from the Companion Directors Team
During the sprinkling rite at the closing Mass of the Assembly, I experienced profound gratitude for my parents who brought me to the waters of Baptism as an infant. Their simple act of faith has allowed me to walk in the newness of life offered by the sealing of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When I was 9 years old, those gifts were fortified in the Sacrament of Confirmation. Because of these grace-filled moments of my childhood, I have been given all that is needed to live out my baptismal promises – to daily say “yes” to my God.
Lent is often viewed as the demanding season when our focus turns to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. When Easter rolls around, our “Alleluia” is sometimes in thanksgiving for getting back to life as usual. Aren’t we missing the boat if we do not allow our Lenten sacrifices to shape us for being sent into the world to be Christ to those we encounter? The Easter season reminds us of our Baptismal promises often made by our parents on our behalf. By our Baptism, we are sent into the world to utilize our gifts in building up the Kingdom of God in the right here and now.
The same Spirit that descended upon the apostles at Pentecost has entered our hearts. In silence, we hear the whisper drawing us into communion with him, his people, and all of creation. We listen for his lead as we discern how he is asking us to serve at this stage in our lives. As a Precious Blood community, we know we are not alone. We are in the company of friends as we come together, share our stories, and break bread as Jesus taught us. As stated in Gather Send, the vision statement of the Companion movement, we draw strength and hope “out of the sacred space of our gatherings” to be sent into the world to be “ambassadors of Christ to the edges of society.” We are Easter people brought to newness of life by the blood of Christ and sent by his Spirit to “bring hope and reconciliation to a wounded world.”
Gabrielle Bossis, born in Nantes, France in 1874, recorded the words that Christ spoke to her in the silence of her heart in the years between 1936 and 1950. Her journal was translated into English and comes to us as the book, He and I. Gabrielle chose the single life over religious or married life as she very much wanted to be a person in the world. She was a well-known playwright of moral comedies who felt called to document the voice within to let people know that the life of intimacy with Christ is not reserved for those in cloisters but for all people no matter their state in life. The words she heard on September 14, 1937 while in church are as follows: “Look at the stained glass windows. Some are in the shadow and have kept all their colors to themselves. Others have surrendered to the sun and are completely lost in its light.” As Easter people, we are called to surrender to the Son. And when we do, we too will be lost in His light and empowered by the Spirit to “step out, stand up, and speak clearly about the Precious Blood of Jesus” drawing others to drink from the cup of our spirituality.
