by Fr John Rizzo
One of the greatest treasures we could ever possess is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. Our Catholic faith reminds us to express piety, devotion and adoration to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, the Bread of Life. The God of the tabernacle truly does desire to be the God of our hearts.
I find it so edifying to see people who have a great devotion to our Eucharistic Lord. I would like to tell you about just a couple of the many I have met.
I was once stationed as an assistant priest at a parish in Sydney’s west. There was an elderly parishioner, by the name of Sanio, who would regularly make long visits to the Church. The parish priest would give him a key, and he would arrive as early as 5 o’clock in the morning. He would often still be there for the 9 o’clock morning Mass, sitting before the tabernacle all that time. I used to come in and see him sitting in the corner. He wouldn’t turn the lights on, and I would say “Sanio, how much do you charge to haunt a house?! Do you have to be here as such a spectral figure?!” He would smile.
Eventually Sanio got on in years, and he became ill and bedridden as his cancer advanced. One morning, the parish priest went to give him the Last Rites. When he returned to the presbytery, he said to me “Oh John, I forgot to give Sanio Holy Communion. Can you please take him Holy Communion sometime today?” I said “I will do that right away.” I went to the tabernacle in the Church to put a Host in the pyx, and then went to this dying man’s house.
There he was lying in bed. His wife and daughter were nearby. I looked at Sanio and said to him “Good morning, Sanio. I will give you a blessing with the Blessed Sacrament, and then I will give you Holy Communion.” As soon as I blessed him, he breathed his last. A look of such peace and contentment was on his face.
I turned to his wife and I said “All his life he came to the tabernacle. At the end of his life, the tabernacle came to him.” May he rest in peace.
The other person who comes to mind is someone I met not long ago. I was at the Cathedral in Parramatta for an evening Rosary vigil. When we had finished, I locked up the Cathedral and turned off the lights. I came out a side entrance, and was walking down to the courtyard in front of the main entrance of the Cathedral. I saw a young man kneeling there at the doors, looking through the glass, praying.
I went over to him and asked “Would you like to go inside?” “Oh Father, I saw you locking up – I don’t want to disturb you. I am happy here – I can see the tabernacle.”
I was really amazed at this young man’s faith. I said to him “No, I am going to unlock the door. You come in and spend time before Our Lord.” He was deeply appreciative of the little effort that it took to unlock the door so that he could go inside. He spent about five minutes there, whilst I waited in the Sacristy. After he finished praying, he came into the Sacristy, vigorously shaking my hand and thanking me for the opportunity of making that visit.
How wonderful it was for me to see such an expression of faith – this young man happy to kneel outside on the steps in order to be near Our Lord. But he heard that invitation: “Friend, come higher.”
