Breaking Open the Word - Homily Series on the Eucharist

Breaking Open the Word

Homily Series on the Eucharist

As we continue to unpack the rich blessings of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis last month, its inspiration and insights are being shared in various ways in the coming months for our archdiocese and our collaborative parishes to build upon. As our archdiocesan newspaper and media outlet, The Pilot, said in its headline last weekend, “60,000 Congress participants encouraged to ignite new Pentecost” - and that powerful invitation is extended to us as well!

One of the ways we are sharing in this “Eucharistic Revival” beginning last week and continuing through the month of August is through a special five-week message series in our Lord’s Day Masses on The Eucharist Present and Active in Our Lives. Through the homilies and brief commentaries during these weekend Masses, we will unpack Jesus’s bread of life discourse from the gospel of John, chapter 6, and apply it to our present day experience of Christ’s Real Presence the Eucharist in our lives. 

Last week included the fact that the Lord is attentive to our true needs, taking what we have to offer God in gratitude (whether 20 loaves or five) and makes it more than enough. This weekend focuses on the power of “signs” in John’s Gospel, pointing not to themselves but pointing forward on our journey of faith. The third week invites us to see ourselves as part of the mystical Body of Christ, the Church, reaching out like first-responders in the field-hospital for all that parishes are called to be. The fourth week presents Jesus as both priest and victim in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, giving his own flesh and blood to strengthen us to share in the suffering and resurrection. The final week brings us back to the challenge of accepting the Real Presence of Christ in our midst, calling us to help heal divisions among Catholics by living and sharing our faith in the Eucharist as a sacrament of unity.

Of course, the success of this renewal in the Church depends upon much more than the words of the clergy and religious - it depends upon all us! Our own participant in the Eucharistic Congress, Mrs. Maggie Hoagland, was present and active in this event in our nation, and our Fr. Patrick Chibuko was deeply involved in a similar Eucharistic Congress several years ago in Nigeria. Both of them are helping us bring the special focus on the role of the lay members of the Christian Faithful to the life of our parishes. For starters, at the Masses I celebrated last weekend, I gave people a special “homework” assignment. We always have homework from Mass, as we hear in the dismissal from which the Mass gets its present name, in which we are sent (missa) into the midst of the world to live our faith. I suggested that appropriate homework during the early part of this special message series would be to read chapter 6 of the gospel of John on your own, seeing how the pieces we hear each week fit together. Another good option would be to watch video or listen to podcasts of the actual talks given at the Congress - go right to the primary source (eucharisticrevival.org) more than the commentary of others. 

Bring an open mind and open heart of faith, and your life also can be changed for the better!