Christina and the Eucharist
There are fewer and fewer who go to Mass. Even so, researchers predict the few that do go to Mass will have a stronger faith than those that do not participate in the Sacraments. When Christina Dangond was nine years old, her parents asked me if I could bring Holy Communion to her house because she did not feel well enough to go to church and participate in Mass. She trusted Jesus and she didn’t want to go a day without receiving Him. She understood the importance of this, but we adults excuse ourselves by saying that we are “spiritual,” but not religious.
To have a spiritual life is to grasp and live the gospel of Jesus. This is achieved by the practice of religious acts such as Eucharistic Adoration, the recitation of the Holy Rosary, devotion to Saint Joseph and other saints, and, above all, by reading the Word and celebrating the Eucharist and the other Sacraments.
Going to Mass implies an act of our will, a desire, our desire, for God. If we don’t feed this desire, it can become a routine act; we lose interest and we don’t see meaning in it any longer. In my case, sometimes I feel like staying at home and not participating in the Eucharist. Does that mean I do not want to meet Jesus? Really? I think that I get carried away by other attractions, but it always happens to me that on the Sunday that I miss Mass, I don’t feel happy. I lack that peace that meeting and receiving Jesus in the Eucharist gives me.
Why have we moved away from the Mass? Why don’t we feed our spiritual life with the Bread of Life? Didn’t we miss not having this privilege during the pandemic? Why have kids’ soccer and basketball, going for a run or bike ride, or having brunch with friends become more important practices than living our faith? Where is the true joy? If we don’t go to Mass where will we meet the Lord? Where will we talk to Him? How we will tell Him our concerns, our joys, or our anxieties if we don’t enter a church where He is present – present and waiting for us? Jesus wants us to listen to his Word and to receive Him in the Eucharist so that through this religious practice our spiritual life may grow. Without religious practices there can be no spiritual life, there can be no connection with God that makes us spiritual. How is God? What does He think of us? What does He expect of us? What does He have to give us? Without reading the Word and receiving the Eucharist we will never know.
On January 26, 2018, on the feast day of Saint Paula Romana, a woman most devoted to the Word of God, Christina was called to live eternally in the presence of God the Father, of Jesus the Word made man, and of the Holy Spirit, the light that illuminates us on our pilgrimage to eternity. May she help us to value the gift of the Eucharist and to know Jesus better by reading and meditating on His Word. It is a perfect combo that is offered to us at every Mass and in which Christina always participated even though she was in pain. May we follow Christina’s example and always participate, even when it is not easy or convenient.
Paula Gómez Victorica was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was a contemplative nun of the Order of St. Benedict for 20 years. She has lived in Massachusetts since 2001. Paula is a Certified Spiritual Director. She is now studying for a Post-Master’s Certificate in Ignatian Spirituality at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. She currently teaches Biblical Spirituality in asynchronous online courses at the same School. She serves as Director of the Faith Formation Program at St. Ignatius Parish, Chestnut Hill, MA, and also coordinates the Hispanic Community.