This and That, again
I know that it has been a while since I posted anything. Things have been busy. On Thanksgiving morning I received a call from the nursing home that my Uncle Bob was having some problems and they were sending him to the ER. So I headed over to the ER and spent over 5 hours with him. He has COPD, a lung disease, and his carbon dioxide levels had gotten very high. He was admitted to ICU for a few days, but is now back at home in the nursing home.
Back in September I planned to take my last week of vacation the week after Thanksgiving. I did not go any place exciting — Shawnee-on-the-Delaware. It was a lazy vacation: sleeping in late, read two sci-fi novels, watched the first two seasons of Smallville on DVD. I just needed the peace and quiet. The only “work” I did was prepare a talk I gave to the Philadelphia Communion and Liberation group for their Advent Retreat. I will post that talk today or tomorrow, after I fix some typos.
Apparently I took a good week to be off for we were inundated with funerals. So far we have had 15 or 16 since Thanksgiving. When not doing funerals or the hospital, I have been working on another talk, this time for the local Divine Mercy Prayer Group monthly day of inspiration. I just gave that today, and will also post it once I fix the typos.
Two amusing stories to share, both involving people shouting out during Mass. Of course I do not generally encourage such behavior, but when they involve innocents you have to smile.
Last Sunday I had the 7:30 a.m. Mass, and there is a family that I have gotten to know who usually attend that Mass. They have two little girls (2 and 4). As I was saying the Eucharistic Prayer, as I elevated the host after saying the words of consecration and the Altar Server rang the bells, the 2-year-old shout out “Ring, now its Jesus!” Isn’t that wonderful? I mean, when some polls indicate that over 50% of American Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, this family is doing such a fantastic job of teaching their daughters that their 2-year-old knew that now what looks like bread is no longer bread but Jesus. Certainly she could not explain the theology, but that is not what is important. What is important is encountering the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Yes, Ring, it IS Jesus!
The next day I had Mass in one of the area nursing homes. You never know what you are going to find at these Masses. As I was saying the Prayer of the Faithful, and started to pray for the staff one resident shouted out, “God Help Us.” At first I thought she was making a commentary about the staff, but I realized that she was shouting that throughout the Mass. Again as I elevated the host after pronouncing the words of consecration this old woman shouted out “Thank you.” How very appropriate since that is the meaning of the word Eucharist — “thanksgiving.” We truly should give thanks for the great blessing that God has given us in the Eucharist.
