At Catholic Heart Work Camp we went to Mass in a hot stuffy room in the middle of the school with very little air flow. It was 4:30 in the afternoon, after our work day, and we were sweaty and hungry and (at least me) a little cranky. We were "making do" for the week, sleeping on classroom floors in a room with 15 other people. It was, in a word, awesome.
So anyway, back to Mass. Several of the kids from our youth group chose to attend this particular Mass, which was very exciting since Mass is optional. I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Mass with these youths that I have come to love as my own. So it comes to my favorite part of Mass. The priest elevates the host and asks God to allow it to become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. I accept to the core of my being that God says yes, every single time. So the people at Mass line up, and we take our turn ingesting the body and blood of our Lord and Savior, as He asked us to do in memory of Him.
I'm greedy for the body and blood of Christ. On this particular day, I really REALLY need Christ in every cell of my being. I need Him to be my strength, because I'm tapped out. I need his love, because as I mentioned, I'm cranky, and not being very loving. I get to the front of the line, and the priest says, "The Body of Christ." I have done this probably a thousand times since I was 7 years old, but today as I say "Amen" I am stricken with the truth of it. I tear up. I accept the host into my mouth, feeling unworthy to touch the body of my Lord with my unclean hands, then I realize...he gave me two!
I'm overjoyed! Extra Jesus! Bonus Savior! It's a two-fer! Score! In the midst of my celebration, I catch the eye of Dawn, my dear friend sitting next to me, and she looks like she just stole something. "I got two...is that okay?" She mouths silently. I shake my head yes, realizing that her reaction was probably a better one than mine. I'm still geeked.
After Mass, a few of us converse about this "double-dip of Communion". You usually only get one, you see, and there was some concern among us that we were hogging up the Jesus. Usually in a church they have a Tabernacle, which is a lovely gold box that the body and blood of Christ left over from being consecrated in Mass resides in until it is used in the next Mass. As you can imagine, this is a very special little house for these very sacred pieces of Savior. We are in a school which doesn't have a Tabernacle. So the priest puts these blessed pieces of Christ in the most Holy receptacle he has available...us.
This blows my mind.
My body is the home of Jesus. The Most High God becomes physically part of my body every single time I take Communion, and sometimes I get a double dose, because my body is the holiest place for Him to be. Wow. Do you think of your body as a holy place? Yeah, me either. I realize that I am dust, and to dust I will return, but God breathed on this dust and gave it life. Jesus found it lovable enough to die for. I never thought of my body this way before.
Now that I know, I feel a responsibility to treat myself like the temple God created me to be. I feel I need to respect His home. Thank you again, God, for giving me exactly what I need.
