Passover, Plagues, and Holy Communion
I was recently asked to write a post on Passover for an ecumenical Christian Facebook group I admin. I love this group and was excited to write something for them. So far, it's been well received, and I am glad. It is such a great feeling when one can string words together people can connect to. I had to omit a big chunk of who I am in writing for a broad, mixed audience, not for myself. This is normal when you're a writer; I usually leave those pieces and don't need to return to them. This week, I've been really struggling with not being able to attend Mass and receive Holy Communion. It's Holy Week, and I keenly feel Christ's absence. I began to add to this little piece and work through my feelings as part of an Examen prayer, and oddly enough, by turning what was a post for a predominantly protestant audience into a very personal and Catholic one, I am feeling much better. It's as though by writing about Christ in the sacrament of Communion, I grew close to Him again. I didn't have any intention of sharing - this was strictly a personal thing. Still, I've been absent from this blog because of the incredible blessings of my work and the opportunities to serve my community through volunteering; I haven't had time to focus on it. Considering we're all taking a break from our regular lives, it was a good time to return. So here it is, Passover, Plagues, and Holy Communion, just in case someone could use these little words I made sentences out of.
THIS PASSOVER
For the first time in recent memory, nearly every nation globally will be gathered in their own homes, sheltering from a plague, during PASSOVER.
"But for you, the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thereby, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you.This day will be a day of remembrance for you, which your future generations will celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord; you will celebrate it as a statute forever." Exodus 12:13-14
When we receive Holy Communion, we're intimately united with Jesus Christ. He becomes part of us. When we take part in the sacrament of Holy Communion, we express our unity with Christ and our union with Catholics the world over. The last meal Jesus shared with His disciples was a Passover meal, where he specifically asked us to become one in body and spirit with Him. His greatest desire and ultimate sacrifice was to unite His body, blood, soul, and divinity to our own. This Passover, the Jewish people will celebrate God's deliverance of their ancestors from death in Egypt, and we will celebrate God's promise to deliver us from our mortal deaths. Through His sacrifice on the Holy Cross, through His blood, our world will be saved from this plague and any others to come. As we celebrate His defeat over death this Easter, we may forgo our fancy hats and Sunday best, for sweats and slippers as we sit in our homes, and not with our church families. We'll listen to homilies from a responsible, socially distant space. Still, our hearts will never be closer to Him or each other as we unite in prayer for this plague to pass over us all. Remember our unity to Him and one another as we, the faithful body of Christ, ask for His healing over the world.
But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well." At once, the woman was made well. Matthew 9:22
God bless you, and we hope you are well.