Our blood is precious!

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.

ChitChat in the Chapel

This blog post came about from a reflection I read this morning over at Fr. Charles' fine blog, a minor friar. His reflection, Toying with the Talkers, is well worth a read. Fr. Charles loves his early morning, 6:45 a.m. daily Mass and arrives in plenty of time to pray and meditate before it is time to begin Mass. BUT his plans for a quiet time of meditation are continually foiled because his faithful parishioners also arrive early and spend the time before Mass chatting - and apparently not very quietly!

Anyway, I had to chuckle about his story of the chitchat going on before Mass because I have had to endure the same thing. Let me explain:

Last year for Lent, I decided to try to find a Mass nearby that I could attend as part of my Lenten resolutions. I discovered a twice-a-week Mass in the chapel of the local Catholic hospital not far from my home. The chapel is served by the pastor of the nearby church, actually my territorial parish, which I do not attend, since I prefer my birth parish in the nearby city.

So, I began to attend this Mass. The regulars at the Mass are a tight knit group, older people like me, who have gotten to know each other well over the years. Introvert that I am, I tried to keep to myself at first... I arrived earlier than the others and so thought, "Wow, I'll have some time to meditate and pray to Jesus in the tabernacle!" NOT!

For too soon, the regulars began to arrive and the chitchat started! At first I was annoyed... Where was my meditation time? God, I really need some quiet time with You...

But guess what? It wasn't too long before they asked who I was... where I went to church... whether I was interested in lectoring during the Mass along with the 2 or 3 other people who take turns each time... and introduced me around.

And something else had begun to happen. I began to realize that this little community of people care very very much for each other. They look out for each other. If someone is missing they want to know why. They are also willing to let a stranger into their midst. They are Catholics who have a great love of the Mass. They want to be here... They want to be among their friends and as a community, we worship and pray and offer the Sacrifice together with the priest. What more can I ask...

Although I truly miss time to have an extended period to meditate and pray in this chapel on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I take what time I can... Then when my neighbor turns to me to ask a question or to tell me something that I might be interested in knowing, I try to be there for her without annoyance... God must simply have other plans for me those two mornings...

Something's Missing

I have found it very helpful for my own spiritual life, if I can attend Mass during the week as well as on Sunday. My own parish has only a Wednesday evening Mass which I attend, but I have found that a local Catholic hospital not far from my home has Mass in its chapel twice a week. The hospital is within the service area of a Catholic parish not my own. The pastor celebrates Mass there before going on his hospital rounds. Our little community of about 15 regulars come mainly from the priest's parish, but also from surrounding parishes like I do. We are a congenial group.

So what is the problem?

Although the Mass is celebrated reverently, it is missing some of its little rituals. What has happened to the several drops of water that the celebrant is supposed to pour into the chalice with the wine? The co-mingling of the water and wine. There is no water cruet set out for that or for washing his hands. There is no paten for a larger host; only a plate containing the small hosts. What has happened to the breaking of a consecrated Host and the tiny bit that is supposed to be put into the chalice with the Precious Blood? It doesn't happen as far as I can tell...

It's a pity since these rituals all have a meaning that now is lost to those of us who attend these Masses. However, I am not the one who is going to call the priest's attention to the lack of these rituals. From what I have gathered, he is not happy when he is questioned about certain issues. I am a visitor there so I am just grateful that I can attend these Masses and receive my Lord during the week.