01/13/13

Why is the Bible written the way that it is?

My brother-in-law asked me a thought provoking question recently:

Why is the Bible written in the style it is, rather than just a list of facts, instructions, and information?

Oral Traditions

Much of the Bible is constructed the way it is due to the time in which it was written. There weren’t many writers (or scribes) at the time, so what we get in the Bible is a transcription of information that was handed down orally. While today we might consider this a very unreliable means of communicating information, if there was no other option for writing down or passing information people were very good at relying on their memory. The stories recounted in the Bible often had historical or tribal significance, so it stands to reason that they would take more of a storytelling mode instead of a prescriptive list of rules and instructions.

For more reading on this, you can refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding Sacred Scripture, or further reading recommendations below.

But in some ways, it is a list!

There are several portions of the Bible that actually do contain fairly clear, prescriptive lists of rules. The two areas that spring immediately to mind is the Holiness code in the book of Leviticus and the Ten Commandments. Both of these areas, among others, reflect very clear and prescriptive laws that applied to observant religious of their time. There are parts of the Old Testament and much of the New Testament that provide historical facts, genealogies, landmarks, names and behaviors of various settlements/tribes/organizations and the like. So in a certain way, the Bible does contain lists of facts, instructions, and information.

Christ taught in parables

There are other areas of the Bible written in the form of illustrative language, parables, and other storytelling modes. Christ often taught in parables, and the disciples help us to shed a little light on this mystery. They noted the change in his manner of teaching privately from them versus publicly in the crowd, so they asked Him directly why he employed parables in Matthew 13:10-17:

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
— Matthew 13:10-17 (NIV)

What does this tell us? Christ employed parables as a way to divide the crowd: the throng of people whose heart had grown too calloused to understand the deeper message of Truth, and the disciples who had already seen and believed. When He taught the crowd in parables, it was an opportunity for those that truly sought the Word of God to find it. It also provided a teachable moment for the disciples, who already were following Christ and could hear the truth. It is comforting to note that even the disciples required to have the parable explained to them by Christ, so I suppose there’s hope to all of us that continue to have challenges when reading or understanding Scripture. Thankfully, Christ left us the gift of the Church to help us in interpreting the Truth.

What does this have to do with how the Bible is written and constructed? Possibly nothing, but in the light of this verse I feel validated in the challenge of trying to understand difficult Bible verses that might not make sense to me given historical distance or language barriers. It’s an opportunity for truth-seeking, and an opportunity for trusting that the Holy Spirit inspired the divine authors to include these lessons in this form for an explicit reason.

Finding out more

Ultimately, the form that the Bible takes may be one of those mysteries that we’re not meant to fully comprehend. I know that there are many theologians, historians, and others that are far more qualified than I am to even posit a basic answer to this question, however there is one book that I have heard recommended for those curious about the known history of how the Bible was compiled. It’s called “Where We Got The Bible” by Henry G. Graham, so give it a try if you’re interested in learning more.

01/6/13

Blessing with Epiphany Chalk

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany! Our priest encouraged us to do a blessing one’s home with a chalk inscription, as you can see above. At Mass, the priest blessed the chalk according to the Bishop’s Book of Blessings. It was distributed to parishoners along with a prayer to say while writing the inscription, which I have reproduced here:

Blessing with the Epiphany Chalk

Chalk is used because it symbolizes the dust of the earth from which we were made. The Chalk is used to mark the following letters and numbers over the main door of your home. The following blessing may be used as they are written by one of the parents as the other writes:

20 + C + M + B + 13

The numerals consecrate the new year. The initials remind us of the legendary names of the magi – Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar – and also stand for the Latin motto: Christus Mansionem benedicat, which means May Christ bless this house.

Let us pray:
Lord, as we begin a new year in this home, we ask your protection and seek your guidance as we welcome others into our hearts. May our visitors always find the presence of Jesus in our home especially as we welcome the stranger who seeks to know Christ among us. Bless our home and all who join us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!

I had never heard of this type of blessing before, but I think it’s a nice way to consecrate the home and the new year. After doing some reading, it seems that this is a more traditional observance and more common in Europe. Here is more information via CatholicCulture.org.

01/4/13

Who will you follow?

The new calendar year is upon us! This is the usual time of year for resolutions and refocusing on the things that should be important in our lives. As I sat down to reflect on which resolutions I would attempt this year, I kept being reminded of one of my favorite Bible versus from the Book of Joshua:

But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
— Joshua 24:15 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Resolve Differently

I came across this verse unexpectedly several years ago at my great-aunt’s Christmas party. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my name on something on the floor of her living room as I was breezing through to get a drink for my wife. This was right at the beginning of my inklings about investigating my faith further, and it seems as if this stonework decoration was placed here just to get my attention. I stopped dead in my tracks and read the verse over several times, trying to commit the chapter and verse to memory. Then I remembered: I had my new iPhone in my pocket so I snapped a picture.

This felt like (and literally was) a sign for me, marking the beginning of my deeper dive in my spiritual life. I resolved at that point that I would try better to serve the Lord, and I had absolutely no idea what that meant.

Something’s Happening Here

In time, I read this entire verse in the context of the rest of the chapter. This is Joshua’s clarion call, his prime question to the tribes of Israel. They had continued worshiping the false gods of their fathers or the local gods of the territory they resided in. Joshua reminded the tribes of all that almighty God had provided for them and then offered them a stark exhortation to put away these old, false gods and follow the Lord. He concludes with the powerful verse quoted above.

It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see a corollary in today’s society which places the false gods of wealth, social justice, and creature comforts before just and true service of the Lord. I see even well-intentioned Catholics and other religious friends often making choices or placing more focus on these things instead of their own spiritual development. It’s not about the rights and wrongs of what your fathers did, or what society is doing, or what is fashionable, trendy, or feels good. It’s about obedience in understanding and following God’s Will.

Further, I am reminded of this verse each time someone has harsh or derisive comments to make in regards to religion. If it’s so bad to be religious and follow God’s Command, that’s fine… you have your choice. I am proud to echo the sentiment of my much greater namesake: as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

Wherein an in-flight movie improves my life

Imagine my surprise to see this verse show up again a year later. I was on a long business flight from Germany to the US and I remembered my mom’s recommendation for a movie called Courageous, because it reminded her of the That Man Is You! program that I had just started participating in. Luckily, this film was on the in-flight roster of movies that we could watch for free. It tells a story of a group of men who make a contract to be better husbands and fathers, and this verse is central to their deeper spirituality as well. I won’t ruin any of the film for you, but suffice it to say that I identified strongly with it. Do yourselves a favor and watch it.

I began this article talking about resolutions. I challenge everyone out there to ask themselves this question when you set your resolutions for the new year: “Who will you follow?” From there, simply ask “How?” a few times and see where that takes you. If you need further inspiration, grab a copy of Courageous… it should fire you up.

Lastly, I want to thank my Great Aunt Shirley for putting this decoration in a prominent location in her living room. I’m not quite sure where I would be if she didn’t.

12/29/12

Reflections on Galatians 2:20…

Today, I took the opportunity while sitting in a waiting room to catch up on a few articles and back episodes of Catholic Answers Live. During the discourse of a particular answer, the guest of the day quoted a verse from Scripture that struck me so firmly that I paused the audio and did some additional reading before continuing.

And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me. —Galatians 2:20 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Background

Saint Paul writes this particular chapter of Galatians to recount a disagreement with Saint Peter. The chapter outlines the issue: they were preaching to two groups of Gentiles (one adhering to the Mosiac Law calling for circumcision and one no longer observing this Law) and Saint Peter interacted freely with one group but withdrew from them out of fear when the other group arrived. Saint Paul spends the back half of this Chapter outlining a discussion that is somewhat contentious in Christian circles about justification by Faith or works alone.

The Catholic Church has a quite common “yes and” way of thinking on this topic… justification by Faith AND works both. More on that in a different article.

Living for Christ

What struck me about this verse is how strongly it is worded. Saint Paul says that he no longer lives as himself any longer, but Christ abides in him. The fact that Christ abides in him enables him to live truly in that gift. Saint Paul tells us, in implied fashion, that the life he led before was self-centered. Now that Christ dwells within him, Saint Paul must live in the faith and practice of the Son of God, lest he throw away the very grace of God that he was given.

To me, this reinforces how important it is to evaluate whether I am making smart choices that bring me closer to God. The temptation is there to do the easy thing, the self-centered thing, take the action that won’t ruffle feathers or offend sensibilities. Christ calls us to more than that. He calls us to live in the knowledge that He loves us and died for us. I struggle personally with advocating against “hot button” contentious topics because I know it is going to draw me in to a heated argument (sometimes with friends), and I know the Truth that Christ would have me say. Because of that I am tempted to let the argument go past, say the easy thing to preserve the friendship.

My prayer is that during this Year of Faith I will find the best way to share the Truth and let the old me that is afraid die away, and with Christ abiding in me the Truth will come out.

12/21/12

Advent reflections…

The wonderful season of Advent is well underway! For me, Advent is a time of celebration, hope, and enjoying life while anticipating the celebration of the birth of Our Lord. As I write this article, I am sitting in a quiet house visiting my family in Illinois. I enjoy using the Advent season not only to do the normal “Christmastime” secular activities like buying gifts, but also to refreshing the oft-neglected relationships in my life. I have spent the week catching up with various friends and family members and visiting some of my favorite hometown haunts, remembering the good ol’ days and lamenting how challenging it is to stay in touch give the hustle of modern life.

Lately, this has made me consider my priorities in life. After I began writing this article I came across this article at the National Catholic Register outlining an op-ed article that the Holy Father wrote himself suggesting we all do the same. This reflection has led me to one main discussion point: what is my life all about?

Ahead of this trip back to my family, one of my cousins asked that I “tone down” the religious conversations because it was too weird last year ad the change that I’ve undergone has been jarring to him. It is clear to him that my life is no longer about idly whiling away evenings drinking beers and throwing darts, not to say that I don’t still enjoy either of those things within reason. But his perception of me is changed, and he has basically asked me to change it back. I wrestled with this conversation for quite some time. On one hand, I am blessed that I have a family member that is so close to me to both see this change and point it out to me. It was very difficult to hear that someone so close to me was upset with these changes that have been occurring in my life. On the other hand, I have no doubt that I have made positive choices over the last few years and my actions reflect my deepening faith in a visible and ultimately good way. This is hard for my friends and family to fully understand, especially for those that preferred my previously cavalier attitude and actions.

For Advent this year, I am giving myself the gift of peace. I am choosing to live closer to Christ and the Catholic Church because I believe that this is the best path for me. Ultimately I will have to answer for how I am choosing to live my life and I don’t want to come up short with those answers. I know that many of you wrestle with interpersonal conflict at this time of year, especially when it comes to matters of Faith and family. As our attention turns to celebrating the coming of Christ, I ask you all to heed the Holy Father’s advice and reflect on what the Advent season truly means in your life.

I pray that you all have a blessed and happy Christmas celebration this year!

12/15/12

The mystical Body of Christ

The week of waiting before we knew the ultimate fate of our pregnancy and Tasha’s health was terribly hard. After she went to the emergency room, I stayed close to home in order to keep close tabs on her condition. The one exception I made was for my Friday morning men’s fellowship, for no other reason than I was so wrapped up in concern for my wife and unborn child that I neglected to arrange someone to cover me. After checking on Tasha’s condition and ensuring that she would have her phone nearby in case something happened, I headed off to Church for the two hours required to do the session.

I had my phone at the ready, and before the session began I informed the group that if I received a phone call from my wife it was urgent and I might have to leave immediately. Unsurprisingly, they pushed me for more details so I told them that Tasha had a very serious situation going on and if I got a call it could be life threatening. I wasn’t ready to share with them that we were pregnant let alone that the pregnancy was at risk, because we weren’t sure at that point if anything was wrong or if this was a big false alarm.

I was taken aback when one of the men in the group suggested that we start the session with a prayer for her, so I croaked out an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be before heading back to my chair. Before I was done with the last prayer, I noticed the man I was sitting next to fiddling with something around his neck.

As I sat down, he leaned over to me and pressed his chain of saint medallions into my hand, along with a laminated prayer card with a relic of Our Lady of Garabandal (a Marian apparition). He told me that he would be praying for my wife and for her to keep these things with her and pray with them until she was healed.

At this point I was holding back tears. For one, this man is a very traditional Catholic and very orthodox in his practice of the Faith. These items are very dear to him (as my own medallions that commemorate my favorite saints are to me) and for him to quickly give this holy items away in order to ease our pain was jarring to me.

Later in the day I got a phone call from that same man. He wanted to check on Tasha to see how she was doing, and wanted to know if it was possible to drop off a few things. He showed up around twenty minutes later with a bottle of water from Lourdes, citing the tradition that bathing in and drinking the water has presented miraculous cures. He also brought a card indicating that he had already had a Mass said for our intentions.

It was clear that my friend was pulling out all the stops to heap graces on my family, in hopes that our pain would be removed from us. His prayers, and the prayers of many of our other friends and parishioners helped us immensely through this challenging time. Never before has it been so evident that the human members of the Catholic Church truly do comprise the mystical Body of Christ. These people are not my family by blood, some of them aren’t even close friends. Tasha, Jude and I had a veritable army of people praying for us. At least two priests said Mass for us. The outpouring of support and love was astonishing, humbling, and truly made me thankful to God for our Faith.

Some of my skeptical friends might be asking the obvious question: “well, why didn’t those prayers work? Why weren’t you healed and your baby saved if these things were so holy?” Valid questions.

I honestly believe that through these prayers and the intercession of Mary and the Saints that our desires were presented to God. I am confident that he listened and that the way this situation played out was a result of his Divine Will. The exact reason for this is a mystery that I may never know the answer to, however it has shown me more clearly how supportive the Church can be in a time of need.

I thanked my friend profusely a few weeks ago when I returned his prayer card and medallions. Throughout this process, he was very supportive and mourned with us at the loss of our baby. He was distressed as he told me that he was sure that we would have had a happy ending and he wished it would have ended differently, and I told him that God’s Will was done and we can take some comfort in knowing that. He should take some comfort in that too, since his actions helped us further our understanding and relationship with God.

12/5/12

The Adversary at our heels…

In the baptism prayers that I wrote for our unborn baby Jude, I referred to The Adversary at our heels throughout this process. I have received several questions about this, so allow me to elaborate.

Thanks to the Grace of God, Tasha and I were prepared for the worst kind of news when the phone call came to confirm that our pregnancy was, in fact, ectopic. The doctor informed us of the specifics of the situation, and that we needed to come in immediately for the shot. For those of you that don’t know, the most common way to handle this situation is a shot of the drug Methotrexate (MTX), which attacks the tissue cells that connect the embryo to its mother, causing miscarriage. The problem with this approach is the fact that it amount to nothing short of a chemical attack on the growing baby, which kills it. This “solution” was not acceptable to Tasha and I, and the doctor was very surprised when we denied this treatment. So we scheduled the partial tube removal surgery, which is morally acceptable by the Principle of Double Effect. For more details, see the excellent article at Catholics United for the Faith regarding ectopic pregnancy.

As we moved from that situation to informing our friends and family, we had to field MANY questions regarding why we have to have surgery… “can’t they just handle this without surgery?” Or appeals to convenience: “why don’t you just take the shot and be done with it?” Several people tried to convince me that our child was merely a lump of cells and we were making a big deal out of nothing. Even the doctor continually referred to our child’s remains as “the tissue” when asking whether we needed to view the remains. Despite knowing the reasons for our objections to the treatment, she still wouldn’t call our child a child. (Granted, she may have been doing this for liability reasons but it really offended me.)

The worst type of affront was when people would try to convince me by pointing out that my baby was doomed regardless of the treatment we took. I know. My baby is going to die, or my wife AND my baby could die. The logic continued that since the baby would die anyway, why wouldn’t we just take the least invasive, convenient treatment so we could be done with it?

I believe that if the end is going to be the same, then the way you get to that end truly matters. Taking the easy way would require me to handwave the fact that my child is every bit alive and growing, and this was exactly the problem. My baby wasn’t dead YET. The convenient treatments all required us to directly dissolve our baby, and from my perspective that’s nothing short of murder. If we chose this course, then we would be acting in a way to take us away from salvation and make us complicit in the death of our own child. This seems to me like the sort of thing that the Lord told us explicitly not to do.

The surgery that we had did also result in our baby’s death, but it was done by treating my wife’s Fallopian tube which was near rupture. Jude’s death was the secondary (and undesired) effect of the procedure. We chose to do what we felt was the best moral way to handle the situation. Jude was our child, and his life deserves equal consideration to our own.

I believe that this is the way that the Devil tempts people today, using the tools of attractive convenience. He’d rather make us believe that a tiny life is no different than any other tissue, mole, or skin tag – that we can medicate or burn it off without a second thought. He’d prefer us to think that just because you can’t look that child in the eyes, or hold it in your arms that it’s not real and from God. He wants us to put ourselves in front of others, our own convenience in front of the sanctity of life.

Each time this happened, I turned to Christ’s rebuke for strength: “…‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” (Matthew 16:23 NIV, in part) My prayer is that our actions did put Satan behind us during this difficult time and drew us closer to God.

11/28/12

A baptism prayer for my child…

After we found out that our pregnancy was ectopic and would require surgery, I contacted our local priest for some counsel. He instructed us to get some holy water from the Church and baptize the baby prior to the surgery. He explained this is the same way that nurses can baptize, and told us that we can sprinkle Tasha’s stomach with water in the same form as standard baptism. He also instructed us to pick a name for the baby and then remember the baby in prayer and he would remember the baby in Mass for us.

My Mom had decided to rush in from Illinois to support us during the surgery and to watch our daughter, so I decided that we would do the baptism the night before the surgery. We spent the day prior selecting a name, and I had decided at that time that I would like to put some prayers together. I always enjoyed hearing the priest or deacon talk before the baptism, and I figured it is my right as a father to pray for my child. I wrote down some notes and practiced in a weak attempt to protect against breaking down and bawling (it didn’t work).

I set up some candles and a cloth and said the following prayers with my wife and Mom present. I decided to post them here for the benefit of my friends and family that could not be present and to thank God yet again for the blessing of this little life, with us for far too short of a time:

Almighty and ever-living God, we gather here today with the full knowledge that your Mercy extends beyond the Sacraments that you provide mankind. We come to thank you for our own lives and the life of our unborn baby, for Tasha’s health, our friends and family that comprise your mystical Body, and for the gift of Faith which we cling to in hard times such as these.

Your Son said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. (Mark 10:14)” and so we do. But as we aim to do this, The Adversary is ever at our heels tempting us to take immoral actions that would take us away from your Grace. Instead of losing our souls and salvation we strengthen our resolve, our Faith, and our family bond during this hard time and bring you one more saint in Heaven.

As so I baptize you in the name of the Father <pour water>, and of the Son <pour water>, and of the Holy Spirit <pour water>.

Thank you for the life of this child, who we name Jude Michael Dalcher after the patron saint of lost causes. We ask you to commend him to your Divine Care and grant us peace instead of sorrow, love instead of pain, and strength instead of despair. This is living our Faith and though this child will not be with us, we hope our example of strong Faith brings others to you.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Hail Mary, full of Grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

O My Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls into Heaven, especially those most in need of thy Mercy.

Saint Jude, pray for us.
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.
Saint Peregrine, pray for us.
Saint Peter, pray for us.
Blessed John Paul II, pray for us.
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.
All our departed family, pray for us.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

11/19/12

A terrible loss…

This sad story begins on the morning of October 30th, with some happy news: my wife Tasha and I found out that she was pregnant with our second child. The test itself showed only a faint positive line, but a second test confirmed the result. From there, things progressed normally (albeit quickly) into the normal nausea and fatigue that accompany early pregnancy. I was surprised to receive a phone call from my wife around 11 am on Tuesday, November 6th: she was experiencing sharp pain and cramping and I could tell from the tone in her voice that she was scared.

I rushed home from work and took her to the emergency room, where they opted for a sonogram to check to see if there was anything visibly wrong. Unfortunately they could not see anything because it was too early in the pregnancy. They also checked her pregnancy hormone levels via a blood test to get a benchmark level and they wanted to test it again in two days. By the time the doctors had finished their assessment, Tasha was already starting to feel better and the pain was subsiding. The doctor agreed that this was encouraging, and that we should diligently monitor her condition in case the pain returned or worsened. At the follow-up blood test, they discovered that hormone levels were not doubling every 48-72 hours as they should be at this phase. They warned us that it could be an ectopic pregnancy, or it could be nothing at all wrong.

A grueling week of close monitoring my wife (due to the threat of a possible ruptured tube) and worrying about the fate of our child culminated in some very bad news: last Monday we found out that the baby was located in my wife’s left Fallopian tube and was still growing. This placed my wife in serious danger, so last Thursday she had the operation to remove the damaged tube. Tragically, there was no way that the baby could survive. My wife is still recovering from the surgery but we both thank God that we detected the condition before it turned life-threatening for her. This leaves me in the difficult situation of being both grateful that my wife is safe and devastated the loss of our second child.

I must admit that I have sat down to write about this experience several times over the past two weeks, recounting the whirlwind of emotions and fears, the comfort of unexpected support, and the deep sorrow of loss… but frankly the pain is just too near right now for me to do a reasonable job at it. One thing that I can capture now, is that I know that God is working in my life. Four weeks ago – before our positive pregnancy test – I was preparing to write the first of a handful of articles that I was concerned would be too controversial. It was regarding facts about abortion, the fifth of which outlined the Principle of Double Effect. When researching that article I thought it was important to refresh my understanding on what is morally acceptable and what is not from the Catholic point-of-view. I had no clue that less than a month later my wife and I would have to execute on this new knowledge. God was preparing us for the road ahead.

I can tell you this with certainty: doing what is morally right and licit is difficult. Devastatingly difficult. But over the last two weeks, Tasha and I have received great comfort from friends, family, and faith. Through this tragedy I have gotten to see God’s work in new ways. As I work through the grief, I want to capture the impact of these experiences in order to honor that little life that ended far too soon.

11/12/12

What being an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion means to me

Back in February, I was mandated as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (EMHC, otherwise known as Eucharistic Minister). I decided to participate in this ministry after much prayer and after reading the book Eucharistic Miracles by Joan Carroll Cruz. The book outlines miraculous occurrences surrounding the Blessed Sacrament, but the section of the book that I found most moving described the role of the Eucharist in the lives of the saints. The true devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the fervent reverence shown by various saints are ultimately what moved me to action. It was only a few short weeks after I finished the book that the Time and Talent sheets got circulated around the parish, and before I knew it I was signing up to find out more information.

A few weeks later, I was mandated by our priest and trained by another EMHC. During the mandating and the blessing, the priest remarked that I would be required to help distribute the Blessed Sacrament when needed at the parish and I may be asked to distribute to the homebound or infirmed of the parish. In extreme circumstances, I may even be called upon to administer Viaticum (Eucharist to the dying). Fair enough. The priest joked with me after the mandating was complete that most people don’t know that they sign up for all of that, but not to worry… all of it is voluntary.

Fast forward a few months, and I find myself taking the Eucharist to the homebound of our parish.

Two weeks ago was our annual training meeting, where we get together and work through the logistics of arranging ourselves around the altar when it was time for Communion and the like. Our priest took a few minutes to speak to us about the important privilege that we have to be able to announce to the communicant that what we bring to them actually is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, and that when we elevate the host and say the words “The Body of Christ” we are not only informing them of that fact but also reminding them that they comprise the Mystical Body of Christ as well. As EMHC’s, we get to proclaim and remind them of both of these profound mysteries.

When I think back through the accounts provided in Eucharistic Miracles, I am constantly reminded of the prayer “I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…” because frankly, I’m not worthy. When I take the Eucharist to the homebound, I see reflections of this saintly reverence on the faces of the communicants and I go through the prayers and bring the Lord to them. I see the relief and thanks in their eyes when the service is over. Getting to experience the Eucharist through the eyes of these people, some of whom have been suffering with illness or loss for years, has brought me closer to the Lord as well. I get to see the grace that these people receive, the relief they experience, and how truly important the Lord is during their time of need. It has taught me to respect the Eucharist in a new and quite profound way, and to not take it for granted.

I consider it an extreme honor to be trusted with this responsibility. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve the Church in this way. The experience of being an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion has been a wellspring of grace for me, and as the Year of Faith continues I will share a few additional stories in some detail.

This Catholic Man

Author Archives: Josh