EVER NURTURING MOTHER | KAIROS GLOBAL | SEPTEMBER 2021

Author: Blessy Varghese, Montreal, Canada

Ever Nurturing Mother

Almost hundred days into the lockdown, I remember completing the ascent to Mont Royal and squinting at the closed wooden doors of St. Joseph’s Oratory. It had been almost 100 days without receiving the Holy Eucharist, and never had things felt so desolate before. It was a time of intense longing, retrospection, and renewed promises. As I stood before one of the magnificent physical representations of Mother Church, I could only think back to the times when I had been so forgetful, cold, and ungrateful to the greatest gift that God had given me – the Catholic Church. I remember gazing at those closed doors, begging for forgiveness and mercy and a humble request to open the door to His altar once again and allow me to be a physical participant in the greatest sacrifice of all time. 

One of the worst side effects of Covid-19 was breathlessness. Breathing comes so naturally and effortlessly to all of us, that after our first breath, we usually forget about the life-giving oxygen that surrounds us. Covid brought back our focus on the primary thing that sustains us and is available so easily and readily to us – oxygen. Similarly, though invisible, grace nourishes us, sustains us, and constantly builds us up. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 'The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us'.  The Church, being the Body of Christ, freely, yet through great sacrifices and struggle, executes this great task entrusted by Christ. The Church constantly surrounds you, right from your conception with these sources of grace and protects you from the snares of the evil one. I love my Mother Catholic Church because she continuously provides my soul – sustaining, eternal life-giving grace through the sacraments. Being born into the Catholic Church, we have been privileged to be continuously enriched through the sacraments. 

Being washed of sins, marked with the indelible seal of Christ, we share in the communion with all Christians through baptism. Through sacraments, we become partakers of the body of Christ, confirm our faith, constantly reconcile, and renew ourselves, be blessed to lead our vocation and unite our sufferings with Christ.  What more can any child ask for but to be always present in the bosom of her loving mother.

In May 2020, I remember taking the decision to attend the Holy Mass daily when lockdown began, and the churches were shut down. When the lockdown was temporarily relaxed, God gave the grace to attend Holy Mass regularly for months. Once, I suddenly fell sick and was worried if I had been infected. I decided not to go for the Holy Mass to avoid any possible spread. During those four days, while I was awaiting the result, I realised how petty, anxious, and worried I was over trivial things. The people, situation and surroundings were the same as before, but now, I found myself angrier and not having control over myself. I was instantly reminded of how often this was the case on days when I did not receive the Holy Eucharist. Eucharist helps fight the weaknesses of the human spirit and fills us with the Holy Spirit, forming Christ within us. When the sacrifice is made on the altar, we too, as members of the body of Christ, should join ourselves completely as a sacrifice. Eucharist, administered through the Catholic Church, makes me partaker of divinity, and allows me to stay in the world yet, not be a part of the world. It leads us to being repentant sinners and attain higher degrees of sanctity. The Eucharist being the Body and Blood of Christ, and food for the soul is only provided through the Church. Thus, the Church through the guidance of the Spirit, helps me to love the Lord more and more and turn into him completely.

As a child, it is my responsibility to love and serve my Mother Church with my entire being. It means standing up for the teachings of the Church and the Pope, keeping aside individualism, divisive ideologies and being one spirit, mind, and soul in Christ, loving and serving one another. Let us pray unceasingly for the healing of all the wounds in the body, to refresh and renew the Spirit constantly, to be armed against assails of the evil one and share in the glory of God till eternity.