content with what is given to us today.  Tomorrow is another day.  We will receive tomorrow what we need for tomorrow: blessings as well as challenges.  If we learn to see life like this, perhaps we will eventually learn to see Jesus as the true bread, the bread of heaven.  Perhaps we will learn a little each day to come to him with our joys and our troubles, and discover each day his promise that people of faith will never be hungry.