Friends
Peace be with you.
In the past several weeks, people have expressed concerns to me after Mass about seeing people receive but not consume the Holy Eucharist. They say they’ve seen someone who came forward, took the host in their hand, moved their hands toward their mouth, but not only didn’t put the host in their mouth but, in a way similar to a magician doing slight of hand tricks, palmed the host into their pocket, Now, it’s always possible that the person reporting the incident simply didn’t see what was happening correctly and only thought that the person palmed the Eucharist. But it causes me enough concern that I feel like I need to bring it up. You may be asking “What’s the big deal? Someone walked out with the Eucharist in their pocket. Maybe they took it home to a sick family member.” If so, please talk to me because there are more respectful ways to transport the Eucharist and I’d like to train you how to do that. Or you may think that the person just didn’t know what to do so they accidentally took the Eucharist and didn’t want to consume it so they put it in their pocket. If that’s you and you still have that host, please bring it to me sometime or put it in the little glass jar before or after Mass next to the tabernacle no questions asked. What really concerns me is that satanists are known to sneak into Catholic Mass for the express purpose of stealing the Blessed Sacrament for their so-called Black Masses. I’m sure you agree with me that we do not directly or indirectly want to help in this sinister practice.
One of the stranger sayings in scripture happened twice in today’s gospel. I feel like Mayer Shinn from the Music Man would caution us to watch our phraseology if he heard us utter “gird your loins” in public, let alone from the pulpit of a church. Yet, it seems to come up fairly often in Sacred Scripture. It means to tuck in your garments so they don’t impede free movement. In the Old Testament, most of the time the reason a person is cautioned to tuck in their garments is because they are fleeing. In the story of the Exodus, the Israelites are told to eat with the loins girt because they are in flight from Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The prophet Elisha cautions his servant to gird his loins in order to rush to save a young man who was dying. In the Gospels, it tends to be used slightly differently. On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus girded his loins, tucked in his garments, and washed the feet of his disciples. It becomes a symbol of humble service. Notice, in today’s gospel, that girding your loins is a precursor for being prepared. So, rather than tucking in your garments to be ready to run, Jesus is saying to be prepared to serve. Who are we preparing to serve? If we are the servants in the parable, then he must be the master who is returning from a wedding. We are supposed to be ready to serve him when he comes.
One of the tools I use to prepare for homilies has been talking about how escapist the church has become and how unbiblical this is. To be escapist is to believe that this world is by its nature evil and that heaven will be a completely different place we’ll be transported to. That’s the belief of cults like Jim Jones and the Branch Dividians. Instead, the Bible says that Jesus is coming here. Yes, he will create a new heaven and a new earth but it will take place here. He is coming back. The rest of the world may be evil, acting like they are in charge and taking advantage of any perceived power they have over others, but Christians know all power comes from God and we are meant to be his servants and servants of one another. We are not creating the perfect world according to our own world view but waiting for him to create it for us.
Where is this world being created most palpably for us? In the Mass! It’s here that he comes to us in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Our job, therefore, is to be prepared. How do we do that? First and foremost, we only receive Holy Communion if we know what we’re receiving. We must be an initiated member of the Catholic Church who has taken classes to understand what we’re receiving. Secondly, we should receive without having knowledge of committing a serious sin. If we know we have sinned, we should go to confession beforehand. Lastly, we should take time before mass to quiet our minds and hearts to be prepared to receive Jesus. Now, don’t get me wrong, we can all be momentarily distracted in Mass and need to get focused again. But if we come in at the last second or don’t pay attention to a single thing at Mass, we may want to consider not receiving and trying again next week.
How do you prepare yourself to receive Jesus?
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