Reality Is an Event

Jack -- Thanks for coming by and sharing so simply what's happening with you. It's a reminder of the precedence of this event among us which indicates our road. I meant to write earlier, because I think it's hard to put something out there and not have a reaction for a while.

Suzanne -- Your experience of teaching gestures to children is so interesting. I grew up in that time that disdained so much of tradition and gestures, even ordinary social expressions. I used to get in trouble with my mother-in-law for not paying attention to many little things that for her were always simple indications of love. Now from her vantage point, I am sure she extends mercy to me. You have been offering some deep reflections on the Eucharist. I appreciate your bringing forward the connection for us as we labor online.

If I may be so bold, I would say that our prayer should be, "Father, send your Holy Spirit to transform these gifts, so that they may become the Body and Blood of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ." It is interesting to note (but maybe pushing the connection beyond what it can bear), that when we blog, we must also impose our hands...

Talking about how to stay together online, I'm struck by the great risks Fr. Giussani took with the companionship. Everyone, boys and girls, were kept together. Nothing was censored, but everything judged and simply from the criterion of the Church with a great openness to all. Then there is this fascinating venture of Crossroads in the US which specifically seeks to meet others, instead of reducing human exchange to hashing ideas. According to Godspy, "Carlo Lancellotti explained to me, `Reality is an event, not an idea.'"

The event is Jack's new friendship, Suzanne's experiences of teaching and worship, my travels, etc. It's everything that involves us, and it's all interesting when we seek Christ in reality.

what is the value of a gesture?

The question above is a more rhetorical this time - more to structure my thoughts than anything. I want first of all to thank Suzanne for her post, which I've read and re-read this week. She has reminded me of the essential thing: in every day, every moment, it's God who takes the initiative. Our gestures do not generate us: God does - and nowhere more strikingly than in the face of Christ and His people.

What are gestures then? They are consequences, responses, and reminders. They are signs that point us to what Christ is doing now. The great sign is the one that Christ invited us to do as a reminder: celebrate the Eucharist. Our gesture alone doesn't make Him present, but the power of God's will in Christ and at the entreaty of the Church for the Holy Spirit.

Somehow I showed up early to confession last week. I had to wait 5 or 10 minutes. I discovered again the value of waiting as a gesture. There's an anticipation that's greater than the one that I feel when I wait just as long, having arrived after the priest.

Over a week ago now, something happened to me. My daughter woke up early while I was leaving for work. And she wasn't cranky as she often is in the morning. Instead, she calmly asked me for each thing she needed and then left. She asked for breakfast. Then she came back and asked me to turn on the TV. And then she came back upstairs to ask me for a hug before leaving for work.

Usually I pray morning prayer in the parking lot at work. That day, however, the traffic was bad and I missed it. It occurred to me in the car that Christ had provided a better morning prayer for me through the eyes of my daughter. And that is the better prayer I desire for all my gestures...