Year of the Eucharist: ‘Food for our souls’

Last October, Kids’ Clarion explored the sacrament of the Eucharist through the lens of Father Luis Rodriguez, pastor of St. Clement of Rome Church in Metairie. Father Rodriguez’s interview with Kids’ Clarion editor Beth Donze is reprinted below, in celebration of the Year of the Eucharist.

Question: Do you remember your first Communion?

Answer: It was at the end of third grade at St. Thérèse of Lisieux School in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where I grew up. I remember nervousness and a lot of excitement, because in my 8-year-old mind, I did not “have Jesus” yet. (That day) I was finally going to have Jesus!

Q: Who prepared you to receive this sacrament?

A: We were taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, New York. We received Communion on the tongue only in those days. We had to practice over and over on how to go to Communion, with our hands in prayer position. We were taught to be reverent. It was a very solemn and serious matter, but very joyful, too.

Q: How did your love for the Eucharist grow during your elementary school years?

A: My parents were very active in our church parish, so it was very natural for me to be involved in parish life. I remember having that feeling (before I could receive Communion) of, “Why can’t I do what the others are doing?” I remember feeling left behind in the pews. To go to holy Communion was very important to me for the added fact that I could finally become an altar server. Then I was hooked! I could be up close; I could see the sacred action happening; I could help Father out. It was exciting for me to participate in Mass! That kind of started that desire of my wanting to become a priest.

Q: Do you remember any special rituals connected with the Eucharist while growing up?

A: In Puerto Rico, families would take turns cleaning the church on Saturday mornings. We would clean everything in the church, but nobody but Father was to touch the tabernacle. It was also customary for most of the faithful in my parish, before they said hello to anybody when they walked into church, to kneel in front of the tabernacle and say hello to Jesus before going to their pew. That impressed me. As a kid, I knew there was something very special and important inside the tabernacle.

Q: How did your faith mature as a teenager and young adult bound for ordination to the priesthood in 2001?

A: In high school, I played the piano and organ (at Mass) and I also sang. When I was 16, I was asked to lead our small music ministry. I was a reader – so, I was in just about every liturgical ministry but usher! I continued with music ministry in college (at Jesuit-operated St. Louis University) and served as a Communion minister. When I accepted a job in human resources at Tulane University Hospital and Clinic, my first church parish was where I am pastor now – St. Clement of Rome. I played music at the Spanish Mass; I was a reader; I taught CCD. Always, in the back of my mind, was that call to the priesthood, so I dared to actually look into it. I began talking to Father Harry Bugler, the vocation director at that time, and the rest is history. Seminary formation – taking classes, the Liturgy of the Hours, adoration – really helped me grow a lot more in my love for the Eucharist.

Q: What does the Eucharist mean to you as a priest?

A: I still cannot grasp it completely; it’s hard to grasp how God uses me as a priest-celebrant. Every Mass, every transformation, every consecration is a miracle! Only God can do that – to take simple bread and wine and transform it into his Body and his Blood. And he uses a priest who is so human! 

Q: What wisdom would you give Catholics regarding this sacrament?

A: Don’t let receiving the great gift of the Eucharist become routine or automatic! If we are mentally and physically prepared for Mass before we get to church, the Eucharist can be a lot more effective in our hearts. Mentally, we can look over the readings in advance. The Liturgy of the Word is there first to prepare us for the ultimate gift of Eucharist. Physically, we are asked to fast at least one hour before Communion. When the kids (at St. Clement) ask me about why we fast, I tell them: “We want to empty ourselves out to make room for Jesus, who will fill us up. He's our spiritual food; he’s the food for our souls; he feeds us and strengthens us. Then we have to go out and share him. We can’t keep him all to ourselves, because that would be greedy!”

Q: What question about the Eucharist do the children ask most often?

A: They wonder why they are not receiving both species. I tell them, “You can have the Body of Christ, or you can have the Blood of Christ, or you can have both, and it’s always 100% Jesus – God and man. It’s not half of Jesus. You get all of Jesus!” What’s more, everybody who goes to Communion (at a given Mass) also receives 100% of Jesus. That might not make much sense to us, but only God can do such a thing. That’s why it’s a miracle!

Q: Do you have any other reminders about receiving this sacrament?

A: Two things: 1. Pay attention to the Offertory. Those two people are bringing up the bread and the wine on our behalf and presenting them as an offering to God. In that basket, with those gifts, should go my personal joys, my sorrows, my problems, my thanks to God. Those are my gifts. Not only do we put our financial gifts into the collection; I should bring my very self. If I offer myself fully to the Lord, then he’s going to fill me up! 2. We should dress in our Sunday best for Mass. Once someone asked me, “Why do I have to dress up? Jesus doesn’t care.” I said, well, he really doesn’t care how you dress for Mass, but the important question is, do you care how you dress for your God? We dress up to go to weddings and parties, but isn’t (the celebration of the Mass) the party of parties? Shouldn’t we dress nicely for Jesus? Our attire says a lot about what we believe we are doing. If I dress in my pajamas, I’m dressing for a casual encounter.

Q: St. Clement of Rome has the second-oldest perpetual adoration chapel in the archdiocese, open for 35 years. Why do churches have chapels set aside for eucharistic adoration?

A: Because other than holy Mass, they offer us Catholics the best way to pray and spend time with our God. In eucharistic adoration, we’re there in the company of the Real Presence of 100% Jesus. He’s there – Body, Soul and Divinity. That’s why our adoration chapel is popular. What better place and in which better company can we pray and worship? I love to see the hospital workers who come to our chapel before or after work. Those are the hospital workers that I want to take care of me!