One aspect of being ordained deacon last month is that I have become an ordinary Eucharistic minister. This doesn't make much difference, except that, for the first time ever, I have been a regular minister of the host.
As a minister of the host, one sees a lot of outstretched hands. Since most people receive the host in their left hand, I notice a lot of wedding bands. And I reflect on how all of the holiness and pain and sacrifices of those marriages are taken up into the love and sacrifice of Christ in the Eucharist.
I also notice hands that have worked hard, hands that look tired, and the occasional mangled hand or missing finger. So many individual stories of effort and hope, pain and misfortune that are offered in the great sacrifice and thanksgiving of the Eucharist.
All of these, by Baptism and Eucharist, are aspects of the humanity of Christ. And by the Incarnation, the humanity of Christ is our door into the perfect peace, joy, and communality of the life of the blessed Trinity.
Peace! Thank you for this reflection. The same thought has often come to me. What a wonderful gift to be able to share the great sacrament with all those various pairs of hands (and various tongues) who come before us. God bless!
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