Holy Communion

 

Family photograph taken before the year 1988

Every time when I mention about Holy Communion, I would remember my paternal grandmother.  She is sitting with my grandfather in the photograph above.  What is Holy Communion?

Photograph of me receiving Jesus the first time, My First Holy Communion

Even though I was taught about this Holy Communion in Catechism:

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread and gave it to His disciples, and said, "Take this, all of you, and eat it: This is My Body which will be given up for you."

When supper was ended, He took the cup.  Again He gave thanks and praise, gave the cup to His disciples, and said, "Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of My Blood, the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant.  It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven.  Do this in memory of Me."

I was not aware that I was receiving Jesus at that time.  It was just bread I received in my mouth then.  It got soften with saliva and I just swallowed it.  After that, I went to the pew to pray.  So every time we go church, this is the main thing that we do, the reason why we go church.  

Our Lord changed bread and wine into His Body and Blood and offered Himself to God.  This was a sacrifice.  This was His Body to be offered on the Cross.  This was His Blood to be shed for the forgiveness of sins.  He told the Apostles that He would die on the next day.  That would be the bloody sacrifice on the Cross.  

But Jesus wanted this unbloody sacrifice to continue on earth till the end of time.  When He told the Apostles to do as He had done, He made them priests and gave them power to offer this sacrifice.  

So when I was young, I often saw my grandmother asking the priest to give her Holy Communion, whether it was mass time or outside mass timing.  She always liked to come to our house, wearing slippers and she would always washed her feet in our toilet.  The next thing that she like would be washing her hands too.  

I was told that my grandmother passed away peacefully 'in her sleep' in the year 1988.  Look at the family photograph above.  The years have passed.  Four people were not here anymore.  They were my grandparents, my father and my third maternal uncle. And I was 'dead' and was 'raised' again...

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