Fr. Bob - Anything but boring
What do you think is the most common complaint a teenager might have about having to go to Sunday mass? I think it’s the same complaint I had when I was a teenager. I didn’t like having to go to mass because I thought it was boring. And sometimes it’s not just teenagers that feel that. And why is it boring? Well, it might be the homily. Okay, not every priest is exactly a Fulton J sheen. And for me, I know there are certain Sundays that I may be a bit off my game. (I hope that’s not today). But hey, you can’t hit a bullseye every time, right? Or maybe it’s boring because the music isn’t that good. That’s not true here at St. Victoria of course. But I suppose that there are certain parishes where on a given Sunday the music isn’t that good. But you what? Ultimately if the mass seems boring that’s on us. But mass doesn’t have to be boring. And I’ll tell you why. I have a friend who’s been battling cancer for the last eight years. But now it looks like the end is not far off. His wife is there for him caring for him day and night around the clock. She’s exhausted but she keeps going. She’s giving her body and blood all for her husband. That’s what real love does. The Eucharist is about that kind of love. In Eucharist as we remember how Jesus gave his body and blood all for us as we receive Communion, we are invited to do the same, to give our body and blood all for God and for one another. That’s why receiving Communion can’t be done casually. It calls for something deep within us. In giving her body and blood all for her husband the wife of my friend is being Eucharist to him. It’s not easy but she does it because that’s what love does. In whatever we do, if it’s driven by love that’s how we can be Eucharist for one another. And that’s why it takes courage to walk up for Communion. If the Eucharist is about love it invites us to do for God and for one another what Jesus did for us, even to the point of death on a cross. So, the question, as I receive Communion today am I willing to give my body and blood all for the one who gave his body and blood all for me? If I have the courage to say yes to that question, then suddenly, mass will be anything but boring. As Jesus said to the crowd on the hill that day he says to us. “This is my flesh for the life of the world.” So, for those of us who are ready to not just sleepwalk our way up to Communion but give our body and blood all for the one we receive in Communion then Eucharist can become that transformative gift that can change our lives forever.
