Dear Brothers and Sisters, Mary Flannery O’Connor was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist who died in 1964. Her writing reflected her Roman Catholic faith and frequently examined morality and ethics. Bishop Robert Barron has named her one of the most influential Catholics of the 20th century. There is a story told of Flannery O’Connor about a time when she was invited to a dinner party in New York. Flannery was reportedly shy in social situations, and she really didn’t say much at the dinner party until the discussion turned to her Catholic faith and the Eucharist. One woman at the party said that the Eucharist was a powerful symbol of God. Flannery O’Connor locked her gaze on the woman and replied, “If it’s just a symbol, then I say to hell with it.” What Flannery O’Connor meant was that symbols can be created and manipulated. But if it is a sacrament, then, it’s nothing less than the breaking through of God himself into our everyday lives. St. Thomas Aquinas said that “the Eucharist is Christ himself.” If Aquinas is correct, and if the Eucharist is Christ himself, and if Christ is really, truly and substantially present, his body, blood, soul and divinity, then why would you ever look for meaning somewhere else? Deacon Vic