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Connections&
"Her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." To be both guests and waiters During a retreat, a group of young people said to Milwaukee's Archbishop Rembert Weakland that they were having a difficult time understanding what it means to be a Catholic. The archbishop suggested that to really grasp what our baptism means they should do two things: first, that they participate in the Eucharist with the same parish community every Sunday for six months; and second, during that same six-month period, they work in a soup kitchen for the poor. If you do these two things together, the archbishop said, you will come to understand what it means to be a Catholic. [Theology Today, Winter 2000.] CONNECTION: In this Eucharist-centered church of ours, we are both guests and waiters. Jesus invites us to his table to be nourished by his body and blood in the bread and wine of the sacrament. Our presence at this table makes us more that diners but a family: We come here with our struggles and doubts and pains and sorrows and, if the Eucharist is what Jesus intended, we find support and compassion from those who come to the table with us. At the same time, the Eucharist should impel us to become Eucharist for others--the make the limitless, complete love of Christ real for all in our own acts of charity and kindness. Today's feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord reminds us that we are called by Jesus who fed the multitudes to be both guest and waiter, participant and host at the banquet of God. ¦ |
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