October 17, 2004

On Thursday, October 7, our Holy Father Pope John Paul II, as successor to St. Peter who was present at the Last Supper, issued an Apostolic Letter dedicating these twelve months, beginning October 10, as a year of the Holy Eucharist. He did this because most of the world does not understand this most Blessed Sacrament, and because many Catholics themselves, owing to social influences and bad theological teaching, have lost an awareness of this incomparable mystery.

The Holy Father wants his sons and daughters in the Faith to increase their devotion to this sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, knowing that it is as difficult for people to understand now as it was for the crowd who walked away when He first proclaimed it (John 6:53-55). It is a virtual definition of heresy that it denies the real presence of Christ in the sacrament of the altar. The Holy Mass has the power to change the world, but that requires of us that we first be changed by opening our hearts to the Sacred Heart through confession. The Pope wants an end to liturgical abuses and irreverence, the beautification of our churches and the elimination of banality, and calls for more solemn acts of worship.

The Pope has ordered that the Blessed Sacrament be exposed for adoration in all the patriarchal basilicas of Rome and that hours in Roman churches be extended for confessions. The Church of St. Agnes in the Piazza Navona will be a central penitentiary shrine to which the humble faithful can confess their sins throughout the day.

The apostolic letter is called Mane Domine Nobiscum, which was what the two men on the Emmaus road said to the Risen Lord on Easter Day: “Lord stay with us.” The first part of the letter teaches the mystery of Christ as our guide through the streets of this life to eternal glory. The second chapter is about Christ who, as the Mystery of Light, explains the mystery of life through the “two meals” of the Mass: the preaching of the Gospel from the pulpit and the Sacrifice of the Altar. The third section reminds Christians that Christ is the source and the sign of Communion: through our individual communions we are united to Him and fulfill the request “mane nobiscum,” stay with us. This communion unites the Church by bringing together all who discern the Body and Blood of Christ and obey His voice through obedience to the Pope as successor to St. Peter. The last part of the apostolic letter instructs the Church that our Eucharistic fellowship sends us into the world, in our various jobs and professions, to bring others to Christ. The Vatican has said that the Holy Father does not ask for anything extraordinary on our part, but rather that there be an increased intensity of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. This requires fervent and frequent confession, diligent participation in Sunday Mass, and Eucharistic adoration outside of the Mass.

The Year of the Eucharist coincides with the 50th anniversary of the chartering of our parish. The year 2005 should be a time for converting our neighborhood and city through sacramental acts of confession and communion. I hope to expand our times of Eucharistic adoration, with special emphasis on the conversion of the lapsed, heretics, and non-Christians, and for an increase of vocations to the Holy Priesthood. We are making remarkable advances in our parish toward eliminating inherited debts and preserving our holy building, but our great triumph will be the spiritual conversion of our fellow citizens and ourselves.

Fr. George W. Rutler