little bread and no water???

Because all the priests of the Diocese are on retreat this week, there are communion services taking place at many parishes. Many of my brother Deacons have been called upon to offer these less-than-mass services, which include Liturgy of the Word and the reception of Holy Communion from the tabernacle reserves. Today at KCHS, we had such a service and when I opened the lid of the Ciborium, there were about half as many hosts as there were students to receive. So I simply broke them in halves, and then into quarters, and some even received less than that. BUT! the Church tells us that all who received communion today received the fullness of Jesus Christ no matter how small the piece of Him was.

At Catholic we have been beset with water problems with no water being available to the "B" building last week. I've been reflecting on how we closed the school, in part, due to this fact. And I began to think about my friends in Haiti, I thought about how they'd laugh at us for closing school because one building on our campus had no water. The would find great humor in that as many of the kids attending our grammar schools there are walking 2-3 hours to get to school each day with NO clean water along their route and none at home to draw from either. We are so blessed to have water on tap 24/7 in our country, and to know that you won't get sick from drinking it. And then there is ice... The Haitians are often amazed at our penchant for buying frozen water and paying real money for it. They must think us so wasteful... and we are. Many of the students that I spoke with mentioned to me how they took water for granted until last week. All of a sudden, there was no place to wash your hands, you couldn't use the toilet because there was no way to flush them, and even a quick sip of cold water from the drinking fountain was not an option.

Sometimes it's good to give things up, even if only for a short while. It is important to thank God not just for what he gives us, but also for what he takes away. Please be praying for our retreat this Friday. We're all very excited about it and hope you are as well. See you in the Thunder-Dome... dpat