Writings
If you watch commercial television at all, you are well on your way to believing that everything that currently ails the world can be cured by better cell phone reception. Day after day we see vignettes of businesses in trouble, families in trouble, marriages in trouble, when suddenly this guy shows up with a cell phone and says: “Here, try this.” Immediately, things improve. People improve. Differences disappear. Faces smile.
On the Friday after Thanksgiving, my nephew (or to be genealogically precise, the man who married my wife’s niece) was the 60th person in line at Wal-Mart at 5:15 in the morning. Unlike some men who wait until 5:15 on Christmas Eve, John wanted to get in early and get out cheap.
Let’s start with a question. When a Roman Catholic priest is ordained, what is the first thing he does? He celebrates mass, that’s what he does. And it is a really big deal….his first mass, I mean. He announces the date, names the place and sends out invitations. Friends come. Family comes. Colleagues from the seminary (and from the hierarchy) come. It’s the culmination of one long journey and the beginning of another. So people want to be there.
The following communion meditation was shared on the fourth and final Friday of a month-long mission project in Manciones, Costa Rica. My wife (Kristine) and I were privileged to be a part of this collective effort. Our goal was to build a church for a new congregation. Which, while not fully completed at the time of our departure, was well on the way.
