By Marrick Kowalski
“Umm, Marrick? When Jesus came in the bread, do you think He was nervous?” a friend in grade one posed. We had done a Eucharistic procession through the school, stopping at each classroom the week before. “No, I don’t think He was,” I answered. “Good.” She paused for a second and then resumed, “because that’s a lot of people to meet.” For someone who gets a lot of crazy, wild, and sweet questions about God (does God fly? Who made God? Are we actually made of dirt? How does Jesus fit in such a skinny bread? Is all bread Jesus?), it is only every so often a question stops me in my tracks. The answer to her question was easy – Jesus longs to meet us and to meet us where we’re at. He already knows us deeply and personally. The empathy and childlike-ness oozed from every word of her question, and it caught me off guard. In such simple words, I became highly aware of Jesus’ presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
I had a personal encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time over ten years ago and many encounters since. For me, it’s more than a belief; it’s a knowing. I know He’s present because I’ve met Him there. And I long for these young people to meet Him there, too. Sometimes, it’s easy for my heart to forget that He’s waiting for me. I’ve stood in front of over 50 classrooms (1,300 students) and told them that although this looks like a piece of bread and tastes like a piece of bread, it is truly Jesus as if He was standing in the room with us and walking the Earth like He did over 2,000 years ago. This little girl’s question brought my heart back to Him. She did for me what I was hoping to do for her. With a simple question and an easy answer, my heart returned to my greatest love. Jesus sees us. He knows what we need. He meets us where we are, and for me, that happened to be in a grade 1 classroom through the words of a 6-year-old.
On Halloween, Christ the King Parish in Regina hosted an evening of prayer with Eucharistic Adoration. The doors were propped open, and trick-or-treaters were invited to stop in, light a candle, and bring it up to the front near the Blessed Sacrament. Over 110 candles were lit by the end of the evening, little lights flickering, a symbol of 110 prayers offered to God. The costumes that are all the rage these days are the inflatable ones. They come in all sorts of characters and animals. Once again, Jesus was stopping me in my tracks. I watched as a group of teenage boys (most of whom were in inflatable suits) carried their candles up to the front of the church, which wasn’t an easy feat when you’ve got pig hooves for hands or a dinosaur head that you don’t want to melt. I caught a glimpse of Jesus peeking out from behind the Pillsbury Doughboy as he placed his candle and wrote a prayer to place in the intentions box. In a single blink, Jesus again reminded me that He invites us to come as we are. He promises to meet us where we’re at (even while wearing crazy costumes,) but He also promises a changed heart. All we have to do is show up.
Later on in the evening, there was a woman out for a walk – she wasn’t trick-or-treating or out because it was Halloween. I was standing outside the church, and as she walked past on the other side of the street, I waved at her and smiled. She smiled back and kept walking; however, she continued to turn and look back to where I was as if something in her was being drawn to come. It seemed she had no intention of stopping until suddenly she did. She turned around and came back. As she approached the church, I could feel her hesitancy. I invited her to light a candle and to write a prayer. She did. I gave her a little treat as she left and full of the Holy Spirit, I could feel she was leaving changed. I don’t know what her experience was like exactly. I’m not sure what part has changed, but I do know that Jesus had touched her heart, and she was leaving changed.
My friends, Jesus, longs to meet us and to be with us. He longs to change our hearts. He longs for encounter. He longs for an opportunity and an opening to do big things in our lives. The question is, will we give Him room to work, to move, and to change us from the inside out? And will we allow Him to use as His vessels to change the lives and hearts of those around us and provide them with an opportunity for encounter with our greatest love? Ask the questions and pass along Jesus’ invitations because we never know how many lives can be changed for the better.
