Chuck, Joan and I get together to decide on monthly topics. Our topic for this month is “The Year of the Eucharist.” Both Joan and Chuck got their work done before Christmas, so their columns reflect that topic. I’m just beginning mine today, December 30, and was going to introduce the new newsletter we are publishing on the Eucharist. It can be ordered by calling 1-800-488-0488 or by visiting our online catalog (click here to see more information). However, I find it difficult to focus on the Eucharist (the great celebration of our oneness through Christ and with Christ) without addressing the current tragedy facing our sisters and brothers in Asia. So like any good catechist, I will adjust my plans to fit a more immediate need.

The tsunami hit the day after Christmas, the Christian celebration of the Incarnation. It is the day (the season) we honor our God who is not in some far away heaven, but right here with us, in us. We are still celebrating the season of Christmas, but I certainly don’t feel the hope that these 12 days are supposed to offer. As I listen to the news, 114 thousand dead, and they’re still counting and looking. I feel overwhelmed and powerless, helpless and hopeless. What can I do?

I have to remind myself that hope is not just a feeling. (Feeling hopeless does not equate with being hopeless.) This is where I have got to let my faith kick in. First, I have to remind myself that this catastrophe is not from God. It is a natural phenomenon, a sorry, tragic part of what it means to live as a human person in an ever-changing world.

Second, I have to believe that God’s awesome strength and love is not just with those who survived. God was somehow also with those who died, particularly the children. God was with them in their panic and fear. God was with them in their last breath. And as God was with them, they are now with God.

Finally, I need to remind myself that I believe in the Incarnation. God is present to the suffering as they comfort and help each other. God is present in the men and women who bring water and food and restore sanitary conditions. And God is present through those who provide the money and resources so that this work can be done.

I have to remember that it is not just up to the Red Cross, the United Nations and other relief agencies to provide relief. It’s up to me, to all of us who make up the Body of Christ, to find a way to share the burden. Perhaps in the weeks to come there may be a need for clothes or other resources but for now there are two things parishes can do: offer prayer and money.

We can pray together as a community, perhaps once a week, in solidarity with those in need. We can ask God to open our eyes and ears, our hearts and minds to find solutions for the suffering. No need to put together a formal prayer service. Sometimes just quiet time in front of the Eucharist provides the best inspiration. Ask someone to write a special prayer (not too long) to be said at the end of Mass and parish meetings and to be sent home for families.

We can set up a special parish relief fund. Raising money through special collections, Swap and Shop parties (see family column), bake sales, etc. Challenge different parish groups to find creative ways to raise money. Acknowledge the fact that it is right after Christmas and budgets are stretched and money is scarce. Suggest each household go without something—pop/soda, chips, desserts for a week—giving the money that is saved to the parish fund. You will find a link to Catholic Relief Service (CRS) on our home page, AmericanCatholic.org. CRS is a trustworthy organization sponsored by the Church in this country that will help you direct aid to the tsunami victims.

We end each Eucharist celebration with these or similar words, “Go in peace to love and serve the world.” As a catechetical leader, give the folks in the pews some realistic, timely ways of loving and serving the suffering in South Asia. Get a group together to talk about the tragedy and brainstorm ways to get your parish involved. Rally the whole staff, or if that is not realistic just work within your area of influence. Motivate catechists, as well as young people and families, to join in the relief efforts. The survivors of this tragedy will need our help for weeks, months and maybe even years. We cannot let them disappear from our memories.

At the bottom of this e-mail you will find a spot called Faith Formation Forum. Please share any ideas your parish comes up with. The forum is edited, and new messages will be available in next month’s newsletter.

The key to the success of this activity is to put out an appealing flyer that explains the activity in great detail. Ask parents and youngsters only to bring in items to sell that are still in really good shape, things they know other people in your parish will want to buy. Determine with the donor the selling price of each item. (Keep prices low.) Give the child or adult play money for half the selling price. When participants have swapped their items for play money and all the articles are on display, let folks begin to shop. Make sure you tell people on the flyer to bring extra money with them to use along with their play money. Also, let them know to whom you will be donating the money.

While items are being swapped, have small groups talk about, “having and giving.” Have newspapers and news magazines for them to use to make a collage of people in need and people giving. Give them time to fill out the activities pages. (Click here to see activity pages.) There is a different page for youngsters and for adults. After people have had time to fill in the papers, ask them to talk about their answers.

End the activity with a simple soup and bread (no butter) supper. Total the money collected and affirm the people gathered for their generosity.

My husband and I, along with many of our neighbors, are working against our county’s approval of a large subdivision in the middle of our rural farming community. We have some strong (and legitimate!) concerns about safety and increased water run-off. We are learning that by the time we were officially notified of a “hearing” about the “proposed” development, that the process had moved far enough along that it was practically a done deal. Needless to say, we have some pretty strong feelings about this.

Some members of the Area Planning Commission (APC), which has already granted primary approval for this development, are members of our parish. We were all at the same Mass last Sunday morning. I don’t know how they felt, but I was squirming. I knew something was wrong, out of sync. In the past, when my husband and I have come to Mass with some tension between us, sitting together and receiving the Eucharist has always helped us to let go of the anger and reconnect. My heart wasn’t ready for that in relation to these APC members this past Sunday. Yet I truly do desire that in the future.

The Eucharist is a sacrament of reconciliation. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we ask for forgiveness in the Penitential Rite; we show our unity as members of the Body of Christ by our participation throughout the Mass and most especially in our reception of the Holy Eucharist; we experience a special and unique unity with Christ as we consume his body and blood; and we are commissioned to go out and be the Body of Christ in the world. All of these actions are about our unity—with Christ and with one another. That’s why I felt so “wrong” at Mass last Sunday. But I trust that our sharing in the Eucharist, even with our divisions, will lead us to reconciliation some day soon.

That’s what the community hoped would happen to the two estranged brothers in the story “Bread That Remembers” from the Catholic Update Video: A Walk Through the Mass. The brothers’ estrangement was also over a disagreement concerning rural property. This story is a eucharistic allegory highlighting the Eucharist’s reconciling character.

A Walk Through the Mass is our best-selling Catholic Update Video. Its four segments—story, witness, teaching and music video—present insights about the structure and meaning of the Mass. Click here (RealMedia | Windows Media) to see a clip from this video.

This Year of the Eucharist is an important opportunity to help members of your community to rediscover and renew their love for the Eucharist. The Eucharist is so key to us as Catholics. In coming to better understand and appreciate the Eucharist, we come to a better understanding and appreciation of Christ and who he calls us to be in the world.

Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Father John Hampsch has written an inspirational book about the transforming power of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Healing Power of the Eucharist recounts miraculous stories and reflects on the spiritual, emotional and even physical healing that is available to us through the Eucharist.

If you’re looking for a more substantial introduction to eucharistic spirituality, here are a couple of suggestions: Catholics and the Eucharist: A Spiritual Introduction by Stephen B. Clark approaches eucharistic theology from a biblical basis, referencing the documents of Vatican II the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Church Fathers. And, not to be forgotten, you’re sure to like The Eucharist: A View From the Pew by Father Gerard Weber, a favorite from St. Anthony Messenger Press sure to give you a fresh perspective on the Mass.