I have looked upon the host

I have looked upon the host, the body of Christ:

have seen the works of all baked in it

have seen the folk of earth pressed in it

have touched the joys of all in the taste of it

I have looked into the cup, the blood of Christ:

have seen the dreams of many stir in it

have sniffed the pain of many squeezed in it

have savored the tears of all when drinking it

I have looked upon the Christ in his Eucharist:

have shared this freedom while eating it

have confirmed his promise while drinking it 

have given thanks while sharing it

*Reflections of Jean Sulivan:

  -To want to bring the Gospel back to its source - to let it be difficult, to refuse to turn it into cultural gruel - is this showing scorn for simple people?  For how many years I've heard this refrain.  The simple people, it's worth saying once more, have a spontaneous affinity for spiritual things.  It's is the enlightened ones, rather, who think they possess the meaning of the message and keep cooking up gruel for the unsophisticated.  They're the ones who show contempt by treating people like dunces and justifying the repressions and guilt which consolidate their power.  When I hear them I think of an old man leaning over a child and using baby talk; there's an ironic gleam in the eyes of the child that says, "Lay off, dummy!"

  -Genuine love of men and women is shown first by rejecting the crowd as such.  That's what the Gospel does: it leaves the love of humanity to politicians.

  -Passionate love is only a momentary eruption if it's not expressed in fidelity.  But fidelity can just as easily mean ossification as love.

  -...faith is always a beginning, a succession of beginnings.