OK, to you 1st Communicants, I have some questions for you:
Who has ever broken a bone? Raise your hand.
Who has ever had stiches?
Who has ever fallen down and hurt an arm or a leg?
Who has ever had a cut on their skin?
All of those things are not very fun, are they? Let’s say that you have a cut, for example on your hand. What do you do for it? [Elicit answers . . . wash it with soap and water, put a bandage on it, etc.] Now, after you have it washed and bandaged, does it still hurt? Sometimes. You need to be careful with it, right? But you trust that it will get better.
In the gospel Jesus comes back and still has the wounds in his hands and feet. He even tells the disciples to touch his wounds. Ouch! In a sense, he is saying that I have wounds so that you don’t have to suffer with your wounds. Not only our physical wounds, but our “inside wounds” like when we feel afraid, or alone, or our feelings get hurt. It’s like Jesus saying, “Look, I know when you are hurting and I don’t want you to stay with your pain.”
There is a poet name from the 13th century name Hafiz, he once wrote
Every child has known God,
Not the God of names,
Not the God of don'ts,
Not the God who ever does
Anything weird,
But the God who knows only 4 words
And keeps repeating them, saying:
"Come Dance with Me." Come Dance.
I invite you 1st Communicants up around the altar. [Gather kids around altar] Now remember when you have a cut, you don’t think . . . oh, I will have this cut for the rest of my life. No. Instead, what is one of the first things you do for it? You wash it. In a sense, it’s believing that it will get better and not hurt so much. The soap invites you to be changed, maybe even brag about our wounds (our stiches) like we did at the beginning of Mass.
Well, I have some soap for you. [Reveal bottles of bubbles and let kids blow bubbles.]
Jesus comes back from the dead. Theologian, peace activist and storyteller Megan McKenna
was once asked if she brought anyone from the dead. She answered, “Yes. Every time I bring hope into a situation, every time I bring joy that shatters despair, every time I forgive others and give them back dignity and the possibility of a future with me and others in the community, every time I listen to others and affirm them and their life, every time I speak the truth in public, every time I confront injustice - yes - I bring people back from the dead.”
Receiving communion (like you will today for the 1st time) is about hope. The Eucharist is NOT a reward for being good or perfect. It is food for the journey ahead. It is receiving the hope of Jesus that says all will be well. You don’t have to stay in your wounds or hurt but can move on.
And we don’t do this alone, we do it with a community. [Reveal bubble machine] It’s the community that says, we will help you in your wounded-ness for we know what it is to be hurt.
Come, dance with us.