A Friend

 

If it is a mere symbol, why did I miss it so much?  I miss it when I don’t have it because it is him.  When I am away from those close to me, I miss them.  When I can’t be present to my loved ones and my loved ones can’t be present to me, I am sad.  I am lost.

In 2020, all of us had to be separated from our loved ones.  We were in isolation because of the danger of a virus.  We couldn’t see our loved ones, except virtually through a computer screen.  For many the viscousness of the virus caused permanent separation from their loved ones. The killer virus forced so many into ambulances, never to be seen again.  The fortunate ones would get to be reunited when the virus abated, but there was still pain of time lost.  Life events – graduations, birthday parties, weddings – were not given their due.  The losses weren’t about missing material things.  They were about missing people.

And so the loss of being able to receive the body and blood of our savior  during that time was a real loss as well.  Restrictions did not permit us to join in public celebrations of the Eucharist and therefore we were not able to receive him in Holy Communion.  This separation went on for months.  At one point, after several months of separation, the ban was lifted and once again the host would be presented, “The Body of Christ.”  There it was.  And so the emotion came.  There was the lump in the throat.  The moisture of tears glistened in the eyes.  It wasn’t reuniting with a symbol.  It was reuniting with a friend.

The real presence of a friend is essential particularly in life’s challenges.  Not too long ago I had to relocate to another state.  I secured a teaching job in a state twelve hundred miles from my home.  I went on a visit to my new school and was given a tour.  Nervous about meeting new people and feeling like I had to prove myself to new people, I longed for a familiar face.  That familiar “face” would come as I was shown the school chapel.  In there was the Tabernacle, where my friend resided.  In that moment, in my heart, I heard my friend tell me, “Don’t worry. I am already here.”  A symbol doesn’t speak words of reassurance.  A person does.

Perhaps those who only see the Eucharist as a symbol have not allowed themselves to enter the friendship.  When we come to realize that indeed the Eucharist is not a symbol, but is the real presence of a real person, and not just any person – but the Divine savior, we will enter a friendship that will change our lives.  When we are away from our friend, we will feel it.  When we are united with our friend, we will truly rejoice.  No symbol can do that.

- The Servant