We recently attended a Catholic Family Conference in Anaheim, CA sponsored by the Catholic Resource Center. As I look back at the conference, what I consider the highlight is something I would have never expected.
We attended the conference with Rich and Kristi, our friends and now neighbors (yeah!). Teri and Kristi offered to put the kids to bed one night while Rich and I attended a speaker Q&A panel. We went and enjoyed the part we saw (we were late). After the session, we did a little looking around at the exhibit booths then headed back to our rooms. As we approached the glass doors near the conference rooms at our hotel, we could see a Eucharistic procession inside heading our way. The people inside were kneeling with heads bowed on each side of the wide hall that led to the glass doors. Rich and I entered the hall and knelt. As the procession approached the doors, one of the processors gestured to us to open the doors for them. We both got up and knelt to open the doors for the procession - for Jesus. I had never been involved in something so significant. It was the highlight of the conference for me.
As I reflect on that moment and the reading I have been doing for the last 9~10 months, I can't stop myself from experiencing awe in the Eucharist. The Eucharistic passages of the Gospels have now come alive as I see them in their true sense. I can't honestly imagine what I thought of these passages before this journey into Catholicism. All I can do is thank God for allowing me to see his Sacred Scripture anew in light of his Church. The Church he has not left or forsaken.
John 6:51 "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
John 6:53-56 "Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him."
Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist so we can partake of the life-giving banquet he has prepared. Since Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, it has become the source and summit of our faith. A great mystery. A great treasure. A great feast. The God of the universe humbled to take the form of unleavened bread.
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