The Blood of Jesus

From time to time Jesuit Brother Philip would tell a religious story to the class or he would pontificate on the sufferings of Jesus.....

Poor Jesus. He was crucified, put to death on that horrible cross; blood all over him, blood on his hands, blood dripping from his wounds, from his head because of his crown of thorns, blood from his feet, blood from his side. It was precious blood. The Blood of Jesus. And Brother Philip used to go on and on about it. Brother Philip said Jesus shed so much blood that when the Roman soldier thrust the spear into the side of Jesus there was no more blood. Jesus had given all his blood and had no more to give; so, water flowed forth. From out of the side wound of Jesus flowed water. Jesus shed his most precious blood for our sins, and from the side wound of Jesus, after giving all his blood, he gave water. Healing water from Jesus.

Most probably Brother Philip couldn't let pass an opportunity without giving a little story about the blood of Jesus; so, as we students were winding down in the last class of the day, Brother Philip told the following story:

The Blood of Jesus

"A man entered a Catholic church. He was a non-believer. He had heard about the bread of the Eucharist,.....that Jesus is within it. He wanted to see for himself....so,....during Communion, he went to the altar rail---the priest not knowing that the man didn't belong to the church, gave him the Eucharistic Bread. On the way back to his pew the man bowed his head and made a pretense of crying. As if he was contrite. He was not. He was acting. They were false tears."

"From out of his pocket, the man took a handkerchief and pretended he was going to wipe at his tears: but, as he put the handkerchief to his face, he placed the communion bread into the handkerchief and then put it back into his pocket."

"At the end of the Mass the man left the church, not speaking to anyone because he didn't belong to the church. When he got home he took the handkerchief from out of his pocket..."

At this point in the story, Brother Philip very slowly lifted his hand from his desk. He had his thumb and index finger together and slowly lifting...it was as if he was holding something he was afraid to touch, as if it were something incomprehensible. His face was one of shock; and, continuing to lift his hand, he held it out before him for all the class to see. It was as if he were holding the handkerchief and was showing it to the class. At the same time it was the posture a priest would use in holding the Bread of Jesus, holding it between thumb and index finger. Brother's facial expression went from shock to sadness, and he solemnly announced to the class...

"The handkerchief was soaked in blood! It was the Blood of Jesus! It was Jesus who had changed the bread into his most precious blood. When the miracle happened, it convinced the non-believer: Indeed! The communion bread is the Body and Blood of Christ."

I questioned Brother Philip because he had mostly directed the story at me and I wanted some letup. "How do we know that to be true?" I asked. "How did you come to know of the man's wrongdoing?"

Brother responded, "The non-believer, seeing that the bread had turned into the blood of Jesus, had returned to the church and sought forgiveness from the priest. The man became a Catholic and had his confession heard. The priest forgave him and he was saved."

It was that simple. The man returned to the church. He sought forgiveness from the priest. And! He had his confession heard! What could be more simple? How could I have doubted the word of Brother Philip? How could I have?