Bishop Serratelli’s new book is must read for Year of the Eucharist

TOTOWA  When we adore the Eucharist outside of Mass, “we remain in intimate contact with Jesus, the wellspring of all grace.” Eucharistic Adoration “leads to a more perfect reception of Holy Communion. It deepens the mystery of our union with Christ” and “makes us one with Christ in loving all others,” Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli asserts in his latest book, “Eucharistic Adora­tion: Scriptural Reflections and Prayers.”

Published by Catholic Book Publishing Corp here, the 176-page book presents 21 meditations by Bishop Serratelli to help increase readers’ love and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. These reflections are filled with prayers and quotes from popes, theologians, and classical authors that attest to the profound mystery and power of the Eucharistic Adoration.

Bishop Serratelli’s sixth book, “Eucharis­tic Adoration,” will help readers prepare to pray before the Blessed Sacra­ment and gives them additional prayers and litanies at the end to pray independently as time permits. With its sturdy and stately Dura-Lux cover and thick cream-colored pages, this prayer book — the Bishop’s first non-paperback release — is so durable that readers will be able to refer to text for years to come. His reflections look at stories that mention the Eucharist in the Old Testament and New Testament as a way to “examine and explain the meaning and purpose of the Eucharist in God’s plan for our salvation,” the Bishop writes in the introduction.

“I had been thinking about a Pew Research poll that shows that only 30 percent of Catholics understand what the Eucharist is. I hope that this book, which is based on Scripture, leads Catholics to a deeper appreciation of the Eucharist, the central mystery of our faith,” Bishop Serratelli, a former seminary Scripture professor, told The Beacon.

Providentially, “Eucharistic Adoration” was published shortly before Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney announced last month that the Diocese would celebrate the Year of the Eucharist in 2202 to encourage the faithful to deepen their understanding and devotion to the Eucharist. Bishop Sweeney officially launched the Year of the Eucharist on Jan. 9, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, at the Evangelization Center at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison (see story on page 1).

In the introduction, Bishop Serratelli asserts that the Church has always taught that “the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus under the appearance of bread and wine,” and refuted challenges to it in the 11th century by Berengar, a priest of Tours and a leading scholar at the Cathedral school of Chartres, and later by Martin Luther and the Protestant reformers, the Bishop writes.

“It is not just while the Sacrifice is being offered and the Sacrament is being confected, but also after the Sacrifice has been offered and the Sacrament confected— while the Eucharist is reserved in churches or oratories—that Christ is truly Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us.’ For he is in the midst of us day and night; he dwells in us with the fullness of grace and of truth He raises the level of morals, fosters virtue, comforts the sorrowful, strengthens the weak and stirs up all those who draw near to him to imitate him, so that they may learn from his example to be meek and humble of heart, and to seek not their own interests but those of God,” Bishop Serratelli writes, quoting St. Pope Paul VI in Mysterium Fidei.

“Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the Sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us (St. Alphonse Liguori),” he writes. It allows Jesus to draw us into the mystery of his own divine life, making us his Body, the Church in the world.”

In “Eucharistic Adoration,” Bishop Serratelli writes about stories about the Eucharist in the Old Testament, such as the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, and the blood of Abel, and in the New Testament, such as the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes and the institution of the Eucharist.

In the final reflection, “One the Road to Emmaus,” Bishop Serratelli writes that Cleopas and another disciple have left Jerusalem, among 70 disciples Jesus sent out on mission in Luke’s Gospel. They both were close to Jesus but now are sad that he has been crucified. Soon they are walking and talking to the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus. They do not recognize Christ until he breaks bread with them. Then, the pair invites him to stay with them on the journey to Emmaus, the Bishop writes.

“Notice. It is only when the two disciples take on the attitude of Jesus himself, the attitude of generosity and welcome, that their eyes are opened to his presence…Remaining in the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, gradually we become more like him: more open, more caring and compassionate, and more welcoming to others. We become more giving, even to the point of sacrificing ourselves for others. Jesus waits for us in the Blessed Sacrament patiently until we come to have the same attitude he has for us,” Bishop Serratelli writes.

In his conclusion, Bishop Serratelli writes, “So while we can say, ‘No Eucharist, no Church,’ we can equally say, ‘Eucharist, Church.’ In the Eucharist reserved in our churches, Jesus fulfills in a unique way the final words he ever spoke to his disciples in Matthew’s Gospel: ‘Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the world’ (Mt 28:20). He stays with us as the Bread of Life to nourish us during our earthly pilgrimage. And, as St. Ignatius of Antioch has said, Jesus offers himself to us in the Eucharist as ‘the medicine of immortality,’ ” he writes.

“Eucharistic Adoration: Scriptural Reflec­tions and Prayers” is the first part of a trilogy by Bishop Serratelli that will include upcoming books on “Scriptural Novena in Honor of Jesus and the Blessed Sacrament” and a short catechism on the Eucharist, he said.