MISSING COMMUNION

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This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, or "Corpus Christi." The celebration offers us a couple of timely points for reflection and prayer.

Abbey Manna: 350 bags last Saturday 

FOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY

One of the effects of the Covid-19 crisis becomes visible in front of our monastery on Saturday mornings, when a single-file line for the food pantry stretches up to the corner of William Street and extends part way down the hill alongside the church. Last week we distributed 340 bags of groceries, and the week before 360. For the folks on the line, food is a lot more than a subject for meditation; but for me, on this Corpus Christi weekend, I think of how the Lord fed his people in the desert.

The first reading in tomorrow's mass, from Deuteronomy Ch. 8, shows Moses in his role as "seer," interpreting for the people the meaning of the manna, the "bread from heaven" that had been feeding the Israelites in the desert: This was God's way of demonstrating his love and protection for his chosen people.

During these days when we are closed up inside our own homes, we  naturally think of food in terms of nourishment for ourselves and our families. But in the bible, manna is never seen as food given to each individual, but rather as food given by the Lord to the community to feed the community as they wandered in the wilderness.

The documents of Vatican II treat the Eucharist from that same perspective: They emphasize that the mass is the celebration by the People of God as a community rather than as a collection of individuals each isolated in their own devotional thoughts at mass. The community is united as one around the altar, and shares in the bread that makes us all one in Christ.

People who are used to attending mass on Sundays have had a chance during the past couple of months to think about what it is they miss most about the Sunday celebration. I hope that many or most of us miss the aspect of community -- "communion." I say this because it seems to me that what our country needs right now is not a spirit of isolation and separateness (think social distancing), but a sense that all of us (that means all of us) are, at the deepest level, a single community, brothers and sisters of one another.

ONE BREAD, ONE BODY

On the other hand, certain of our  political leaders seem to be emphasizing the things that make us different from one another, and exploiting these differences in order to form us into opposing camps that are full of anger and hatred toward the opposing group. This is not the role of leadership in a democracy, but it seems to be working.

As some national leaders are sponsoring rallies where people can vent their hostility toward certain of their brothers and sisters, our Church continues quietly celebrating our oneness as children of the one God. While some people are looking forward to being able to gather in large groups for noisy rallies to share their fears and fan their hatred, others of us are looking forward to being able to gather again in large groups to celebrate God's boundless love for everyone, and to share humbly in the Sacrament of Unity that reminds us that God nourishes all of us and watches over all who honestly seek for the Lord. And meanwhile we hand out hundreds of bags of groceries to our hungry neighbors on Saturdays at 10:00 a.m..

Think about this: we talk about gathering as a community of believers on Sundays, but I don't hear anyone referring to the community of racists getting together for a rally. Fear and hostility and hatred make lousy glue. Try Jesus instead.

Happy Feast of Corpus Christi!