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Finding Jesus
Sr Clare Morley OSB a Benedictine sister from Kylemore Abbey, encourages us to return to the practice of daily Mass and visits to the Blessed sacrament.
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The Year of the Eucharist gives us the opportunity to set out again to "search". Like those who found Jesus on the other side of the lake, we may look towards the Tabernacle and ask "Teacher, when did you get here? "(Jn 6:25). What does it mean for us people of the 21st century, that Jesus chose to remain present here in the form of bread? In a world fraught with fear - fear of war, of violence, of illness, of loneliness, can we find in the Eucharistic presence any comfort? Any promise? Any hope?
Only Jesus who waits for us in the Eucharist can heal that hurt - can fill the yawning chasm left by the scars of living."I will never turn anyone away who comes to me" (Jn 6:37) says this welcoming Friend. Many of us hesitate through fear. We have, perhaps, already suffered rejection. We have been alienated in one way or another. The pain of exclusion penetrates more sharply with each passing day. We are alone, unwanted, and unloved. Now is the time to renew that search. Look again towards the Tabernacle. This same Jesus remains close to us in our suffering humanity. He remains with us in the humblest form - a piece of bread. Bread is the mainstay of human life. It has been called the staff of life, no arbitrary choice on the part of Jesus - He would be with us in a form at once lowly and indispensable. Ours is a complex world. Nothing comes easily to us. We are, indeed, suspicious of simplicity and query whatever appears too easy of access. It is then, particularly difficult for us to accept the word of Christ, "What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he has sent." (Jn 6:29). How slow we can be to come into his presence, to call on his name, to beg an increase in faith. This is what is asked of us. "Come to Me... I will give you rest." Ready as we are to accept the wonders on offer in our techno logically refined age, we are slow to have faith in One who has the power to inspire hope and to bring us consolation and strength. Perhaps like the crowd in the Gospel story, we need to go to the opposite side of the lake (John 6.25) Perhaps we need to leave behind our sophisticated, highly intellectualised world, in order to re-commit ourselves to a simpler vision. Jesus did talk of becoming child-like, of adopting a different outlook - freeing ourselves to see as those see who are wide awake members of the kingdom here on earth. How to do it? There are tested and tried
ways. The practice of daily Mass which brings us into direct contact
with Jesus in the Eucharist is certainly something to revisit in this
year of the Eucharist. We read and hear so much today about "coping
skills" and how to acquire them. No one doubts the necessity of
learning ways to deal with the stresses and painful experiences of living.
Rarely, however do we hear mention of the powerful strengths on offer
in the reception of the Eucharist, the welcoming of God Himself into
our daily lives. Receiving Holy Communion, we find a new serenity and
stability for each day. This is, after all, the BREAD OF LIFE! A living
energiser that brings us strength and courage when we may have given
up hope. It is well worth making that effort. Accept again the invitation
"Come to Me... I will give you rest. " (Matt 11:28).
Throughout the day, the brief but restful "visit to the Blessed
Sacrament" as it was once known with great respect and affection,
comes a close second to the practice of daily Mass. Sitting in silence
in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord, we make a discovery. It is
not really we who have been searching - He has searched and found us! |
His
words challenge us from the Gospel page: "Do not work for the
food that goes bad; instead work for food that lasts for eternal life
". (Jn 6:27) "I am the Bread of Life " he says, "He
who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never
be thirsty." (Jn 6.35). We know that he is speaking figuratively.
We know that the hunger and thirst he refers to is not for bread and
wine, but a far deeper hunger, a far more parching thirst. It is the
hunger for acceptance, for affirmation, for inclusion, for integration
- for love! It is a thirst for justice, for hope, for peace and we know
how, in this present time we are struggling to survive this hunger and
thirst. Perhaps now, as at no other time in history, social and political
groups are galvanised into action. Good people try daily to assuage
the hunger and provide a little for the thirst. But it is not enough.