Florida Catholic | Living Eucharist: ‘Jesus Is The Center Of The World’

Intimate encounter in the Living Eucharist

Minister to elderly: ‘Jesus is the center of the world’

BEA MURPHY | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Published: 08.15.08

Bea Murphy of Light of Christ Parish connects her love of the Eucharist to her ministry when she brings Communion to Catholics in Comprehensive Health Care, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Clearwater.
JANET SHELTON | FC

“My Lord and my God. ¶ My God and my all. ¶ My Jesus, I love you.”

When I raise my eyes to the host during Mass, these words come to mind.

Jesus is the center of the world: a world with many problems, both big and small. But when I partake of the Eucharist, the big and small problems become problems I can manage, because Jesus is with me.

I firmly believe there is a reason for everything, although we cannot always see the reason at the time things happen. It is this belief, and this Jesus, that I want to bring to the people I serve as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion.

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The Florida Catholic invites people in the St. Petersburg Diocese to talk about how the Eucharist has touched their lives and ministry. Please send your thoughts to: Janet Shelton or The Florida Catholic, 6363 Ninth Ave. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33710.

The Blessed Sacrament is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. I serve the holy Eucharist at Mass and also at nursing homes. Bringing Jesus to the residents in nursing homes is, for me, both a pleasure and a privilege.

When I give Communion, the residents will sometimes say, “You made my day.”

Little do they know, they have made my day. When I give the Eucharist to a resident one day and find out on my next visit that person has died, I thank Jesus for guiding me to that person. What joy it is for me to know that person died with Jesus.

If we have worries or are fearful of some upcoming events, or are experiencing ill health or suffering in any way, what better way to lessen our troubles than to bring them to the Blessed Sacrament and, with great faith, ask Jesus to do with them as he wills? Our needs and our wants may not be what Jesus wants, but what we do know is that Jesus only wants what is best for us.

When your church offers eucharistic adoration, please take the opportunity to spend quiet time with Jesus. Embrace the words from the traditional Catholic hymn: “O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving, be ev’ry moment thine.”

Bea Murphy is an extraordinary minister of holy Communion, lector and sacristan at Light of Christ Parish in Clearwater. She also participates in the parish’s ministry to the elderly and ailing.

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