- Our pastor recently gave a homily in which he simply asked the question “What do you think makes us hate another or take from another what is theirs?
- A good friend and father of two little children was deported to Mexico last month. I was there for their good-byes. We cried, held one another and felt helpless before INS law.
- I watched the movie, AVATAR, in which U.S. forces take over the sacred places of an indigenous people in an attempt to grab their prize land. In addition to starting a brutal war between the two nations, the U.S. Colonel and all his incredibly destructive machinery are utterly destroyed.
- The fourth significant experience is to have read Ronald Rolheiser’s latest book, Our One Great Act of Fidelity: Waiting for Christ in the Eucharist.
How do these four happenings converge for me? I discovered that April is the month dedicated to the Eucharist, the place where, in a deeply significant way, we participants are most at home, least able to grab and always called to unity! In the Eucharist, we hear the Word of God and receive the physical embrace of Christ as we give thanks, break bread and share it with one another. Rolheiser indicates that in this ritual we are completely counter-cultural! Is it not true that here, at least, we do not grab, take, separate, keep for ourselves and thus create enmity? When we gather for the Eucharist we are faithful to what Christ asks of us. . .that, while we wait for Him to come again, we receive, we give thanks, we break bread together and we share it.
Let’s do that next Sunday or whenever we stand around our altars! There we can experience new life and love, even as we wait for Christ to come again!
Renée Domeier, OSB
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