Today, I finally made it to weekday mass. 'Finally' meaning for the first time since we've had our newest little one, Chiara Ann. Due to a number of cultural formalities and physical limitations, I was putting off starting to go. However, now with a nanny that arrives around 6:15, I can go and come back just before the kids begin to wake up! Providence, surely, is on my side here. But I digress.
Maybe because of this hiatus in being able to go to mass by myself, my ears and especially heart were ultra sensitive today, I feel. The words of the celebrant rung more sharply in my mind, over and over, long after he spoke them. Yet, these words rang especially loud and long today:
By the mystery of the water and wine, may we come to share in the
divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
How especially beautiful these words are during this time of year. For some of us, we dragged through these last couple weeks of the year and for others the spirit of the season carried us over the expected hump of the year end only to have a delayed release come January. In the wisdom of our faith, these words can serve us in a special way whichever season we find ourselves in, both figurative and literal.
Their scriptural foundation in both the New and Old Testament, brings to life their true brilliance and the wisdom that inspired its inclusion into the liturgy.
Their scriptural foundation in both the New and Old Testament, brings to life their true brilliance and the wisdom that inspired its inclusion into the liturgy.
By the mystery of this water and wine 2 Macc. 15:39; John 19:34
may we come to share in the divinity of Christ Rom.
who humbled himself to share in our humanity. Phil. 2:8
who humbled himself to share in our humanity. Phil. 2:8
Spoken during the preparation of the gifts, they are swollen with anticipation and fulfillment.They teach us to remember the mystery of the Incarnation, Christ becoming man, the original Christmas miracle (ha-ha) alongside the suffering that awaits this newborn child.
The divine world meets the human world. Water and wine serve to provide such incredible depth and color (almost literally) to these words. Water, pure and holy, not made by man but provided for him from the earth through creation itself, meets wine, the product of man's sweat and toil, is the blood of our humanity. Though mingled not confused. Christ is this mystery.
It is in the mystery of the body- the human body- of Christ that we touch the divine world, the divine power we cannot touch any other way. We touch the divine only because he has shared in our humanity. The Eucharist therefore, brings us to Heaven and allows us to share in the same mystery that IS Christ.
What does this mean then? Well, other than the awesomeness that we are now a part of in our rebirth through baptism and participation in Eucharist....well...it means a lot more!
It means that our bodies (and minds) are thus elevated. My body means more because of Christ than it would have ever without him. (Not to say that it didn't matter before or outside of Christ because of course as made by God it means a great deal.) As a temple of the Spirit, it is as was Christ's body, a point from which we can/should to draw others to God.
The divine world meets the human world. Water and wine serve to provide such incredible depth and color (almost literally) to these words. Water, pure and holy, not made by man but provided for him from the earth through creation itself, meets wine, the product of man's sweat and toil, is the blood of our humanity. Though mingled not confused. Christ is this mystery.
It is in the mystery of the body- the human body- of Christ that we touch the divine world, the divine power we cannot touch any other way. We touch the divine only because he has shared in our humanity. The Eucharist therefore, brings us to Heaven and allows us to share in the same mystery that IS Christ.
What does this mean then? Well, other than the awesomeness that we are now a part of in our rebirth through baptism and participation in Eucharist....well...it means a lot more!
It means that our bodies (and minds) are thus elevated. My body means more because of Christ than it would have ever without him. (Not to say that it didn't matter before or outside of Christ because of course as made by God it means a great deal.) As a temple of the Spirit, it is as was Christ's body, a point from which we can/should to draw others to God.
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