Archbishop Dolan's Thought for the Week

June 17, 2008

Dear Friends united in love and service of Jesus Christ and His Church:

Did you notice from my calendar, published in our Catholic Herald, that, later this week, I am leading a group of pilgrims from the archdiocese to the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City, Canada?
 
Yes, about 30 of us from the archdiocese will join hundreds of thousands of Catholics from all over the world in four days of prayer, adoration, study and celebration of the Eucharist.
 
A Eucharistic Congress occurs every four years and provides a wonderful occasion for the Church to ponder and deepen her belief in the mystery of our faith we call the Eucharistic.
 
In recent decades, the Holy Father himself has been one of the pilgrims to the Eucharistic Congresses, and there was indeed early hope that Pope Benedict XVI would be with us in Quebec.  This will not be the case and, yes, there is some disappointment.
 
However, we signed-up to go to the Eucharistic Congress this week in Quebec not to be with the Holy Father -- as much as we would have enjoyed that -- but to be with the family of faith in our communal savoring of the Eucharist.
 
So, hundreds of bishops, thousands of priests, deacons, sisters, brothers and seminarians and tens of thousands of faithful women, men and children from all over the Church universal, will gather in historic Quebec City for what promises to be a very spiritually uplifting occasion.
 
Our faith, of course, is internal.  “The kingdom of God is within you,” as Jesus Himself taught.  The essence of our faith is an interior, sincere acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior and of all the truths He and His Church have revealed.  The soul is the arena of faith.
 
Yet, our faith is also external, because our internal acceptance of Christ has profound exterior effects.  An interior adhesion to Christ results in a conversion of heart which has significant social and communal effects.
 
Thus, as we internally profess our faith in the Eucharist, we are moved to manifest that externally.  Think about it:

-- we genuflect as we enter Church as a sign that we adore Jesus really and truly present in the tabernacle;

-- we say out loud, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,” before approaching the altar, publicly indicating our sorrow for sin and desire to be cleansed, a desire that would result in sacramental confession when we are conscious of mortal sin;

-- we bow before we receive our Lord at Holy Communion;
 
-- we say Amen, meaning, yes, when the priest, deacon, or extraordinary minster proclaims “The Body of Christ,” “The Blood of Christ”;

-- we dress modestly, appropriately, for the Eucharist, giving a public sign that this is an event more sublime than playing tennis or lounging at the pool;

-- on occasion, we publicly express our interior faith in the Eucharist through processions, Eucharistic exposition, and forty-hour devotions;

-- and, every four years, the Church universal sponsors a Eucharistic Congress as a corporate, ecclesial act of faith on behalf of the entire Church.

We see so many signs of a revived appreciation for the Eucharist in the Church: 
-- enhanced participation in the liturgy;
 
-- more opportunity for our sick and homebound to receive Holy Communion because of the generous apostolate of our extraordinary ministers;

-- the growing popularity of Eucharistic adoration;

-- an increased awareness of the social demands inherent in the celebration of the Eucharist, acknowledging that the Eucharist has implications “beyond the walls” of our Church buildings;

-- a heightened sensitivity to the necessity of a worthy reception of Holy Communion; and that our partaking of the Eucharist indicates a communion not only with our Lord but with His Church.  Thus, we would not dare violate integrity by receiving the Eucharist if we are conscious of being separated from the unity of the Church by sin or dissent from clear Church teaching.

It was at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia, 1976, that we first sang “You satisfy the hungry heart with gift of finest wheat.”

I’ll have you in mind this week in Quebec at the Eucharistic Congress as I praise God for the gift and mystery of the Blessed Eucharist!
 

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan

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