"EUCHARISTIC PEOPLE"

"We are Eucharistic people which means we are a people of thanksgiving,

people who realize that we are prodigal sons and daughters. We are not

called to judge or to condemn but to be instruments of life and

to receive life. To be called in community is an incredible gift.

"Because we've been called together, we are people of celebration,

but in our celebration, there is always a note of sadness because

not all people in the world are celebrating. Not everyone is rejoicing.

Many today are being crucified in prisons and hospitals,

or just downtown in the slum areas. Many people are lonely and in pain.

Along with the celebration that rises from a community of thanksgiving,

there is a note of pain, but also a note of hope.

We have been drawn together by God to be a sign of resurrection

and a sign of unity in this world where there is so much division

and inner and outer death.

We are gathered to signify the power of God who transforms death into life.

That is our hope, that God is doing the impossible: changing death

inside of each of us, and that perhaps through our community, each of us

can be agents in the world of this transformation of brokenness into

wholeness, and of death into life."

(Jean Vanier - From Brokenness to Community p51-52)