Each of my children prepared for their
first Communion at 2nd grade.
This is a great age; children easily and eagerly love Jesus. At the end of their year of preparation, they
were presented with a blessing cup. They cherished their cups. Placed by their
meal at dinner time, a visible reminder of how we share our blessings in our
home with one another. Each cup served a reminder of how we share in the Lord’s
blessing as we go to our church and Jesus shares himself with us at Mass. We transform ourselves through worship and we
affect our world by that transformation. This
is a blessing!
Today as I cleaned the blessing
cups that belonged to each of my children, I wondered what is the symbolism of
the “cup”? In the OT, Jeremiah speaks of
Israel as having to drink the cup of the fury of the Lord at his hand. Something was handed to Israel, which they
had to endure. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays, “If it be possible,
let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not my will but yours be done”. Psalms 23 says “my cup runneth over”. I
became aware that “cup” is our field of experience, of which we have no control
over. The cup is used throughout the Bible as a figure of what life hands
us. Jesus knew what he was preparing for,
as he prayed in the Garden; he was ready to accept what life was about to hand
him. We don’t accept so readily, because we aren’t prepared. Not being prepared means we can’t understand
this kind of surrender to life. Having a
more mature faith, one grounded in a relationship with the Father, allows one to
not only understand it, but to live it gracefully: to live what Catholics call,
The Paschal Mystery.
"If
it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will but thine
be done". This is the journey to the cross; the paschal mystery is what
Jesus is referring to. This is his cup
to drink. He is spiritually ready for this experience that will take us all
into new life.
How
many Gardens of Gethsemane do we find ourselves in? Jesus spent his life preparing to make a
decision that would impact all of humanity and for all eternity. How do I prepare for those moments when my
choices can either drive me away from God or closer to Him forever? Do I concern myself with my spiritual
preparation or just the spiritual celebrations?
Preparation requires rigor and discipline. Suddenly those four cups reminded me of how
far removed I am because I am easily distracted in a world of what is seen
only. The creed I recite at every Mass says “I
believe in one God…maker of heaven and earth…of all things visible and
invisible….” These cups today reminded
me that I must remember those things that are not visible. They made me reflect, how many times did I not
see my cup? Where I may have walked away out of fear or out of pride? Yes, I am sure I have.
In our baptism we began to prepare for our cup. Our
parents started our journey for us, by taking us to be plunged into the waters
of spiritual life. It was through their faith that God began his work in me.
Remembering what the baptismal font looked like from old photos, it was like a cup too! A large
marble basin filled with living water that initiated me into the Paschal
Mystery. As an adult, I now understand
that my baptism was more than just a “one moment in time” event. I must be ready to baptize myself into every event
in my life so I can continue to die to the old and be renewed into new life. This is what it means to live the Paschal Mystery.
I wiped dry and gently sat the cups back in the cupboard tonight. I thought of my kids, three of the them are adults
now. We don't use the blessing cups as often anymore. Tonight I prayed: Lord,
may I always show the way to you to my children. Help us to be worthy of your blessings, that we
may be prepared always to be a blessing to others and that we may come to share
in your cup of salvation. Amen.
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