It was so amazing to celebrate the Mass with millions of other Catholics.
It came time for Communion
I had read about the lessons the Church had learned over the decades from these large Masses
I had read about the logistical hurdles they had encountered in the Philippines when they celebrated Mass with 7 million people
And we were only seven blocks down Benjamin Franklin Parkway from the Pope
So in my mind, of course we would be able to receive communion.
Communion began and we watched on the big screens as it was distributed amongst the people in the central area
We waited patiently, praying, listening to the incredible music, and watching people recieve communion.
Ten minutes went by. No big deal. Logistics are hard in groups this big.
Twenty minutes went by. And we saw the yellow umbrellas coming down marking the ministers of communion.
But the umbrellas turned to the side and cut across the crowd fice blocks aherad of us.
They didn't keep coming down.
Another ten minutes passed.
For the first time, the thought crossed ym mind, maybe I wouldn't be able to receive communion today. Myabe they wouldn't make it this. It had already been thirty minutes.
Another ten minutes went by. Why weren't they using the central walkway that was already blocked off? They could easily transport the ministers down to the furthest ends and abck again in half this time if they had done that.
And then, a block ahead of us, the yellow umbrellas appeared. Relief, oh good, they are coming this way.
But wait, they stopped. Were they not coming any further?
I looked at the crowd, thousands of people packed shoulder to shoulder in front of us. It would take us twenty minutes jsut to et up there.
I looked my wife and told her I wanted to try and go. She agreed and I took her hand. We began to push forward, stepping around families, stepping over chairs, squeezing through spaces between people. We made the sidewalk, then the lamp, then an opening, then a curb, then more crowds.
Other people got the same idea and began to push forward with us. Large families, children, elderly, all pushing forward with us, trying to reach the five yellow umbrellas in front of us.
Then we reached a stopping point. All of the people who had pressed forward to reach the ministers had reached them. There was nowhere else to squeeze through. There were now hundreds of people waiting to get close enough to receive communion.
I found myself praying. Please don't let them run out. Please help my wife and I to receive your body and blood. Dear Lord please help me. I was too far away in the first round. And for a moment the crowd froze. The people who had received communion could not get out of the way because of the crowd of people wanting to receive.
TIme passed and nothign happened. I began to worry about the time. When did the ministers have to return?
THen we managed to make enough room for the people to squeeze by. They moved to the back and a new group surged forward. I was pressed against a street lamp missed opportunity to get close enough. I watched as the priest distributed communion.
One person in front of me moved out of the way and I took a step forward and was within arm reach. I help out my hand, hoping that I could receive communion and the priest would not think it vulage of me to be reaching out over the heads of many as I was.
He looked at me for a second. I thought I was going to have to wait. Then he gave me a communion.
I was so happy! I consumed the Eucharist and said a prayer in joy. I turned around, beaming to wife and swapped places with her. She was able to receive communion as well.
We hugged each other in our excitement. Then we rushed back to offer the rest of our family the chance to receive communion. They rushed off.
My wfe and I turned to each other absolutely glowing. We embraced. We had been able to receive communion. We closed our eyes and wept for joy.
We stayed glued together, in the middle of the crowd, hugging with tears streaming down our faces as we prayed in thanksgiving for ten minutes.
Finally, we broke apart and contuned beaming at each other.
The thought struck me. How odd we were acting. While I don't treat communion flippantly, when it it is available at every church in tiwn, multiple times a day, every day of the wekk, you know it is always there. You know you can always receive communion.
Now for the first time, there had been the smallest doubt for twenty minutes that I would be unable to receive the body and blood of Christ and it had been harrowing. I realized how much I longed for the Eucharist. How much I needed to have it. How important it was to me.
And being able to receive communion had been a moment of pure joy. I felt closer to Christ than I had felt since my son's baptism. I was so relieved. So happy.
I realized this was incredibly valuabel...to me...to my family...to the world.
If we only knew how God regards the Mass, we would risk our lives to attend a single Mass. - St Padre Pio
I was reminded of a quote from St. Padre Pio. It had never made sense in the past due to the extreme luxury I live in the United States. But, that small window where it had appeared I would not receive made it much more understnadable.
It's true.
Keep pursuing,
No comments:
Post a Comment