Unplanned Grace (10/08/2023)

A few weeks back, a member of the parish called and asked me to sub for him as extraordinary minister of the Eucharist at the 4:30 p.m. Mass yesterday. While it wasn’t my usual Mass time, I agreed to take responsibility for that date and time. And yesterday I set my alarm so I wouldn’t forget. I was at the Mass, ready to serve and prepared to go up after the Sign of Peace. As I was extending the Sign of Peace to those in the pew in front of me, I noticed a gentleman step to the sanctuary step, sanitize his hands, and step into the place for the extraordinary minister. I’d been “bumped.”

All was well, we continued Mass, the gentleman served the LORD and the community well, and returned to his pew. After Mass, a few individuals spoke to me questioning why I was at that Mass rather than my usual time. I explained that I had come to serve as extraordinary minister of the Eucharist but someone else came forward before me. One person shook her head and asked, “Did that make you mad?” I responded, “No, not at all, the LORD and the people were served, and I was fed through the Word and Eucharist.”

I thought about that afterwards. I wasn’t disturbed. I was surprised. But I wasn’t disturbed. This man obviously felt he was doing a needed service. He did serve well. Clearly, I was not the only one present who could have helped with that ministry. All was good. In the end, it is not about us as individuals. In the end, it is about our relationship with the LORD and one another. The LORD was served. The people were served. All was good.

At times, we can get caught up in some petty things, that’s part of our plight as humans. But we are created to be more than that, to deny ourselves, to be able to look beyond ourselves, to our LORD and to the needs of others, to pick up our own crosses, and to follow Christ. I must admit that there have been times in my own life when I have responded less than well when I felt others were “taking my place.” Thankfully, maturity as well as experience has shown me that things such as these, another doing good, trumps my feeling of being slighted, because the individual truly didn’t know I was there.

Awareness that we are not the only ones who can do good in a moment is part of moving from “it’s about me” to “it’s about the LORD and how I will love the LORD and love others.” Yesterday, I watched as the gentleman distributed communion. He served the LORD well. He served the community well. And there was a peace about him as he served that I think flowed from his cooperating with the grace of the LORD. I think both he and I were blessed yesterday. Grace is like that; it comes but rarely in shape in which we ordered it.

May we be disciples who are eager and willing to step up when we see a need around us. May we always seek to love and serve the LORD and one another well. May we cooperate with the Spirit who leads us in both.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.