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F e a t u r e A r t i c l e
HEAVY DUTY
By RUSSELL. L. FORD
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One of the best catechism instructors we have here in prison is one of my godsons, Heavy Duty, but it hasn't always been so. Although he had all but completely given up on Christianity by the time I met him, Heavy Duty remained sentimentally attached to his Fundamentalist roots as a Southern Baptist. Before telling you about his pilgrimage to the Church, let me paint for you a mental picture of this most beloved godson.
Just like all prison handles, Heavy Duty didn't earn his name because he is diminutive. He stands at only five feet, six inches, which is not tall for a man, but he happens to be as wide as he is tall. Don't think Heavy Duty is fat. He isn't. He is just put together that way-proof that God has a sense of humor. But our good Lord's little joke doesn't stop there.
How do I describe this other little joke nature has played on poor Heavy Duty? Well, Moses tells us that Esau was a pretty hairy fellow with quite a temper. So is Heavy Duty. In fact, it's been my contention for years that Heavy is just a Sasquatch somebody partially shaved and taught how to talk. You think I'm kidding? Even he tells a story about how one of his former girlfriends (obviously of questionable species) braided his beard to his chest one day while he napped on a recliner. Dogs, cats, and small children tend to run and hide when they see him coming.
Finally, Heavy Duty has hands the size of hams and a history of a lack of compunction for their use. His are not the hands of a surgeon, Heavy Duty would do well as a manual sheller at a pecan processing plant. Those hands are strong, too. I'm over six feet tall and 215 pounds, but Heavy tosses me like a wet dishrag when "affectionately" playing. (There are many occupational hazards to being a prison evangelist!)
Ordinarily, it is impossible for me to tell at what point a man decides to become a Catholic unless he tells me. This was not the case with Heavy Duty.
Buckethead: Okay, Heavy Duty, let's think for a moment about what we've discussed before we begin this lesson. First we talked about the nature and existence of God, and his creation in man and the angels. We've covered Christ, his virgin birth, and the Immaculate Conception.
Heavy Duty: Yeah. Ah still cain't believe that y'all Cath'lics didn't whup Madonna fer stealin' that.
Buckethead: We've all been tempted, believe me. Anyway, we've covered all the creed, paying particularly close attention to the divine origins of the Catholic Church.
Heavy Duty: Humph. That's when Ah wanted ta rearrange yore grill work!
Buckethead: Why, Heavy?
Heavy Duty: 'Cause ya was always tawkin' 'bout the Church sez this an' the Church sez that. Church, Church, Church. Ya've said lots o' good stuff, Buckethead, but anyone can claim that stuff. What Ah wanna know is what's the Cath'lic Church got what nobody else's got? What makes y'all thank yore so special?
Buckethead: Heavy Duty, that's what I want to talk about today. After we finished the creed we began work on the sacraments.
Heavy Duty: That stuff sounds purddy blah too, Bucket. So what special sac-r-ment we gonna look at taday? Yore startin' ta bore me.
Buckethead: Today we'll look at the Holy Eucharist.
Heavy Duty: The what?
Buckethead: Eucharist, the special sacrament. The Holy Eucharist is the very heart of our holy and ancient faith. Christianity makes absolutely no sense without this most precious of the divinely-instituted sacraments. It's beyond my imagination what attraction exists in non-Catholic Christianity for those who don't accept the fullness of Christ's teaching on the Holy Eucharist. It is the singular truth of the Holy Eucharist that has made me fall helplessly, hopelessly, passionately in love with Jesus and his Catholic Church.
Heavy Duty: Sounds in'restin', but why does it make ya love the Church?
Buckethead: Because you won't find the Holy Eucharist in any Protestant church.
Heavy Duty: Okay. So what izzit?
Buckethead: I'm going to teach you this first of several lessons on the Eucharist strictly from the Bible. We're going to start at the Last Supper. Let's look here at Luke 22. We'll begin with verses 14 and 15. It says: "And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.'" Why do you think Jesus would earnestly desire to share this particular passover with the apostles? What makes this one any different from any other?
Heavy Duty: Ah reckon 'cause he knew it'd be his last.
Buckethead: If you were on death row, would you earnestly desire your last meal?
Heavy Duty: Ah see yore point. Ah don't reckon Ah would. So whah did he wanna eat thistn?
Buckethead: Let's read on and see. In verses 19 and 20 it says, "And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And likewise the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.'" Matthew, who was present and gives a first-hand account, tells the story about the cup a little differently. In Matthew 26:27-28, it says, "And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'" When Jesus said "This is my Body," the substance of the bread was changed into the true Body of Jesus Christ. Only the appearances of the bread remained-that is, all that remained of the bread are those things which effect the senses: taste, appearance, touch, and smell. The same is true of the wine. When Jesus said "This is my Blood," the entire substance of the wine turned into his real Blood. Therefore, the divine Jesus' Body and Blood are really present in the Holy Eucharist.
Heavy Duty: What kinda idiot ya take me fer, Bucket? That's just a bunch o' symbol stuff. We used to do that ever' fifth Sunday at church when Ah was a young'n. Don't hand me that!
Buckethead: Settle down, Heavy, and answer this question: Can you condemn your soul to hell for abusing a symbol?
Heavy Duty: Course not! That's stupid!
Buckethead: You're right, it is stupid. But if the Eucharist is only a symbol, why did Paul say you condemn yourself if you receive it unworthily?
Heavy Duty: He didn't say no sucha thang.
Buckethead: Oh, but he did. Let's look at First Corinthians 11:27-29. Paul writes: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself." If, as you say, the Eucharist is just a symbol, why does Paul say an unworthy man (that is, a man in mortal sin) will be profaning the body and blood of Christ? Why does he say that such a man will be drinking judgment on himself? That's purdy strong for a symbol.
Heavy Duty: Ah'll admit ya gotta point, Bucket, but ain't there somethin' more'n jus' a little tawkin' at the Last Supper?
Buckethead: Indeed there is! Much earlier in his ministry Jesus promised us the Eucharist.
Heavy Duty: Where?
Buckethead: Let's turn to John's Gospel to find out. The sixth chapter of John begins with Jesus working a miracle in preparation for the Eucharistic promise he will make the next day. In verses 1 through 14 we see that a multitude of people had followed Jesus into the hills, and that they became hungry. Jesus fed to their fill five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fish. There was so much left over that the remnants filled twelve baskets. That evening Jesus worked yet another preparatory miracle. Jesus told the apostles to get in their boat at Tiberius and sail to Capernaum without him. In the night (verses 16-22) the sea became rough because of a high wind. Suddenly, the apostles saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. Then, once Jesus was in the boat, it miraculously landed at the shore of Capernaum. So twice in a span of about twelve hours Jesus proved his supernatural mastery over the elements of bread, fish, and water, and the dimensions of time and space.
Heavy Duty: Then what?
Buckethead: The next morning (verses 22-24), the people who had eaten the loaves at Tiberius couldn't find Jesus. They'd seen the apostles sail away from him, and they couldn't understand why they couldn't find him. So the people went to Capernaum to find him. When they found Jesus at Capernaum, they asked him how he got there. Jesus cut to the heart of the matter when he said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw things, but because you ate your fill of the loaves" (verse 26). Jesus went on to tell them to work for the spiritual food that will get them to heaven, instead of the temporal food that spoils. He told them to do this by believing in him. These hard-headed disciples, who ate the miraculous bread the day before now wanted a sign from him to prove he was worthy of their belief. They told Jesus that Moses had given their fathers manna from heaven to eat. They had the gall to ask if he could top that!
In verse 35 it says: "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.'" He went on to explain through verse 40 that he was the bread sent from heaven by the Father. Up to that point, like you, Jesus' follows understood him to be speaking symbolically. Jesus took this misconception away from them. He went on to tell them that he was the bread that they'd have to eat to inherit eternal life.
Heavy Duty: Uh-huh.
Buckethead: Let's read verses 52-57: "The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.'" No longer did Jesus' followers believe he was being symbolic. They now understood him to be speaking literally. He said, "my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed" the word "indeed" made his statement hold the force of an oath. He prefaced his entire statement with the phrase "truly, truly," which he always used to emphasize the importance of what he was about to teach.
Heavy Duty: And then?
Buckethead: The followers' literal understanding of what Jesus said repulsed them. In verse 66 it says, "After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him." If they misunderstood by taking Jesus' words literally, why didn't he stop them and explain what he meant? He didn't go after them because he intended for them to take him literally. In verses 67-69 we read, "Jesus said to the twelve, 'Will you also go away?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.'" The apostles had been with him from the beginning. They also understood what he said, but they believed he'd eventually show them. It was at the Last Supper, Heavy Duty, that he explained how. They and Paul believed so firmly he is truly present in the Eucharist that Paul could write about a man condemning himself to receive Christ in mortal sin.
Heavy Duty: [Voice cracking.] That'd mean it's real special to eat him.
Buckethead: [Softly.] That's right, Heavy. He made us so that when a husband and wife are lovers they can get intimate enough to become one in a way that babies are often the result. Jesus, our perfect Lover, has arranged so we can be so intimate that we can take his entire Person-Body, Blood, soul, and divinity-into our entire selves. That is love to the extreme!
Heavy Duty: [Lower lip quivering.] What yore sayin' is he can be really present with us.
Buckethead: Let me show you something. This is a post card of the interior of St. John Cantius Church in Chicago. Do you see that little box near the altar?
Heavy Duty: Yeah. What izzit?
Buckethead: It's where Jesus lives. It's a prison he commits himself to called a tabernacle. He stays there so we can go to worship him and talk to him any time we want.
Heavy Duty: [A tear falls.] He's really there? Do ya really believe that?
Buckethead: Look at this Church, Heavy Duty. See the magnificent artwork? The beautiful marble? The gold? The ornate architectural decorations?
Heavy Duty: Yeah.
Buckethead: Do you know who built that and why?
Heavy Duty: Ah reckon the Church built it so folks could meet.
Buckethead: No, Heavy. That magnificent palace was built for King Jesus from the pennies, nickels, and dimes of little children, blue-haired old ladies, housewives, and blue-collar factory workers. Why? Because they hold to the same faith and believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist that their ancestors have held to for two thousand years, and they believe their King and Creator deserves a palace like that.
Heavy Duty: [Openly weeping.] He's been there all along? He's really there? Why didn't somebody tell me? Why?
Now you understand why Heavy Duty is one of our best catechism instructors. This leviathan of a man, this Sasquatch, this violent criminal has become a slave to that Prisoner in the tabernacle. Heavy is at peace with God, himself, and the world. This man of violent history has become a man who burns with a passion to share Catholic truth with every soul he can.
Heavy Duty isn't the only convict who has wept when learning about the Eucharist. I've taught many men who wept and became devoted servants to him for the gift of grace they were given. Heavy and others like him are men who would make excellent neighbors and assets to your parish.
That's a thought, isn't it? There are over one and a half million convicts in American prisons. Nearly all of them will go free sooner or later. Most of them will leave prison unchanged . . . and move into your neighborhood. But you can change that. You can work in prison apostolate. You can allow yourself to be used by the Holy Spirit to give convicts the gift of faith. Not only will you curb crime, but you also will add souls to the Kingdom.
Russell L. Ford is an inmate in an Alabama prison, where he engages in apologetics.
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