Exiit qui seminat - Community Through the Eucharist

This past Tuesday, June 6, the pastoral council went over the initial results of a survey answered by over 200 of our parishioners. First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who participated in the survey and especially, the members of the parish pastoral council and parish volunteers who helped collate all of the responses. While there is still a lot of work to be done in helping formulate a path forward for our parish, there is one overarching theme: a sense of community, of where it exists and where it is lacking. For Catholics, community should be second nature for us, because, above all things, we have the Eucharist, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. More than a mere symbol, the Eucharist is our source of unity and communion. Through the Most Blessed Sacrament we are TRULY united with our Lord and one another. Through the Eucharist, the Lord that binds us together. The question and the challenge become how we live our lives after we, unworthy as we are, receive our Lord - how the Eucharist profoundly and fundamentally changes our lives. For even though the Most Blessed Sacrament is the highest form of grace that we have as a Church, we can reject that grace. We can ignore the True Presence of the Lord in our lives, and it's a danger that affects both the priest and the people. As a Church in modern times, we struggle with a sense of "Consumer Catholicism" - the faith and the sacraments become transactional. The people come to Mass and the priest is on the clock to give them Jesus in a timely manner.  The Church stops being a Church and turns into a sacramental dispensary. On this feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus, our Lord reminds us that the Eucharist and Mass are not transactional, but relational. The Mass lifts us up to God and reminds us that we belong to one another. So let us use this weekend as the first step in building a stronger community by reaching out to one another, even if it is for a brief moment before we pray before Mass and MORE IMPORTANTLY, let us not forget or take for granted the Person who makes us one through the gift of Himself.

Fr. Rob Sinatra