“… Immediately the people recognized Him, and ran about the whole neighbourhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard He was.” (Mark 6:53).
I have been reflecting on the experience of celebrity. So much of our modern lives are fixated on the idea of celebrity, fame and fortune.
When I was a young girl, teenagers would carry around autograph books and ask celebrities that they passed by in the street to sign their names. There were funny little jokes made about how people would never wash their hand again after having it shaken by a celebrity. There were other stories of celebrities being chased and hounded so that a photographer could take their photograph. The Late Princess Diana, may God rest her soul, was one such celebrity, who was chased and hounded so that she could be photographed. She was portrayed as a beautiful princess who was a role model to everyone.
And these were not the first celebrities… There was a celebrity twenty centuries ago, who was also hounded for the things He could offer… “When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, and ran about the whole neighbourhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard He was. And wherever He came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were made well.” (Mark 6:53-56).
And I have been reflecting on this flurry of interest in Christ all those millennia ago… You see, Christ was sought out for the relief He could bring. He was called in for the support He could deliver. And – in many ways – He was exploited as the celebrities of this modern time are exploited, for their image and their message and their uniqueness…
And I have been reflecting on that experience of Christ as I have been reflecting on the Blessed Eucharist. You see, while it is true that twenty centuries ago, crowds followed Christ so that they could touch His garment, it is equally true that these days, very few approach the Holy Altar to receive Christ – God made Man – in the Blessed Eucharist…
And when I think about the magnanimity of the presence of God Himself in a tiny crust of bread and a sip of cheap wine, my heart almost stops with wonder. For my Beloved came to earth and endured all the idle curiosity of the crowd who had little or no understanding of His wonderful power of true nature. And He did all that – all the indignity of celebrity – simply so that He could remain here on Earth in the form of the Most Blessed Eucharist, just so that I could get close to Him.
You see, Christ hides Himself in bread and wine for me… For if I ever tried to approach Him in all His Holy Glory, my heart would stop with fear and I would be overshadowed by His Holy Power. And so instead, He makes himself appear smaller than me so that I will not be afraid. Because there is one little thing that God cares about in all the world, and that little thing is me...
And when I think about that today, my heart almost stops with wonder at the love of such a God as that!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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