Exiit qui seminat

At most of the Masses this weekend, our second graders will be receiving First Holy Communion. I can remember my own First Holy Communion and the excitement that I felt over 40 years ago. I can only imagine what our children are feeling, since this is the first real "normal" First Holy Communion that the parishes in Vineland have celebrated, especially in light of how we've had to celebrate these special sacramental moments so differently over the past several years. But as unbelievably special as our first Eucharist can be, "first" and "normal" are very much the appropriate terms, because this Mass and the reception of our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament is meant to be the first of many and Mass is supposed to be a normal and ordinary part of our lives. But in the midst of the ordinariness of it, receiving our Lord in the Eucharist is always extraordinary! For where else can we have an intimate and intense experience of our God and to actually have Him enter inside of us? This miraculous moment is something that we can experience every single day of our lives! The issue that we face as a Church is that so many of us have lost the sense of wonder about Holy Communion and what the Church truly believes about the Eucharist. Depending on what study or research you look at, anywhere from 60 to 70% of Catholics don't believe in the True Presence (meaning that Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist and at the consecration at Mass). In order to address this loss of wonder, all of the diocese in the United States in the next three years are focused on the re-catechesis of the faithful on the Most Blessed Sacrament, called "My flesh for the life of the world". Starting on June 18, 2022, the Vigil of the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Diocese of Camden is having a Eucharistic Procession on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City to kick off a mission to remind and renew us about the Eucharist as the lifeblood of our faith and our lives. It will be an opportunity for the parish to ground ourselves in the defining element of the Catholic faith. As Padre Pio once said, "It would be easier for the world to exist without the sun than without the Holy Mass." So let us pray and congratulate our new First Holy Communicants and let us pray that they (and us) never lose their sense of wonder and awe in receiving their Lord and their God! 

Sincerely Yours in Christ,