Sacramental moments…
Toward the end of one of my days last week, I realized that in the space of two weeks and a day, through the sacramental ministry of the church, members of our parish will have experienced the indwelling of the entire Trinity.
On Sunday, April 3rd, Charli Niemczyk experienced the life of the Father (and Son and Holy Spirit) through the sacrament of baptism. What I believe about baptism, in addition to all that the church teaches in the Catechism, is that the Father continues to speak at each and every Baptism, just as he spoke at his Son’s baptism in the Jordon. And the word God speaks is: “Beloved.” “This is my beloved son.” “This is my beloved daughter.” And those of you who know the gift of children and grandchildren, know how much you ‘live’ in them, how much life you share with them. So, too, in Baptism, the Father chooses to dwell within each newly born son and daughter as their beloved.
Then, this Sunday, April 10th, our first communion class will experience another level of that indwelling of God. Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, chooses to become as intimately connected to those students as food does to the body. Just as the food we eat becomes body and muscles and sinew and the very flesh of who we are, so too, does this Eucharistic food. It too, becomes “US” – digested on the level of body AND soul. Not only does Jesus dwell with us in love, but he dwells with us in the intimacy of bread and wine becoming our body and blood. St. Augustine said so profoundly: “We become what we eat.”
Finally, on Monday, April 18th, at 7:00 pm (all are invited) our 7th and 8th grade students get to experience the choice of the Spirit to dwell with them in the sacrament of Confirmation. Perhaps because we think about Baptism and Eucharist more often, it is easy to overlook what happens in Confirmation. What the Father is to Baptism and the Son is to Eucharist, the Holy Spirit is to Confirmation. It is that moment when the very Spirit of God chooses to dwell within us – to imbue our heart and sinew and bone and flesh with “the power of a mighty wind.” It is the moment when the Spirit, who is that ‘conversation’ between Father and Son – who is the very love of the Father poured into the Son and the Son’s obedient self emptying of Himself back to the Father – now become the song of love at the heart of each of the confirmandi.
What an amazing thing for us at St. Ann to see and experience in just over two week’s time. And what a fruitful meditation for us all – to realize each of us is heir to that indwelling of the Trinity…