This weekend, the St. Ann's community continued their commitment to end hunger. On Saturday, the Rise Against Hunger staff reminded us that we have participated in this movement for 15 years and have packed over 500,000 meals to feed the hungry! Well done St. Ann's! Thank you for your engagement in this outreach opportunity and a huge thank you to Julie Rixner who helped me with so much of the behind the scenes preparations.
At Mass, Fr. Jim reminded us of the words of St. Augustine, that we BECOME that which we receive! We say "Amen" to the Eucharist we are also saying "Amen" to who WE are - the Body of Christ. The food that we ingest in the Eucharist...we become a part of it instead of it becoming a part of us! We partake in the Eucharist to become more like Christ, to be nourished for our mission to love God and one another.
As I mentioned in our promotion of the Rise Against Hunger event, Fr. Jim intentionally chose the Feast of Corpus Christi for our participation this year to remind us that we ARE the Body of Christ, nourished by the Eucharist for our mission to BRING Christ into the world. As I witnessed this event in action I was watching the Body of Christ in action! Our whole community pulled together to feed those in need. We all had our parts, whether you prayed for success, donated money, invited others to join in, helped with setting up, packing or cleaning up! There were young children, teens, young adults, families, individuals, able bodied, people with mobility issues, men, women, clergy, laity...Christ's BODY in action! It was a beautiful experience!
See the impact Rise Against hunger is making! Watch this video about Zimbabwe!
Zimbabwe Celebration Series: Your Impact Starts With a Meal! from Rise Against Hunger on Vimeo.