Sunday, June 29, 2008

Reverence for the Eucharist

"Our hearts need to start burning with a deeper understanding of Who and What this Eucharist is"

I watched a movie about St. Faustina a while ago and there was one scene in which one of her fellow nuns, who was jealous of Sister Faustina, said while passing her in the hallway "Here comes the princess" and St. Faustina replied that she had just received Holy Communion and so she did indeed have royal blood flowing in her.

We seem to have lost the sense of wonder and awe at the reception of the Eucharist. Having had the concept pounded into our heads from infancy we simply take it for granted that This is the Body of Our Lord and do not stop to contemplate what that really means. And because we take it for granted we therefore do not offer Our Lord in the Eucharist the reverence that He deserves.

My dad told me that when he was in Catholic gradeschool his class was taken to Mass one day. There were no seats left so some of the boys had to stand. After Communion the boys were standing when their teacher came over and asked if they had received Communion. The boys replied that they had and the teacher immediately stated "Get on your knees!"

This teacher understood What the Eucharist is and the respect It commands.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Obesity

Back in my day cookie monster ate cookies.



This whole childhood obesity thing has gotten way out of control. You know why Americans are fat? Cuz we're lazy. It's a fact. And because we're lazy we want the government to take care of everything for us. Which is why we don't complain when New York's Nanny Mayor Bloomberg bans trans-fats in restaurants.

It is not up to the mayor to tell his constituents what they can and can't eat. It is the decision of the customer at a restaurant whether or not to care about the nutritional value of his or her food.

The Declaration of Independence states that there are three inalienable rights "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". I happen to find my happiness in a chocolate chip cookie and it is not up to the mayor and certainly not up to Sesame Street to make me eat fruit instead.