Eternal Comfort

For many weeks now, COVID-19 has forced us to look at our comfortable lives in a different way.  It continues to test our faith and leads some to wonder where God is in all of this suffering and chaos!  In a way we’re like the apostles in the early church, who must have felt very alone and scared without their friend Jesus by their side.  Jesus told them many times He would not be with them forever in the same way, but they didn’t really believe He would really leave them.  As believers we know God is right here in the midst of our suffering.  Just because our God chooses to be present in a lot of ways we don’t expect doesn’t mean we have been abandoned by a God who promises us we would never be hungry or thirsty if we put our faith and trust in Him.

Our hungers and thirst are satisfied when we grow closer to family who we may not have taken the time to truly appreciate in ‘ordinary’ times.   It’s reminding us of how important we all are to one another.  It’s amazing how much time we spend laughing!  Our parish and the school that Lily attends are using many innovative ways to teach, learn and pray together.  In addition to the Sunday Mass being live-streamed, our pastor and other members of the parish team are having on-line prayers, bible studies, and even ‘virtual’ pilgrimages to holy sites around the world.  These are all designed to keep our parish family as close to us as our ‘blood’ family, and to strengthen the Body of Christ in our local community. 

My own hungers and thirsts are being met in different ways:  

As I enjoy the time spent out of doors on my daily walk, to see the hand of God in nature all around me as I pray the rosary and reflect on the gospel. 

To hear and see so many people doing so many wonderful things in our community to help one another and taking the time to get to know our neighbors has all been an unexpected gift to pave the way into a new life to come in the months ahead.

The highlight of most of my days recently is when I get a ‘video chat’ request from my out-of-town grandchildren and all of us (including each of us in the same household) get on the screen as if we’re all in the same room visiting.

But, while I am coping with this necessary lockdown with confidence and hope, I do miss the Eucharist!

“I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6:35).

There is no better place to encounter and personally experience the living Person of Jesus Christ than at Mass, where He is physically present to us, where we receive His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, and become intimately acquainted with the almighty and eternal God.  This is a great mystery, and if we truly knew what we were receiving, we would die of joy.  We receive meaning, purpose, the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  There is nothing greater we can do in this life.  Receiving the Eucharist makes heroes out of ordinary humans, like you and me.  It equips us to be as loving as Mother Teresa, as devout as John Vianney, as courageous as Maximilian Kolbe, and as mystical as Theresa Lisieux because when we receive the Eucharist, we’re receiving the rare fine air of Holiness itself as Heaven kisses earth.  But it’s a hard journey and so few recognize the courage within them needed to continue.  St. Stephen found out just how hard it can be.

St. Stephen was proclaiming the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and those surrounding him rejected it, so they took him outside the city and stoned him (Acts 7:51—8:1).  Stephen stood in the face of the most dominant powers of his society and proclaimed the Truth of God, Whom he had personally encountered, and it cost him his life.  Amidst the darkness of the modern world, the light of Truth and Love found in the Church continues to shine.  We must strive to become a beacon of that light to the world around us.  This begins with surrendering ourselves to Christ.  Then we must encounter Him, and finally, we must proclaim Him from the rooftops, telling everyone we encounter the Good News of Jesus Christ, and living it out in every aspect of our lives.

“Do not be afraid.”  We have been entrusted with a mission from God, a mission to proclaim the Gospel at all times, regardless of the circumstances.  We must live for the Truth of Jesus, as proclaimed by the Church, never letting anyone or anything stand in our way.  While Stephen was being martyred, Saul was giving his consent because he couldn’t understand why someone would give their very life for a man crucified.  What he soon realized, however, is that Stephen wasn’t willing to die for a poor carpenter that taught people good ideas about life.  Rather, Stephen lived for the eternal Truths that God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ, and that choice cost Stephen his life.  Ironically enough, in time, Saul, later Paul, discovered those same Truths for himself.  Again, that choice cost him his life.  He didn’t give up, let up, or quiet down until the end.  He was a disciple of Christ.  So, too, we are called to become saints.  We must get holy or die trying because holiness is not a spectator sport. We are all in this together: Sainthood or bust!