Friday, August 17, 2018

Thoughts on loneliness

Our Ultimate Friend
 
One of the great fears most of us suffer from is the fear of loneliness, alienation and isolation from others, feeling that we are cut off and don't belong, abandoned. Maybe that's why our cellphones have become so important to so many of us or why we spend so much time on facebook and other forms of social media. Maybe that's why some of us remain in relationships that have become toxic, manipulative and destructive. We can't bear to feel rejected and alone.
 
In Sunday's gospel from John we have the third section of Jesus' teaching on the Eucharist. His Jewish audience is shocked and scandalized at Jesus' words; it sounds like cannibalism to them. They don't yet understand the signs of bread and wine as flesh and blood. Then he concludes with the great promise, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." A Catholic who partakes of the Eucharist can never be alone, never be rejected or abandoned. The Lord is constantly living within us, loving us just as we are and supporting us in all we do. He Is our best and ultimate friend.
 
Fr. Ralph Huse, S.J.

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