A Child Makes Sense of the Eucharist

Several years ago now on First Communion Sunday, according to his custom, Father Harris began his homily by asking the children questions. That particular year, he began simply enough:

"Why are we here today? What are we celebrating?"

An eager child piped in: "We are receiving Jesus."

Father pointed to the back of the church to the bread and wine: "In a little while they are going to bring up the bread and the wine. Is that Jesus? No. It will be placed on the altar, but then something is going to happen. We teach that it is going to become the Body and Blood of Jesus... Well, I have two questions for you: 1) How can that even happen--bread and wine turning in to Jesus' Body and Blood? and two 2) Why would Jesus want to do that?"

As the Director of Religious Education and a catechist, I drew in a deep breath. I mean, I believed we'd prepared the children well for this day, but Father! Those were rather difficult questions for 8 year olds to be answering in front of a couple hundred people! I think their parents were even squirming a little, afraid maybe that the question would be addressed to them next.

An arm shot up.

I saw that it wasn't an 8 year old who raised her hand at all. We had a first grade child that year who begged to be allowed to receive her first communion. She had drawn a picture and written a note to Father Harris letting him know that she felt that Jesus was calling her to receive that year. "How can I refuse this?" He'd said, holding in his hand her drawing of him giving her first communion, with the words "Jesus is calling me" written there.

Father pointed at little Olivia and she stood up so that she would be heard.

"Well," she began boldly, "He can change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood because He is God and He can do whatever He wants."

Good one, I thought, as she took a breath. I wondered how a just-turned-7 year old child would explain something that scholars, theologians, priests, bishops, and popes have taken millenia to carefully present. I might have been holding my breath.

"And," she continued confidently, "Jesus knew that He would be going back into heaven, but He didn't want to leave the people alone without Him, or to never be with people who had not been born yet. So He gave us this gift because He wanted to be with us forever."

Father was speechless, and started walking back to his chair. He said his homily was over because she had just preached it for Him.

Sometimes we adults get a little caught up in the hows and whys and complications of faith. We see evil and we are scandalized, we experience suffering and we are jaded. Is God really there? Does He really love us at all? But that beautiful day in May 2012, the simplicity of a child cut through all of the big words and big ideas and explained the great Sacrament we celebrate this weekend (Corpus Christi) as one simple concept: Love. He wants to be with us. Doesn't that make sense?

"At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will." Luke 10:21

 God's Blessing to you on this Feast of Corpus Christi and always!
Mandie DeVries, Director of Religious Education