The Gift of Communion and the Breaking of the Bread

You hear the clanking of silverware and the chatter of voices. You see people coming and going: students and staff, faculty and guests. The aroma of chicken noodle soup and freshly baked pizza catches your nose. Salads and sub sandwiches tantalize your eyes and later your tastebuds.

The scene is lunchtime, and the place is the refectory, the cafeteria at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. The word refectory derives from the Latin word for a place of refreshment. Without a doubt, it is a place of refreshment for the body, particularly the stomach, and for the soul and mind, too. It is especially a place of communion.

The refectory is a place where seminarians can put aside their studies and not only enjoy the excellent food that the Ovations staff generously cooks for us throughout the year, but also to share stories, to laugh, and to enjoy one another's company. It's a time to learn about the life of faith from Marquette to Madison, Wisconsin; from Nigeria to Slovenia. It's a place of refreshment that is much needed and appreciated. It's a communal microcosm of the whole seminary experience and of the universal Church rooted in Jesus Christ.

No matter what department, age, or level of education, Sacred Heart's refectory is a place for all students to be blessed, to share, to eat in common, and to be in communion.

I have had many good meals in the refectory over the six years I spent at Sacred Heart. Whether it was the back-to-school barbecues, the Family Meals shared by the seminarians and priests, or the traditional Mass of the Lord's Supper dinner, they all were moments of grace. These meals, which are communal in nature and yet shared by seminarians and commuter students alike, ultimately point to one important meal also communal in nature: the meal shared by our Lord with his apostles at the Last Supper in which he gave himself in Holy Communion. Like Jesus, who broke bread with his apostles, I, too, was blessed to break bread with many in the refectory. Though I did not encounter Jesus physically there, I encountered him spiritually and recognized him in the breaking of the bread through the many faces I shared a meal with, in the same way as Jesus' disciples recognized him (Lk 24:30-31).

By God's grace, by the time you read this, my classmates and I will be ordained priests. We will stand in the person of Christ and be a source of communion by consecrating and breaking bread to nourish souls with the true Bread of Life of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Finally, this gift of communion leads me down the Pewabic-tiled halls of Sacred Heart to the heart of the seminary, the Main Chapel. It is the place of real communion where Jesus is truly present in the tabernacle and where my brothers and I have gathered many early mornings to worship our Lord. It was there that I was ordained a deacon one year ago, and where, most recently, I graduated.

Over these six years, I have had many good memories and been richly blessed by the community of Sacred Heart. This community has certainly touched and transformed my heart. May Jesus and his most Sacred Heart, through his mother Mary, continue to transform other hearts and be a place of communion to seminarians and others for generations to come.