The Greatest Gift
When someone’s love for you is deep and powerful, there are signs of that love.
My mother’s love for me and my brother and sisters was deep and powerful. I knew from my earliest memories that I was precious to her (and probably her favorite) and I knew that her love for me was a driving force in her life. Looking back, I can see how she manifested that love in many ways, one of which was her cooking!
My mother had a mission to provide our family with delicious meals. She made my lunch every day for twelve school years and that brown bag could hardly contain all the love packed in to it. Even the napkin came with a daily handwritten note and I always had desert (except, of course, during Lent).
My mother was not content with giving me life; she was committed to giving me food for the journey as well. Of course, I did not recognize these signs of her deep and powerful love for me at the time. In fact, I took them for granted and sometimes I was even embarrassed by them. But now I can see clearly that Mom took a page straight from God’s playbook.
Out of a deep and powerful love, God gave us life. Then, out that same font of love, He provides an extraordinary meal that heals, nourishes and sustains us. But this meal is unique because in God’s plan of love, He choose to nourish us with His very self.
Pelicans were an early Christian symbol for Jesus in the Eucharist. Because when food is scarce, a pelican will pierce its breast with its own beak and feed its little ones with its own blood in order to keep them alive.
He gives us life…..and He gives us food in the Eucharist, but it’s more than that. The Eucharist is not only food for the journey but it is also his presence. Our Lord promised us that He would remain with us until the end of time and He is faithful to that promise by being present to us by His divine presence in the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. The Eucharist is a sign of His deep and powerful love for us.
I will end by sharing with you a prayer my mother taught me for my First Holy Communion:
You have come to my heart, dearest Jesus, I am holding You close to my breast; I'm telling You over and over, You are welcome, Little White Guest.
I love You, I love You, my Jesus, O please do not think I am bold; Of course, You must know that I love You, But I am sure that you like to be told.
I'll whisper, "I love You, my Jesus," And ask that we never may part; I love You, O kind, loving Jesus And press You still nearer my heart.
And when I shall meet You in Heaven, My soul then will lean on Your breast; And You will recall our fond meetings, When You were my Little White Guest.