Saturday, August 8, 2009

Recent Problems

Please pray for my father-in-law Gerry McFarlance (69) who had a major stroke last month. He is critically ill in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Our holiday was interrupted early on and we have had to a lot of travelling back and forth in the last five weeks.

Meditation on the Bread of Life

Bread of Life – Used on the Sunday 8am Homily

I have been reflecting on the Eucharist, and I offer this meditation.

When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

In the past week I have been making bread. I have not employed a bread maker but wanted the experience of mixing the ingredients and kneading the bread. The whole process is ancient, a skill passed for millennia and somewhat mysterious. The smallest constituent, yeast, transforms the whole thing.

Jesus compared the kingdom of God to yeast. When I worry about the diminishing size of congregations, I remember that the yeast.

We are what (or who) God is using to raise everything around us. Our calling is to be yeast in Salcombe, or wherever we call home.

It may even be a mystery to us how God can do this. How can God use me to be his agent of change? In many ways this is not our business or concern. It may come years later, that we appreciate how our very presence changed everything around us.

When you and I leave this service, we carry Christ with us. We have received the bread of life sacramentally. Let us not keep him to ourselves. That would diminish the supreme gift. Somehow, let the joy, grace and peace be something we share.

The Eucharist is a miracle. Let us be a miracle when we leave here.