Once again, my Catholic social networking group has decided to write on a specific topic. Since July brings us the Feast of the Most Precious Blood in the old calendar, someone convinced the rest of us that the Precious Blood should be our topic.
I was very hesitant about this topic because I simply had not thought very much about it, though I receive this Gift several times a week and also on Sunday. But here I am, putting my fingers to the task of typing up a blog article about the Most Precious Blood!
The first thing that came to my mind is how precious blood is to us. Without it, we couldn't exist. The average human body contains 8-10 pints of blood (more or less depending on one's size). A unit of blood is considered a pint. Blood makes up about 7% of our body's weight.
When we are hurt and we see our life's blood seeping away, we immediately try to stanch its flow. We know instinctively that we need that blood to live.
There is another kind of life's blood that we desire to receive and that is the Precious Blood that we are allowed to consume along with Christ's Body at Holy Mass. When I was a child and young woman, only the priest was allowed to receive the Precious Blood at Mass. And he did so in order to complete the entire Sacrifice. As for ordinary folk like me and everybody else, Christ's Body in the form of the Consecrated Bread was our complete communion with the Lord. Of course, we all realized that the Bread was both Body and Blood, soul and divinity, so we were satisfied. It was just one of those things which we didn't question.
But what a joy it was when one of the changes that came about after Vatican II was to bring us the privilege of communicating under both species. The symbolism of receiving under both species is important because it makes us even more aware of how precious the Blood shed by Jesus is for us. Not only is the Body taken and eaten; but the Blood also touches our lips and is consumed together and becomes a part of us.
Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ is as precious to us as our own life's blood. We need both in order to live. However, we don't require 8 pints of Precious Blood in our body. Just a simple sip is all we need...
Lord, we thank you for the Blood you shed for us.
For my friend, Doris T_ _ _ , who asked me to speak at her funeral...
I visited Doris soon after her serious bout with pneumonia, a couple of months ago. She had an important favor she wished of me.
"What would you like for me to do?"
And Doris said: "At my funeral, I want you to comfort my family and tell them about me."
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My dear loved ones... Henry, Robin, Tiffany, Mother, Nana girls, sister and brother, other family members and friends. I am truly aware that YOU are the ones who knew Doris best of all...
I think what Doris wanted me to do was to tell you what I understood about her experience of our Heavenly Father and the beauty I found in her heart and soul because she allowed me to see it.
I am the one she entrusted to bring her Holy Communion from this, her beloved parish church, during the times she was unable to attend our services.
It all began two years ago when my pastor told me to expect a call from Doris T_ _ _ , a parishioner I barely knew. Doris told me later that she knew me only as a choir member and a lector but she apparently trusted our pastor's judgement that her desire for privacy about her illness would be safe with me. Anyway, Doris called me and asked me to visit her and to bring her Holy Communion, which she very much desired.
During that first visit, we discovered that our personalities were well matched and our reactions to our life experiences were quite similar. Thus our friendship began.
Doris would phone me when she was ready for another visit... Each time I visited her, we would catch up on what had occurred in our lives since the last visit. Doris was very perceptive and would realize immediately if something was troubling me. Sometimes, Fr. _ _ _ and I visited her together, but most of the time, I visited her alone. Though not really alone for I carried the Body of Christ with me.
Anyway, all of the joys and concerns that we had just shared during the visit became part of the prayer we offered to God in petition and thanksgiving as she prepared to receive Him.
Those moments when Doris received the Body of Christ were holy and tender moments of communion with "her Jesus." Afterwards, I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for the Gift she had just received and she sometimes added her own prayer to mine.
My dear loved ones, Doris loved the Lord and she knew where her strength and courage would come from. She had a great yearning and desire to be united with Him through receiving the Body and Blood of Christ during Mass. When she was unable to attend Mass because of her illness, she still was able to satisfy that longing and receive Him at home.
I believe this is what she wanted me to share with you.
As for myself, I want to tell you what a privilege and honor it has been for me to be allowed to accompany Doris on that part of her journey. You know I loved her with all my heart and I know she loved me too.
In loving memory...
Just a few months ago, I wrote a blog article about my friend, who knowing that she was reaching the end of her journey, asked me to speak at her funeral. You can read the original article here.
She has been in and out of the hospital or rehab center ever since. She has always been a very private person, so I only visited her when she expressly called me to do so.
Last night, I received a phone call from her husband. My friend was again in the hospital and this time, she will not return home. She asked her husband to call me; that she wished me to come to visit her. I said that I would come the next day or Tuesday. Her husband advised me to come the next day...that is how bad off she is.
There was no one in the room when I arrived this morning. Her husband had gone to get something to eat since he had been with her all night. One of the daughters would arrive a bit later. My friend was drifting in and out of sleep since she was heavily sedated. She is on hospice care now. She decided herself that she wanted nothing else done for her except to be kept comfortable. Not only is my friend a private person but she is a strong woman who has tried to keep as much control of her life as she can. She has even written her own obituary! I am in awe of her strength and character.
I went to her bedside and spoke to her. She became alert and recognized me. The first thing she said to me was to remind me of my promise to her. She can hardly speak clearly now but there was no doubt what she was saying to me. I assured her that I would do everything she wanted.
We are in an unfortunate period in my parish right now. We are in a transition time from one pastor to another. The priest who has been caring for my friend's spiritual needs the past 3 years has transferred to another diocese far away. He left in early June. Our new pastor will take over July 1st. In the meantime, we have had a visiting priest to celebrate our Sunday and Wednesday Masses. Neither of these priests know my friend or her family.
I explained all this to her husband who is not Catholic. He wants my help to make the church arrangements. In speaking to her daughter, I was reminded of another priest from a nearby parish who does know her. Hopefully, this priest will be available when the time comes.
I left them with the promise to return tomorrow... My friend's remaining days on earth are getting shorter now. It will soon be time for her to go home to her Heavenly Father.
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Update: My friend entered into the arms of her Heavenly Father on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 around 8:15 p.m.
