In our first year of formation in the diaconate program, they asked us to draw a picture that represented what was driving us to consider ordination. I drew a picture of a blood cell, because it was my goal to begin living by the example given by the blood cell.
A blood cell doesn’t begin its life as a blood cell. It starts out as a stem cell in the bone marrow. These stem cells can become a variety of different types of cells. The process of becoming a blood cell is unique in that the nucleus of the cell actually begins to shrink over time, becoming smaller and smaller until it is eventually ejected from the cell altogether.
It’s interesting that a nucleus would ever be ejected from a cell. The nucleus of a cell is the part of the cell that runs the whole show. The nucleus determines what the cell is supposed to be doing and when. It calls the shots by sending out various proteins into the cell. The rest of the cell is there to do what the nucleus tells it to do.
But a blood cell is different. The nucleus leaves the cell, and then the cell enters into the bloodstream. The blood cell goes where the flow takes it. It doesn’t decide if it is going to go out to the eyes, or the feet, or the stomach. It simply goes with the flow and does what it is supposed to do wherever it ends up.
One very important place that the blood cell visits is the lungs. The blood cell enters this membrane in the lungs where oxygen is then given to the blood cell. The blood cell does not reach out and take the oxygen. It is simply placed in the presence of the oxygen, and then it receives this oxygen. After receiving this oxygen, the blood cell continues on its journey into some part of the body where it will come into contact with another cell that needs the oxygen. And when that happens, the oxygen is then transferred from the blood cell to this other cell that is in need.
It is this example that I would like to try and follow. I’d like to do not what I want for my own self, but to do what God would have me do. I’d like to eject this mental nucleus that wants to control everything in my life. I’d like to be like a blood cell that goes where it is directed and not try to steer myself to one particular place or another. Lastly, it would be nice if I could give to others that which I receive.
We receive this life-giving manna from heaven — the Eucharist. Then we interact with others. We are able to connect with others and give to them spiritually that which we receive in communion. We receive the Eucharist and will, in a way, be filled. Then, when we meet with others, we are able to pour ourselves out to our neighbors, those who are sharing this journey of life with us.
In Acts chapter 8, in the story of Philip and the Ethiopian, Philip is very much like the blood cell. The Lord tells Philip to go, and he just goes. He is pointed toward someone who needs what Philip has received from the Lord, and Philip pours himself out. Then, when that is done, the Lord sends him off to some other place, where Philip is again pouring out that which he had received from the Lord.
In John chapter 6, in the story of the bread of life, Jesus is sharing with us the gift that we receive in the Eucharist. This is a gift that fills us up, and just like the blood cell, we are not called to simply hold onto this for our own purposes. Rather, we are to go out to the rest of the body and pour ourselves out.
Without the blood cell, our bodies would quickly become lifeless. A day can look like any other day. We will interact with others just like we always do. But these readings give us reason to hope that we are like the blood cell, giving to others that which we receive. God gives us his heavenly food for our journey through this life.
If you are still trying to steer every corridor, start by naming the nucleus. It is the part that has to decide the eyes, the feet, the stomach, the next hour. I drew the blood cell because I wanted that part ejected. Write the place you are still steering. The job. The conversation. The outcome you will not hand over.
Then do one hour without steering it. Not the whole life. One assignment you did not pick, or one conversation you do not manage. Go where it goes. Do the thing in front of you. The blood cell does not reach out and take the oxygen. It is placed where the oxygen is, and it receives. Receive what is actually being given in that hour before you decide where you should have been sent.
After you receive, give one thing away that you did not keep for the plan. A listening ear. The errand. The explanation you usually hold until you can control how it lands. Philip was told to go, and he went. When that was done, he was sent somewhere else. The control, in this homily, is the refusal to be sent. Eject that for one hour. Then notice whether the body around you got what you had been holding.
This is a pastoral reflection, not clinical care and not a substitute for it. If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, call 988 or local emergency services.Drawn from a homily first preached in 2017.