Bulletin Week July 23, 2019

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From the Pastor’s Desk

Quoting two documents of the Second Vatican Council, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1324 states: “The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life.” ‘The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.’”

As Catholics, the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist means everything to us. Central to our worship of the Triune God, we hold the celebration of Mass, the reception of Holy Communion and our worship of the Blessed Sacrament in Solemn Exposition as constitutive to what it means to be a faithful Catholic. But it doesn’t end there. From our worship, the Eucharist nourishes all our ministries and the service we offer to others in the name of Christ.

Today’s Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, which came into the Church during the 13th century, manifests our beliefs in a unique way. The Eucharistic Procession is what makes today unlike any other. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in a 2007 homily for today’s feast said of the procession, “It was born for the very precise purpose of openly reaffirming the faith of the people of God in Jesus Christ, alive and truly present in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is a feast that was established in order to publicly adore, praise and thank the Lord, who continues ‘to love us to the end….’” By our taking the Eucharist to the streets, we are openly declaring that we happily take our faith to others.

Love

Father Tom