tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14171858.post-55953854406863158902008-06-20T17:37:00.000-07:002008-06-20T17:41:39.400-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic;">The Eucharist teaches the lesson that "Jesus loves me just as I am," said the founder of an organization that ministers to mentally handicapped people.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic;">QUEBEC CITY, June 20, 2008 — Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche Community, spoke Monday to the 49th International Eucharistic Congress, under way through Sunday in Quebec.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic;">Vanier told the story of a mentally handicapped boy from Paris on the day he received his First Communion: "After Mass, which was a family celebration, the boy's uncle, who was his godfather, said to the child's mother: 'What a beautiful liturgy! How sad it is that he didn't understand anything.'</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic;">"The child heard these words and, with tears in his eyes, said to his mother: 'Don't worry, Mommy, Jesus loves me just as I am.'"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman; font-style: italic;">Vanier affirmed: "This child had a wisdom that his uncle was yet to attain: The Eucharist is God's gift par excellence."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">More </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.zenit.org/article-22965?l=english">here</a><span style="font-family: times new roman;">, from Zenit.</span>Kelly Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05208387893330590397noreply@blogger.com