Exiit qui seminar - The Eucharist
Last week the Catholic Bishops of the United States, known collectively as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB for short), met as a group as they do several times a year to discuss a variety of topics. One in particular has created a lot of buzz in the media and in Catholic circles - whether or not the bishops in the United States should discuss and draft a document on the Eucharist. The reason this is a "hot button issue" is the thought by some that the document is a referendum on Catholic politicians whose stances are contrary to the teachings of Christ and the Church. And while it is important to address Catholics in the public square whose support of policies that are in opposition to the deposit of faith, that's not really the point of why we, as the Church in America, need to talk about the Most Blessed Sacrament. It has everything to do with the fact that we're in the midst of a catechetical crisis in terms of our understanding of our faith. Depending of who you talk to or what research you look at, as many as 70% Catholics don't believe in the concept of the True Presence - that our Lord is truly present in the Eucharist, not merely a symbol or as a sign. Couple that with the fact that many Catholics are perhaps only nominally connected with the practice of their faith and we, as a Church, have our work cut out for us.
And there is no better place to start than the Eucharist, because we are not Catholic without it! As Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles writes, “The Eucharist is the heart of the Church and the heart of our lives as Catholics. In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus Christ himself draws near to each one of us personally and gathers us together as one family of God and one Body of Christ. As bishops, our desire is to deepen our people’s awareness of this great mystery of faith, and to awaken their amazement at this divine gift, in which we have communion with the living God. That is our pastoral purpose in writing this document." That is our "pastoral purpose" as well! Fueled by the Most Blessed Sacrament, the source and summit of all grace, we, as Catholics, are called to as great a period of evangelization into the world as the early Christian Church. As our patron St. Pio of Pietrelcina writes, "It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!"
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Fr. Rob Sinatra
