November 30, 2004

Happy New Year! As we begin this new Church year especially dedicated to the Holy Eucharist, I’d like to tell you about a little boy who had a great desire to receive the Eucharist. He was called “our little Saint Matthew” by a bishop in Oregon, quoted in the secular press. Matthew was born with a sense of passing away, because he had no stomach and could not eat. He, in fact, died at the age of 7. Although he wasn’t from a Catholic family, Bishop Steiner got to know him from the time he was about five years old because he would go with other children with disabilities to a special Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Corvallis, Oregon (my parents’ parish at the time).

Matthew loved going to our church and listened attentively and spoke of his own great desire to be with Jesus and Mary in Heaven, and to eat pizza there! His greatest desire while still on earth was to be able to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord. Bishop Steiner, the pastor, asked Matthew’s non-practicing Methodist parents what they thought and they gave Matthew permission to become Catholic and receive his first Holy Communion. He received a small fraction of the Host - the only thing he was ever able to eat.

Matthew died a year or so later, but not before bringing his parents, his uncle, and other family members into the Catholic Church. There were other signs of the Lord’s special favor upon him, such as the roses blooming outside the window of his room when he died, even though it was a cold December day.

Matthew’s great longing for the Eucharist and for Heaven reminds us where our longing should be. The Lord desires many from east and west to be with Him in the heavenly banquet. He often uses difficult situations to wake us up and help us to grow in faith. The Eucharist is our doorway into Heaven. As the centurion in the Gospel said so well, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and my servant (soul) shall be healed.”

Fr. Richard Roemer, CFR
Community Vicar – residing at St. Joseph Friary in Harlem, New York
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