A Thing

Today is First Holy Communion at our parish for many second graders. It is a bitter/ sweet day for me. The sweet is to see all these children coming up to communion for the first time. They are enthusiastic and excited about this event. It will be a forever memory for them. The bitter is that we won't see much of these same children on future Sundays. Some will want to come back, but their parents have others interests. Some will look forward to presents today, but lose or forget about rosaries and prayer books that they are given by relatives. What is happening? For some of us, the Eucharist is something we get or go to. It is one omore thing in our life. It is like having a car, or a toy, or new clothes. We get clothes. We get Communion. They are all things in our life, so much stuff. When things are new, we pay them attention. In time we grow bored, or get used to them and put them aside for newer diversions, like so many cell phones or gadgets. The Eucharist is not a "Thing". It is an event, an encounter, that is timeless. Once we encounter the Holy in Eucharist, we are drawn into wanting more, to touch it again and again. We never forget the first encounter, but also, it stays with us as more than a memory. When you see your true love, for the first time, it is never forgotten. It goes where you go. You want to be with that loved one. When that encounter becomes "The Husband" or The Wife" then they are just another "thing" you have in your life, and they may come to bore you. The children who have an encounter with Christ in their First Holy Communion, will want more. Those who see communion as one more thing in their lives will be gone soon enough. We pretty much treat God the way we treat one another.