Last July over 50 thousand Catholics gathered in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress. Obviously, the central theme of the gathering was the Eucharist. One of the key speakers at the Eucharistic Congress, Monsignor James Shea, said:
“It’s time for faithful Catholics to stop trying to live for God. Instead we should start living from him. The body and blood of the Lord is the source of our life, our energy, and our joy. So, let’s eat and drink here and every day to our heart’s content and then let’s rush out into a starving world and tell everybody we meet, ‘Starving people, listen! We found where the food is!’”
As the Second Vatican Council stated and Saint John Paul II reiterated the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life”. “For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church's entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our Passover and living bread.” As Christian Catholics we need to rediscover the treasure we have at the grasp of our hand in our churches. Unfortunately, only a handful Catholics see the need for more time spend with the Eucharist. Most of us are “too busy” with the things of this world—the things that will never satisfy the longing of our hearts.
Since last year the Church also called us to Eucharistic revival, that is, to live from the Eucharist, not just at Holy Mass, but beyond it. We should come to Eucharistic Jesus as often as we can and to spend time with Him. In this way we will find peace we are looking for so sesperately in this world. He is there or rather He is here for us because God loves us. Moreover, while we spend time with Jesus in adoration, we gain wisdom and often our troubles are miraculously resolved. The only thing we have to do is to come to Him and trust that He will help us. Saint John Paul II wrote on this in his encyclical letter on the Eucharist:
It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the “art of prayer”, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25).
To help to foster devotion and appreciation for the Eucharist we are going to start silent adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament in our church every Thursday, beginning October 24th, 6PM-8PM. You do not have to stay the whole time. It can be a couple of minutes or a full hour. Bring your Bible or spiritual reading; pray the Holy Rosary or remain silent; the important thing is that you come. So please respond to this invitation and come to spend time with Jesus, be exposed to His healing rays, and experience the spiritual renewal so that you can carry on with your life mission.
Have a blessed week. Fr. Janusz Mocarski, pastor