Today Christians throughout the world are worshipping in community and and receiving the Eucharist. I am in a foreign country today. After Mass, the Sisters I am visiting greeted many of the parishioners. I watched or "hid" behind one of them I knew and who, at the time, was not mingling. I could have continued to withdraw, like a small child hiding behind and clinging to the back of its mother's leg. I could have continued to use the excuse "I don't know anyone" or "I am shy," and not, following the Eucharistic celebration, "broken bread" with anyone. Finally, either moved by my discomfort or by the Spirit, I reached out and began to greet some of the parishioners. It was only then that, like Jesus, I shared myself with others, as Jesus shared Himself with me in the sacrament. Is it possible that the only way a sacrament is "consummated" is when I interact with another human being and not stay locked up in my own security or fears? And is it possible that the Word of God that I had just heard and which I reflected upon earlier in meditative prayer only bears fruit when I share with others and that, without interaction with those with whom I live and work, the "seed" of the Word within me remains dormant. Does my faith, then, not grow?
What's your experience of how you "consummate" your faith?
No comments:
Post a Comment