The Moment

There were many highlights during the Pope's six-day trip, but none more poignant than this one for me - the Vicar of Christ holding up the Body of Christ, surrounded by the Church in all her glory and splendor - cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, consecrated and the laity. The most touching moment for me was receiving Christ in the Eucharist. At the very moment that I walked over to receive the Body of Christ, the orchestra and choir began singing "This is the Feast of Victory for Our God," a Lutheran hymn that we always used to sing during or after Communion. Tears filled my eyes. It was a indescribable moment for me - a Lutheran-turned-Catholic who was now hearing the Lutheran hymn of my youth as a Catholic, at the very moment that I was taking the Eucharistic Christ into my own body. It was as if I had somehow come full circle and the Holy Spirit was confirming me in my faith. It made all the struggles and trials and persecutions of the past 13 years fade away. The coincidence of the timing of it all was the kind of thing that could only have been orchestrated by the Holy Spirit.

-- Tim Drake