This morning I am celebrating Mass looking out into the meadow watching the deer jumping over our fences. Last Sunday, I handed the “keys” of Holy Family to Fr. Corey and pray the community embraces his ministry with open arms. In July, I wiil be celebrating Mass at our cathedral while our bishop is away on vacation. For this morning, my first Sunday in “senior status” I have this story to share for your reflection on this Feast of Corpus Christi.
In my 44 years of ministry, I was invited to teach at a Dominican Monastery on a variety of spiritual topics. You might wonder: “what's a cloistered nun?" Well, this was a group of 20 nuns at the Monastery of Mary the Queen in Elmira, New York and they take a vow of community. They would leave the monastery for medical reasons and they pray.
As a Catholic priest counselor I got permission to go behind the cloister wall to address the nuns.
The nuns shared that they once invited a priest with his Methodist minister friend to talk to the group. The minister shared that they were the most non-Catholic audience of all time. He said, they were all on time, they were all smiling and they were carrying bibles. He said, "Smiling, punctual, Bible carrying Catholics?” He has never seen it.
After the minister talked, Mother Assumption said, "I want to thank you. And I also want to tell you, after listening to you, you sound really Catholic." And [laughter] the minister said, "Well, thank you. I guess it's coming from a nun. That's a compliment." And she said, "So I have to ask you, why aren't you a part of the church?" He thought to myself, "That's a strange question. I am a part of the church. I mean, it says right here in my card, Pastor, United Methodist Church, C-H-U-R-C-H, church. I'm a part of the church." I said, "Oh, I don't understand the question." And she said, "Well, let me ask you again. Why aren't you a part of the church?" "I guess what you're asking me is, why am I not Catholic?" She said, "No. What I'm asking you is, why aren't you a part of the church?" Same words. Gentle smile. Persistent but gentle and loving. Three times in a row. And I said, "Mother Assumption, I don't really understand your question so I'm just going to tell you why I'm not Catholic." I said, "I don't really know why I'm not Catholic, to be honest. I grew up Methodist. I don't know that much about Catholicism, as you could tell [laughter] in these talks. But if I had to answer, I'd probably say, "I'm not Catholic because I don't really understand what you all believe about communion." For me, it's just obvious that the bread and the wine or the bread and the juice, because as Methodist, we used juice rather than wine, they're symbols. They're special. They're important. They're holy. But to somehow believe that they're miraculously transformed mysteriously into the body and blood of Jesus, literally, that just doesn't make sense to me. I said, "So I love you and I respect you. And this has been an incredibly enriching for me. But I'd have to say that's probably why I'm not Catholic." She said, "Okay." She said, "You got your Bible?" And he said, "Yes, ma'am." She said, "Would you open to First Corinthians, Chapter 11, verses 23 and 26?" And I said, "Yes, ma'am." And she said, "Would you like to read those words aloud or shall I?" I said, "You know what, Mother Assumption? You're doing a great job [laughter]. You go ahead [laughter]." And so she said, "These are the words from Saint Paul as he wrote to the church in the Corinthians and the church there in [inaudible].
And St. Paul wrote, 'And he said, I hand it on to you what I received from the Lord that on the night he was betrayed, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body.'" And then Mother Assumption closed her bible. And she said to the minister, “what don't you understand?" And all the nuns and sisters giggled.
And they had a little bit of a laugh. But the minister admitted that the hand of God did come down and plant a little seed about the size of a mustard seed in the back of his soul that eventually did draw him home into the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Because these words are who we are.
We are the people of the Eucharist. That's who we are. The Sunday’s gospel says, "As they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it. And broke it. And gave it to them and said, 'Take. This is my body.'"
We should love being Catholic. And Corpus Christi is one of the big reasons why. Because this is who we are. We are the people of the Eucharist. Always remember who you are.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends to remember that you want to stay close to us and receive you in the Eucharist which is Your way of hugging us and saying: “I love you.”
Please forward your feedback about this reflection and names of family and friends who need our prayers. If you like a print of "Today's Sonshine" deer photo: forward your email to my attention and I would gladly send you a copy for your home or as a gift.
Fr. Matt email address: drmattkawiak@gmail.com
