That was the gist of a text I received on Thursday, the day of my wife's surgery from Stephanie, my wife's RCIA sponsor last year and extremely good friend today.
I was elated.
Last Sunday after Mass, Mark, our RCIA Director, had offered me the training necessary to become someone who could bring Communion to the sick. Knowing that my wife would be recovering for at least this weekend and likely the next, I wanted her to continue to receive the Eucharist.
Mark had offered to bring her Communion the day of surgery but Linda had later expressed some reservations about it and so we chose, I thought, not to pursue it.
On the morning of her surgery however, shortly after her surgeon had talked to all of us in the waiting room once he had finished and after I had blasted out a text to a number of people to report we had been told her lymph nodes had preliminarily tested negative for cancer, Steph revealed in reply that Linda had asked the night before for Communion, a revelation that seriously moved me. Not two hours later, Steph arrived and fed Linda's soul and her need for healing with the Real Presence of our Lord. It was a powerful moment.
Today, after 5:30 Mass, Linda was fed again and this time, it was I who "brought her our Lord". That too was powerful. I carried Him home in what is called a Pyx, placed in a leather burse strapped around my neck, the Lord pressed against my heart the entire way home.
Think about that for just a moment.
It's hard I imagine for non-Catholics to appreciate the special place the Eucharist holds in the life of the faithful Catholic. Sadly, I think it's hard for many Catholics to appreciate it but Linda and I, by some miracle I think, have come to truly treasure The Real Presence of our Lord in Communion. In the last three days, she particularly has been able to experience His Presence uniquely and powerfully, and for that, we are both immensely grateful.
In that vein, and in an attempt to communicate how uniquely and powerfully the Eucharist can be for some of us, I'm posting the following video.
Pay special attention to the lyrics:
Some of us non-Catholics get it, especially us Anglicans. Powerful, indeed.
Posted by: allyHM | Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 11:23 PM