FINDING A HOME
The cross is also the anchor of our hope as it appears in the Jubilee logo embedded onto the lit candle. The lower part of the cross is elongated and turned into the shape of an anchor, which is lowered into the waves and stabilizes the ship amidst the storms.
In addition, the cross is bent down backwards towards the four human figures. This indicates God’s act of compassion, seeking us out and offering surety of hope.
THE LAST WORD
ECCLESIA SUPPLET
BY JOSÉ LUIS ROMÁN MEDINA, MCCJ
IT WAS a Saturday morning, and I was getting ready to visit one of my outstations called Edinburg, to meet the altar servers and practice how to serve Mass with them.
I put all the necessary items in my kitbag: chalice, paten, altar bread, cruet, two small bottles (one for water and the other for wine). I poured orange juice instead of wine into one bottle, since the children liked drinking it from the chalice at the end of the session, pretending it was wine.
Upon arrival, I gave the kit to the children. They placed all the items on the table, near the altar. They filled the small jar of the cruet with water and the other one with orange juice. Then the lesson began. We practiced a couple of times, and also had some fun, laughing now and then. We happily finished the lesson and left the church.
The following morning, a Sunday, I took my kit, put it in my car, and drove to Edinburg to celebrate the Eucharist with the entire community.
When I arrived, the new altar servers took my kit and prepared the table carefully: the chalice, the altar bread, and the cruet for the wine and water placed in the center.
The Eucharist began. The entry hymn was sung, Scripture readings were read, the Creed was proclaimed. I carried out the consecration of the bread and the wine to be transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. The time for communion was near when I elevated the Body and Blood of Christ and said: “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the Lord, happy are those who are called to his Supper.”
When I drank from the chalice, I was shocked by the flavor of the wine, and my eyes opened wide when I realized that what I had in my mouth was not wine, but the orange juice from the previous day. I had forgotten to change the small bottles of the cruet which contained the juice. I, however, pretended that everything was normal and completed the Eucharist.
As we say and believe, in this kind of situation: Ecclesia supplet.
WE RECEIVE MORE THAN WHAT WE GIVE
ON THE 25th of December, we once again met in the Parish, as our days of missionary experience came to an end; each one of us with a small suitcase and one or two boxes of yucca, bananas, cocoa, oranges, etc. …. foods produced in these lands and given to us, apart from hugs, by the Christians, as signs of affection and of their gratitude for the time shared together.