Buster, age 3, image mine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>After Mass this evening<\/strong> Buster and I headed out for a quick hamburger and somehow the discussion came up about how the Holy Eucharist is sometimes accepted at Mass by someone only to remain unconsumed and spirited out of the church for use in various \u2013 always nefarious \u2013 ways.<\/p>\n\u201cHow exactly,\u201d Buster asked me. \u201cI\u2019ve read that the Eucharist has been stolen for use in black masses \u2014 but what do they do with it, actually?\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t like talking about this stuff, but I related a little \u2013 that some have put the Consecrated Host upon an \u201caltar\u201d and stabbed it, or sliced it, so as to \u201cstab\u201d Christ. \u201cThey believe, as we do, that the Eucharist is the actual, physical Presence, the Body and Blood of Christ,\u201d I explained. \u201cThat\u2019s why Wonder Bread and Grape Juice won\u2019t do [nor will the unconsecrated wafers lying on the sacristy shelf of a Catholic church]. They want the Consecrated Host \u2014 they know<\/em> what it is. Sometimes the desecration involves tearing it up and stomping on it, or doing disgusting things to it. And sometimes the Host is even abused sexually. Just as sexual abuse is about power and control and domination, someone who sexually abuses a Host, sees it as controlling and dominating Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cBut, it\u2019s a Gift,\u201d Buster said, \u201cSo they only cheat and hurt themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was a little confused. \u201cWhat do you mean, which is the Gift, the Holy Eucharist, or sexuality?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re both gifts, but I\u2019m talking about the Gift of the Body of Christ. Christ gave himself to us, feely, of his own free will. A Gift freely given. If someone takes the Gift and spits on it or whatever \u2014 they\u2019re only destroying what was given to them, they are destroying what is \u201ctheirs.\u201d They don\u2019t in any way destroy the Giver of the Gift, or lessen the Giver, or the Gift. So they have no power over it, they can\u2019t dominate it. All they can do is destroy themselves within themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I agreed. If I freely give you a car, and you decide to smash it up, you\u2019ve lost out, not me. If I give you my life, and you are unappreciative, it doesn\u2019t lessen what I have done, but reveals the void within you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why even during the Passion, those who wanted Jesus dead could not have victory over him,\u201d Buster mused, picking up on today\u2019s Gospel reading. \u201cSo, no matter how they mistreated Him or misjudged Him, or tortured Him\u2026He had consented to it. And so they lost, and He won.\u201d The Power was always His.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight,\u201d I said, wondering what I was thinking about when I was 16 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so, these people at the black masses \u2014 they have an illusion of power, but the power is always Christ\u2019s, because He is the Gift.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make me feel any better to think of anyone desecrating a Host,\u201d he mused. \u201cBut if they don\u2019t realize that the power they think they have is only an illusion, then really\u2026\u2019they know not what they do.'\u201d<\/p>\n
I ordered espresso and wished for whiskey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the same, then with the gift of our sexuality,\u201d Buster said, eyeing a brownie sundae on the menu. \u201cThat\u2019s a gift, too. Abuse it, and that doesn\u2019t mean you have power over it. Abuse it, misuse it\u2026it actually dominates you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said, quietly. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you order that thing? Why don\u2019t you eat some chocolate, or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did and his mood brightened considerably.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a shame you don\u2019t want to be a priest,\u201d I said, shaking my head, referring to the fact that he has a push-me-pull-you going on with that idea. \u201cYou have something to say, and you\u2019d sing a heck of a mass.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019d hate me,\u201d he said, flicking sloppy hot fudge all around him. \u201cI\u2019d talk about all these things no one wants to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stirred my coffee and thought\u2026kid, you\u2019d be surprised at how grateful some people would be to hear what you have to say.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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![\"Buster,](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/7\/2006\/04\/french.jpg\")
<\/a>