Tonight was the last night of the parish mission. Quite honestly, I was tired and did not really feel like going out again. But I knew that listening to Fr. Leo one more time would be uplifting to say the least. So I pushed aside the temptation to just stay home and got myself to the church. It was the most packed of the 3 nights – standing room only. Fr. Leo was once again incredibly engaging, funny, and relevant. The topic for the night was the presence of Jesus in Holy Communion. He used one of my favorite lines – you are what you eat! He spoke about how Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means “the house of bread”. After His birth, Jesus was placed in a manger, which is a food trough. Jesus’ first miracle was changing water into wine at a wedding feast. And not just any wine – the best wine ever. Then he fed 5,000 people with only a bit of food. So – from the beginning, God was telling us that He is the food that we need to thrive and survive and He will make Himself available to us. Jesus Himself said,  “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.” John 6:53-54. This is only part of the scripture. Jesus goes on and on when he is questioned about “eating his flesh” and “drinking his blood”. He had an opportunity to clarify or explain, but He continued on this course, even though many people walked away because it was a difficult thing to comprehend. And so it is today. Fr. Leo challenged us to think about if we are not allowing ourselves to be fed by Jesus Christ, what are we feeding ourselves with? We spent a few minutes in Eucharistic Adoration, just being in the presence of Christ. It was beautiful.

I Found God today by having a deeper appreciation for Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist.

TWOFER!!

As I said, the church was packed when I got there 10 minutes early, but I found a spot to sit in the very back against the wall. I sat next to a woman and we started to chat. She told me that she had spent several years caring for her aging parents until they passed away. I told her that I had just move home to help care for my parents. She talked about the blessings and difficulties she experienced as she choked up several times. She gave me some advice for finding help for myself. I told her she was my angel for the day. She said that it was the other way around as she was able to remember and talk about her parents. I was so happy that I fought against the temptation to just stay home tonight.

I Found God today also in an encounter with a woman who shared her wisdom and faith.