The Holy Eucharist: Past, Present and Future

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

It will depend on your perspective, whether you would say that 2003 is “recent history” or “a long time ago,” but, in 2003 St. Pope John Paul II (at that time affectionately known as “JP 2” or “the Holy Father”) wrote one of his many Encyclical Letters, entitled Ecclesia De Eucharistia. As we participate in a Diocesan Year of the Eucharist, I have tried to look back at some of Church’s teaching and the writings of the saints on the topic of the Eucharist. It was a wonderful experience to read (again?) St. John Paul’s Ecclesia De Eucharistia. While I remember its publication in 2003, I can’t remember if I read the complete document at that time. During the past week, I had the opportunity to read the letter slowly and prayerfully. It begins as follows:

The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences the constant fulfilment of the promise: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of the bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity… The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life….”

If you enjoy reading about the “Mysteries of Faith,” the Eucharist, the Church, the way that Jesus calls us to be His disciples, and, truly, the “wisdom of the Saints,” I would strongly encourage you to order a copy of Ecclesia De Eucharistia and read it in prayer and meditation. You can order it through the USCCB website. There are so many quotes from the document that I would like to share, but I will offer, at this point, just one more. In the second chapter, No. 12, it says:

The Church constantly draws her life from the redeeming sacrifice; she approaches it not only through faith-filled remembrance, but also through a real contact, since this sacrifice is made present ever anew, sacramentally perpetuated, in every community which offers it at the hands of the consecrated minister …

It is part of the mystery of faith and the teaching of the Church that, each time we celebrate the Mass, we are participating in the Last Supper, as well as the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. So, there is always “something” about the Eucharist that is “past, present and future.”

In reading Ecclesia Eucharistia, I experienced some “nostalgia” as I recalled the pontificate and teaching ministry of, as some now call him, “John Paul the Great.” I also was reminded that some of the more challenging and/or controversial teachings about the Eucharist, which we encounter and struggle with in our present experience, such as, who can receive Holy Communion, are in many ways, not “new,” but questions that the Church has been addressing and discussing throughout her history.

So where are we today? Now? At this present moment? Here in our Diocese, we just celebrated (with the whole Church) the Feast of Corpus Christi in the midst of this Year of the Eucharist. During the past week, I attended the semi-annual meeting of the USCCB, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in San Diego. I very much felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and the supportive prayers of so many, as we spent most of the four-day meeting in prayer and retreat, rather than doing “business.” Do you know, have you heard, what we, as a “national Church” are doing at the present moment?

On the Feast of Corpus Christi, the USCCB began a three-year program of “Eucharistic Revival” at the diocesan, parish, and national levels. Rather than attempting to summarize the efforts and plans that have been made, I would direct you to the website of the USCCB.

There is one item, amongst the vast amount of information and resources that you will find on the website, that I would like to share here. On the opening, introductory page for the National Eucharistic Revival, a question, “Why Now?” is asked and answered:

Why Now? Because the Church needs Healing and the World needs the Church:

Scandal, division, disease, doubt. The Church has withstood each of these throughout our very human history. But today we confront all of them, all at once. Our response in this moment is pivotal. In the midst of these roaring waves, Jesus is present, reminding us that he is more powerful than the storm. He desires to heal, renew, and unify the Church and the world.

How will he do it? By uniting us once again around the source and summit of our faith — the Holy Eucharist. The National Eucharistic Revival is the joyful, expectant, grassroots response of the entire Catholic Church in the U.S. to this divine invitation.

It could be said that this “Eucharistic Revival” is, or could be, an important part of both the “present and future” of the Church in the United States. I encourage you to read and learn more from the website and “stay tuned for more details” at the diocesan level.

What about the “present and future” here in our Diocese of Paterson? Presently, we are in the middle of this Year of the Eucharist. I am aware that some parishes and individuals have been able to do a great deal as far as participation in the Year of the Eucharist and some, “not so much.” I am also aware of the “challenge” of beginning a Year of the Eucharist while we were and are “simultaneously” participating in the Synod on Synodality.

I will attempt to say more in the coming weeks, especially inviting the participation of all in our Year of the Eucharist. For the moment, I would like to remind each reader (or let you know) that, in the very “near future,” we are looking forward to a great blessing for our Diocese: a Diocesan Eucharist Congress, from Sept. 23 to 25. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, will be the featured speaker and preacher, leading us in a reflection on the Eucharist and the New Evangelization. For more information on (and to register for) the Eucharistic Congress, you can go to our Diocesan website or the website for our Evangelization Center, “St. Paul Inside the Walls.”

On this Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24, we will celebrate the Feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of our diocesan patron, St. John the Baptist. Let us pray, especially in this Year of the Eucharist, that each of us can draw closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and, with St. John the Baptist, “point” and direct others to Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God.”