This solemnity brings back many wonderful memories and can open the door for our reflection on the meaning of the Eucharist at this point in our lives.
Many of us have vivid memories of eucharistic devotion growing up. We remember our first communion and the sense we had then of a special closeness to Jesus. Many of us remember holy hours, perpetual adoration times, benedictions or the eucharistic processions on Holy Thursday or Corpus Christi.
I suspect that some of us, like me, at various times in our lives, took the Eucharist for granted and lost a sense of the sacred, the intimate bond of this gift of his entire self to/for us, and we lost a sense of how the Eucharist missions us to share that self-giving love for others.
We can blame how busy we got, even how engaged we were in serving family and others. We might feel something was lost because of poor liturgy imagination and planning. It could be that we were hungry for “a good homily” to lift us up that we missed the gift of the Eucharist itself?
Can this grace of a feeling close to our Lord be restored? Can we open our hearts to receive that powerful, personal experience of love he offers us with his very self being broken and poured out for us? Can we imagine a renewed special moment when the minister offers us his Body and his Blood, while we stretch out our arms with a big smile and say “Amen,” meaning “Yes,” to the whole gift: “Yes, I desire to receive you into my heart. Yes, I so desire to let you heal me with your love and I really want to feel missioned by this sacrament to love as you’ve loved me”?
I believe this is possible because I’m experiencing a bit of it more and more these days, dealing with my diminishment. That journey has led me to re-discover an important tool Ignatius offers us, that is, locating and asking for the grace we desire. To ask for this gift of a “holy communion of love” we receive in the Eucharist is surely to ask for a grace our Lord dearly wants to give us.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to the many who wrote in response to my retirement. I was deeply consoled by the number expressing gratitude for all that this ministry has offered over the years. May the Lord who brought forth this ministry continue to bless it in the years to come.
Rev. Andy Alexander, SJ
I was born and raised in Omaha, 8 blocks from where I now work. My parents were very involved in the Jesuit parish here and were outstanding examples of a commitment to service for my sister and me as we were growing up. I entered the Jesuits in 1966, and was ordained in 1979.
I love giving the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, in any adaptation. One of my greatest privileges was to serve as pastor at Gesu Parish in Milwaukee for 8 years before coming here. The community there taught me about church, and the relationship between the worship which says who we are and the ministry to which it sends us.
One of the privileges of being back in Omaha was helping my mother care for my father, the last four and a half years of his life. Both of my parents have died and are enjoying the embrace of the Lord which they taught me about all of their lives.
When I write these reflections, I try to imagine the people who will be reading them. I try to imagine what ways I might be in solidarity with people struggling in any way. Then I read the readings. Then I ask, “what is the good news that we need to hear?” Something usually just comes, to me.
It is tremendously consoling to receive mail from people around the world, simply expressing gratitude for a reflection. Most of the time, it is enough to know, from the numbers, that people are finding this site to be a helpful spiritual support.
