Emmanuel EUCHARIST : LIVING & EVANGELIZING
See You in the Eucharist
by Damian J . Ference
Through the sacraments , especially the Eucharist , Christ relates to us in and through our senses . And where he is , there is the Church .
Father Damian J . Ference is a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland . He serves at Borromeo Seminary , Wickliffe , Ohio , as director of human formation and assistant professor of philosophy . He has published articles in many periodicals , including America , The Priest , Pastoral Life , U . S . Catholic , and Worship . He is the founder and director of the Tolle Lege Summer Institute and a lifetime member of the Flannery O ’ Connor Society . He can be reached at
@ frference .
I made my 2017 annual retreat in the Arizona desert at Our Lady of Solitude Monastery . It was day four of a five-day retreat , and I was making my second holy hour of the day . It was around noon . The next day would be the one-year anniversary of my dad ’ s death , and Reverend Mother told me that she would switch the Mass intention for that day so that I could offer the Mass for my dad . My dad was almost 92 when he died . He lived a good life and died peacefully in his sleep , but I still missed him .
Human Need and Longing
Not wanting to keep anything from the Lord who was before me in the Blessed Sacrament , I started to tell him about my grief , my longing , and my heartache . And when I say that I started telling him , I mean it . No one else was in the chapel but me , and some of my best prayer happens when I speak to the Lord about what ’ s actually going on in my heart , aloud , just like I would speak to you if I were in your presence . So I began telling Jesus about my troubles .
My dad spent the last few years of his life in a good Catholic nursing home . I would visit him at least twice a week , sometimes more . But I was always there on my day off and Sunday afternoons . During the baseball season , he would sit in his wheelchair , about eight inches away from the television due to his macular degeneration , and I would take a nap on his bed while he watched the Cleveland Indians .
I didn ’ t have to say much . Simply being in my dad ’ s presence was comforting to me , and I believe that my presence was comforting to him . But now I missed his humor , his kindness , his patience , and
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