by Ken Rolheiser
I recently bid farewell to my older brother, Father Wendelin Rolheiser O.M.I. His dementia prevented us from having a proper farewell in his last days. Nothing is lacking in our parting after a life well-lived in sixty-some years as a priest.
The night before his crucifixion, Jesus said his farewells to his disciples in the memorial act of the Eucharist, where he promised to stay with them and give them his spirit in the days after his death. We are the branches, Jesus is the vine.
At Wendelin’s funeral, his brother Ron, also a priest, underscored the message that Wendelin would be with us in the days and weeks ahead. His spirit would inspire us and lead us in faith-filled ways. This is true, as it was for Jesus and his disciples.
At Wednesday morning Mass following the funeral, I was inspired to lead hymns at the weekday gathering, which we normally did not sing. I know Wendelin loved music and sang on every possible occasion, even on some that were not occasions. I have noticed a lighter step as I do some of the tasks of everyday life because I feel Wendelin’s inspiration within me.
At the last supper, Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me.” Love one another because our love stays alive when we love one another. When we have lost a loved one, we can remove some of the aches by remembering our times together and our shared activities, like a Sunday meal. We can re-enact those precious moments we shared.
But Jesus gives us so much more. In his last Encyclical letter, issued in 2003, Pope John Paul II describes the real presence in the eucharist: “The consecration of the bread and wine effects the change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood.”
Since the Council of Trent in 1563, the Church has held this doctrine to be true. How true is it? Many miraculous incidents have been reported. In 1583, in Vienna, Austria, a Protestant set out to prove that there was no real presence. He broke into a Catholic Church and the Tabernacle. He scattered hosts and bit some of them. He stuffed hosts into his clothes and fled.
As he ran, he felt something damp in his suit. He put it in his hand and discovered his hand was covered with blood. All the hosts were bleeding profusely. He was arrested, and the sacred bread was returned. Many came to worship at the site of this miracle.
Though our senses fool us, the bread and wine are now the body and blood of Christ. You and I have this wonderful opportunity to remember our loved ones by sharing the thanksgiving sacrifice of love with them and each other.
In a farewell discourse to his parishioners at Holy Spirit Parish in San Jose, California, Father Brendan McGuire encourages them to “enjoy having a meal around the table, having the whole family around the dinner table every night.” Savor it now, he says, savor every one of those moments now.
We are blessed to continue loving one another at the eucharistic banquet because that memory will last forever. The Bread of Life, food of a higher order, gives us life and enables God to live in us. (1 John:13).
Ken Rolheiser is an author of six books and a spiritual column PAUSE FOR REFLECTION since 1998. A lay minister in St Joseph’s Parish and an occasional speaker, Ken has been involved in the Canora Ministerial Association and the Archdiocesan Stewardship Committee (as well as others). For details see www.kenrolheiser.com.
