I found a quote that resonated with me as I walked out down the Campus Ministry hallway at 3:00 when I was done studying for the night.
"I can endure anything
between two Eucharists."
- Dorthy Day
between two Eucharists."
- Dorthy Day
I don't know much about Dorthy Day; nothing more than she was a Catholic who was involved with the poor, who worked for social justice, was fairly modern, and founded the Catholic Worker newspaper. The quote resonated with me as I walked back to my dorm and gave the the strength to not fall into despair with my overwhelming week.
It is a beautiful thought: "I can endure anything." But it comes with the knowledge that I will be fed again and given the strength of our savior by consuming the Eucharist. I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me, says Paul. How true that is when our lives begin to revolve around the strength - spiritual, physical, and emotional- that we are given at each celebration of the Mass. How thankful are we? Do we hide how much we rely on our savior? even to him, are we scared to admit it. Weakness - an anti-value of our culture. We must be strong, self sufficient according to them. But how different are we supposed to be in the eyes of Christ. Reliant on our savior, childlike looking to Christ to guide and and support us each day.
It is truly a gift given to us. The Eucharist didn't have to happen. Christ could have come and then left, but instead he knew there would be centuries of persecution, wars that destroyed so much of mankind, famines, natural disasters, and on an individual's level, the loss of a child, the feeling of anxiety, unemployment, fear of future, and even midterm weeks. And because he knew that, he gave us himself to give us strength. The Cross is where we find salvation, and the Eucharist is where we find strength to always remember to live in that saving grace.
The times that are emotionally trying, that are physically taxing, the days when you look around and don't understand how you got where you are, or where you are supposed to be going, it is those times that the Eucharist calls us. "Come, child, rest in me for this hour, do not think, just open your heart and allow me to love you right here. All will be well, find strength in this gift, rest in me. I will soon be resting in you and carrying you though the day."
With Christ with in us, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, we can endure anything between two Eucharists.
It is a beautiful thought: "I can endure anything." But it comes with the knowledge that I will be fed again and given the strength of our savior by consuming the Eucharist. I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me, says Paul. How true that is when our lives begin to revolve around the strength - spiritual, physical, and emotional- that we are given at each celebration of the Mass. How thankful are we? Do we hide how much we rely on our savior? even to him, are we scared to admit it. Weakness - an anti-value of our culture. We must be strong, self sufficient according to them. But how different are we supposed to be in the eyes of Christ. Reliant on our savior, childlike looking to Christ to guide and and support us each day.
It is truly a gift given to us. The Eucharist didn't have to happen. Christ could have come and then left, but instead he knew there would be centuries of persecution, wars that destroyed so much of mankind, famines, natural disasters, and on an individual's level, the loss of a child, the feeling of anxiety, unemployment, fear of future, and even midterm weeks. And because he knew that, he gave us himself to give us strength. The Cross is where we find salvation, and the Eucharist is where we find strength to always remember to live in that saving grace.
The times that are emotionally trying, that are physically taxing, the days when you look around and don't understand how you got where you are, or where you are supposed to be going, it is those times that the Eucharist calls us. "Come, child, rest in me for this hour, do not think, just open your heart and allow me to love you right here. All will be well, find strength in this gift, rest in me. I will soon be resting in you and carrying you though the day."
With Christ with in us, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, we can endure anything between two Eucharists.
