Dear Parishioners:
This weekend, we welcome Father Dan
Olvera, newly ordained for the Diocese of Columbus Corpus Christi Knox County Mount Vernon Danville
The Eucharist is the center of our
life together. Jesus invites us to
receive Him into our lives through the gift of His Body and Blood offered to us
through the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
The Solemnity of Corpus Christi Corpus Christi
This “flow” of liturgical
celebration is meant to move us to a response.
God loves us. He loves us
concretely and personally. He asks us to
return His Love and so to share in His Life.
By the sharing of His Spirit and the intimacy of His Inner Life as a
Unity of Three Divine Persons, God is opening us to the depths of His
Being. We can enter into this sharing
only by a free response of Faith.
Catholics have a rich experience of
this, but so often we miss it. The
Eucharist is our repeated Sacrament of Initiation. When we fail to center our lives on the Eucharist,
considering it as something “nice” or “optional,” we fail to grasp its power.
Every Eucharist we receive is present
to us in the moment we encounter our Maker. The act of accepting Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul
and Divinity, into our persons by receiving the Eucharist is the highest gift
we can give to God. Jesus says, “Take
and eat” and “Take and drink.” When we
obey His command, we are plunged into His Person and share in the very Life of
God.
Often, Catholics who attend services
celebrated in other Christian communities wonder why they are not able to
receive their communion and why others who come to us do not have an “open
invitation” to receive our Eucharist. The
reasons for this ultimately come down to the fact that we have a different
understanding of what is happening. The
Mass is Jesus giving Himself to the Father and taking us with Him. The Eucharist is our commitment to live this
out, giving our own humanity to Jesus to allow Him to continue to thank the
Father through the action of the Spirit in our lives. This is no mere symbol. It is a sign and there are symbolic actions
that take place as we celebrate Mass, but it is Real.
The Eucharist is Jesus in His risen,
glorified and ascended humanity. The Eucharist
is the Food that plunges us into the Paschal Mystery, the life, suffering,
death and Resurrection of Jesus. The
Eucharist is the taste of the Eternal Heavenly Banquet to which all are
invited. How can we fail to respond to
such a gift with anything less than full commitment?
In order to deepen your
understanding of the great Mystery of Eucharist, try this prayer which is
recited in the Byzantine Liturgy before reception of Holy Communion:
O Lord, I believe and
profess that You are truly Christ, the Son of the living God, Who came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. Accept me as a partaker of Your
mystical supper, O Son of God; for I will not reveal Your mystery to Your
enemies, nor will I give You a kiss as did Judas, but like the thief I confess
to You:
Remember me, O Lord, when You come into Your kingdom.
Remember me, O Master, when You come into Your kingdom.
Remember me, O Holy One, when You come into Your kingdom.
Remember me, O Lord, when You come into Your kingdom.
Remember me, O Master, when You come into Your kingdom.
Remember me, O Holy One, when You come into Your kingdom.
May the partaking of
Your Holy Mysteries, O Lord, be not for my judgment or condemnation, but for
the healing of soul and body. O Lord, I also believe and profess that this,
which I am about to receive, is truly Your most precious Body and Your
life-giving Blood, which I pray, make me worthy to receive for the remission of
all my sins and for life everlasting. Amen.
O God, be merciful to
me, a sinner.
O God, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy on me.
O Lord, forgive me, for I have sinned without number.
O God, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy on me.
O Lord, forgive me, for I have sinned without number.
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