{"id":576,"date":"2020-05-29T10:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/?p=576"},"modified":"2020-06-02T10:01:05","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T10:01:05","slug":"a-moment-of-eucharist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/2020\/05\/29\/a-moment-of-eucharist\/","title":{"rendered":"A moment of Eucharist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Helen Jones, Pastoral Associate in Liverpool South Pastoral Area<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do this is remembrance of me<\/p>Luke 14:19<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The late “Dr Pasquano” enjoying cannoli<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of the positives of lockdown has been the plethora of TV to watch and one of my favourite series is \u201cInspector Montalbano\u201d  based on the books by Sicilian author Andrea Camilleri<\/em> about a police commissioner in Sicily (a kind of Italian version of Sherlock Holmes).  I watched the final one available on BBC iPlayer this week where the death of the character of the pathologist Dr Pasquano is mourned.  Pasquano had an \u2018affectionate\u2019 dislike for Montalbano using language that was fruity, brusque and sometimes crude, but they shared a deep-seated appreciation of Sicilian food and drink and especially cannoli<\/em> (a Sicilian sweet pastry) that, despite the profanities, united them in a bond of respect and appreciation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food is as essential for Montalbano as breathing\u2013 he loves Sicilian cuisine and eats in silence to savour the dishes in his favourite simple restaurant overlooking the sea.  The reverence he gives to the food, to each mouthful is his sacred moment.  You feel him experience every mouthful.  Every time he eats, every time he drinks, you notice \u2013 you are present in his presence showing deep appreciation and gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to Dr Pasquano\u2019s funeral: the scene is set \u2013 the coffin lowered into a Sicilian graveyard. The shot returns to the police station and Montalbano requests his core team to come into his office.  They file in, standing motionless and silent watching Montalbano.  A knock is heard at the door and a delivery man enters carrying a paper wrapped tray.  Montalbano peels back the paper carefully and hands each man a cannolo.  <\/em>Respectfully they wait until each has received one, and, in silence and as one body, they bite into the cannolo – Dr Pasquano\u2019s favourite vice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It maybe fiction, but as the actor playing Pasquano did in fact die in Season 13, there is an added poignancy to the scene.  What struck me was the beauty in the dignity that each character showed as, with their silent contemplative eating of the sweet pastry, they remembered their fictional “prickly”colleague, fellow actor, and friend with love and affection, savouring the exquisite taste of this Sicilian treat. The sense of Eucharist was overwhelming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Remembering a colleague<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How important food is, in creating those moments of coming together, of sharing.  That very act of consuming as one brings us close to each other as humans.  We are united as one body and that experience of shared fellowship binds us together..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we are denied our communal Eucharistic celebrations, how are we uniting \u201cin remembrance of me\u201d?  How are we experiencing Eucharist? Is it in our neighbourhood clapping, or our engagement in helping and supporting others?  Or just be being there for our family or a friend who is struggling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these times perhaps we can re-imagine Eucharist.  May each time we break bread, bring us closer to an encounter with the one who never leaves our side, unite us with our community from whom we are separated, and show solidarity with those on the margins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reflection on Eucharist in our current time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16],"tags":[55,37],"class_list":["post-576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-god-in-our-time","category-reflection","tag-eucharist","tag-spirituality-in-the-home"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/cannoli.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":586,"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions\/586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodwhospeaks2020.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}