Monday, May 14, 2007

Eucharist

This poem shook me today as I read about the organic nature of pastoral care. May it shake you as well.

When the hands that hold the host
Have plunged fingers, with seeds into damp soil,
Or swung an axe in sweat-soaked toil,
There's blessing in the cup.

When hands that break bread in remembrance
Have tenderly birthed a lamb,
Or cradled an infant at midnight,
Life itself is elevated on the altar.

When the soul of a celebrant has known
The sweetness of friendship ripened on love's vine
Been duly crushed by heartbreak, flattened by aching loss,
The wine of the covenant is richly shared.

For the soot of the city,
The pain of the people,
The touch of another,
Stain the tablecloth, yet
Consecrate many hands.

By them, bread is blessed, and rises,
Thus, the corpus contains
Every grain of creation, broken
In bright conspiracy --- transformed.


by Kathleen O'Toole

6 comments:

Kristen said...

That was beautiful.

Thank you for your comments on my blog. They were very insightful and unique.

I'll be out of town for the first four days of June, but let's plan to get together after that. I'm looking foward to seeing you!

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