This past week, Fr. Don passed along the following:
The Bishop of Rome (Francis) received very favorable reaction to an interview given in August, 2013. One line resonates with many: "I see the church as a field hospital after battle." A recognition that we all have been wounded or at least have wounds from "the slings and arrows" of life. We need healing, a work for both Word and Sacrament, for the touch of the Lord who loves us. Ordinarily that love comes to us through another human being’s compassion and sympathetic understanding. An often used prayer entitled "Hail, Holy Queen" has a line about "poor, banished children of Eve". With little children this often comes across as "poor, bandaged children of Eve", an unwitting intuition of this truth! That certainly fits with "field hospital."
By gathering together on Sunday, under the same roof and seeking the same nourishing and healing, we are cared for and we heal. Certainly, we may not be healed fully, (it is a MASH unit - not a hospital) but we are made better. We're restored. We're propped. We're better prepared to endure what life will give us in the coming week.
It is not a panacea. Sometimes the wounds that life throws at us are far too much that they cannot be healed. But in those situations, just like in a field hospital, at least there will be comforting and compassion and communion.
Our weekly visit also serves as a reminder of how we can play the role of medic for each other the remainder of the week. As Christians, that is what each of us is called to do.
You'll bump into many people this week that are hurting and are in need. Don't wait for them to scream, "MEDIC!"
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