The Most Meaningful Eucharist
theophilus August 11th, 2008
Fr. Dan is the pastor at St. Susanna’s in Mason, Ohio. I don’t belong to this parish but I go there occasionally for weekday Mass. Last night, my family went there for Sunday night Mass. And I was part of one of the most meaningful liturgies of my life.
Fr. Dan has ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. I see him about every other month, so I probably notice the differences in him more than those who may see him every week. And the differences I witness are becoming more and more painful to watch. I am watching this dreadful disease take hold of him and progress in him, function by function.
At yesterday’s Mass, he was totally confined to his motorized wheelchair. His voice was audible only to those who focused with sonar intensity. Every one of his movements were calculated, deliberate, slow.
But Fr. Dan preached a thoughtful homily, continued to be in his usual good cheer, and willed himself and his flock to celebrate the majesty of Christ’s life, death and resurrection.
And during the Eucharistic Prayer, I silently cried. As Fr. Dan consecrated the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, I looked up at Christ crucified and fully understood the depth of his love in his bodily sacrifice for us all. For the first time, I witnessed one of his chosen ones showing the same love and sacrifice for us, his flock. Fr. Dan was showing us Christ through his own infirmity and perserverance.
Fr. Dan could be in a home, giving up. But, he is fighting for his life and the sanctity of his flock with so much vigor and grace that he belongs in only one temporal place, and that is at the altar of St. Susanna’s.
His parish has invoked the intercession of Blessed (soon to be St.) Damian of Molokai for his healing. I trust that it’s a good time to pray to Blessed Damian that Fr. Dan, this holy and faithful shepherd, be allowed to tend to his flock as long as God’s will be done.
Wow, what a beautiful post. God bless Fr. Dan.
See my Blog for more info on Blessed Damien. A prayer has been offered for Fr. Dan.