We Are What We Eat...
            Rory Cooney, a longtime personal friend and a well-known composer of liturgical music, uses profound reflection on his belief in the Eucharist and a talent for poetic expression to create some very powerful texts.  One of my favorites is this one: 
“As we remember, we are becoming;
What we see broken, we hope to be...”
                        (Copyright 2000, OCP Publications)
            In the last few weeks, these columns have been leading up to an understanding of the Church — meaning ourselves, the Baptized — as the Body of Christ and thus as a kind of sacrament in the world.
            Today, to be more specific, we might consider what it means that we say “Amen” to the minister’s declaration, “The Body of Christ” while at the same time referring to ourselves, collectively, as “the Body of Christ.”  Both are absolutely right, and Catholic, and true. 
            We are the Body of Christ, not because we have earned or deserve such an identity, but because have been invited into a reality that we do not deserve and could never remotely approach on our own.
            As a child of 5, I displayed a talent for the piano.  As the first-born of my parents and the first grandchild on my father’s side, I was immediately pronounced the next Mozart and whisked off to piano lessons and to a budding identity as a musician.  And whenever the “Community Concert” series would bring a pianist to town, I would be invited to attend.  I had to shine my shoes, get all dressed up, and listen to a lecture on how to behave very specifically so as not to disturb other concert-goers, who might not realize that the 6-year-old squirming next to them was the next Mozart...
            Being invited by Christ to be a part of His Body — this is not just a metaphor, but a reality — is a bit like the 6-year-old me sitting among adult music aficionados and trying to act as if I belonged there.  We must be on our best behavior.  We must hear the call to be our best selves, as created and empowered by God.  We must rise to this occasion the best we can.  Because what we are doing here is real.  Christ is truly present, and the presence of Christ is meant to change the world by changing the hearts of the people in it.  That starts with us.
            What we see broken (the Bread of Life; the Body of Christ on the cross), we hope to be!
 
Presence: Assembly, Word, Sacrament A Lenten Mission
            This Lent, our parish will offer a three-day parish mission for Lent.  A mission is usually a guest speaker who comes along and thunders about sin and repentance, or something similar.  This year, it’s an in-house mission.  Along with parish catechists Tom and Geri Pantelleria, I will offer a reflection each day along with time for small-group discussions and a large-group reporting session.  You’ll learn some things you never knew, I promise.  The presentations are based on Church documents, and will help us as a parish to gain a better and deeper understanding of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist — something in keeping with the Bishop’s Year of the Eucharist letter, and something that many in our parish are eager to explore.  Sessions are Sunday morning, March 15, 9:15 - 10:15 (it’s the Family Catechesis time, but everyone is invited), and then Monday and Tuesday evenings from 6:30 - 8 pm.  Monday and Tuesday conclude with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.