Bishop opens Diocese’s Year of the Eucharist on Feast of Baptism of Jesus

MADISON  Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney officially launched the Year of the Eucharist in the Diocese for 2022 on Jan. 9, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, at a Mass at the Evangelization Center at St. Paul Inside the Walls here, followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The Bishop declared the yearlong celebration to encourage local Catholics to deepen “their appreciation of Jesus — body, blood, soul, and divinity — in the Eucharist”: the “source and summit” of our faith.

Bishop Sweeney began the Year of the Eucharist while serving as main celebrant and homilist of the 11 a.m. Mass for St. Paul’s young adults, who were joined in the evangelization center’s chapel by clergy, religious, and laity from around the Diocese. Throughout the year, Catholics will be encouraged to deepen their understanding of and devotion to the Eucha­rist and strengthen their relationship with Jesus through various activities on the diocesan and parish levels, including Adora­tion of the Blessed Sacrament and Bene­diction, Eucharistic processions, and faith formation.

The highlight of the Year of the Eucharist will be the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress to be held in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson the weekend of Sept. 23–25 with Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Ponti­fical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangeliza­tion in Rome, as keynote speaker. Bishop Sweeney declared 2022 as the Year of the Eucharist for the Diocese late last year.

In his homily, Bishop Sweeney recalled that many of the people who witnessed Jesus’ Baptism recognized him as the Messiah when they saw a dove flying above as symbol of the conferral of the Holy Spirit and heard God’s voice. It changed their lives, he said.

“But 2,000 years later, do we recognize the presence of Jesus in our midst when we come together to celebrate the sacred mysteries: the Word and the bread and wine — ‘This is my body; take and eat’ and ‘This is my blood; take and drink?’” Bishop Sweeney said in his homily. “This Year of the Eucharist is an opportunity to reflect, pray, and encounter God in our midst in our lives,” he said.

Bishop Sweeney urged local Catholics to become “Eucharistic missionaries,” who “share the gift of the Eucharist with others, who don’t appreciate this gift.” The Diocese’s web page dedicated to the yearlong celebration on its website, rcdop.org/year-of-the-eucharist, also suggested that each parish could select “missionaries” from among the parishioners, perhaps Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Commu­nion, who can commit to weekly prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, participation in Year of Eucharist events, and initiate parish programs for the year.

In a recent post on social media, Bishop Sweeney offered two ways that “all clergy, laity, and religious of the Diocese, especially those in ministry and leadership” could do “something specific, perhaps, a commitment or a ‘spiritual New Year’s resolution’ with the intention of deepening individually, and as a diocesan Church, your love for and appreciation of the Eucharist as a source and summit of Christian life.”

Bishop Sweeney urged the faithful to read and study, “Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church,” a recent document by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), especially together as part of parishes, high schools, colleges, and other small groups. He also suggested that the faithful “take time each day for quiet prayer and if and when possible, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.”

The diocesan webpage for the Year of the Eucharist also contains a wealth of resources for parishes and individuals, including introductory videos by Bishop Sweeney in English and Spanish, prayers and related rites, links to documents and videos by the Church or notable Catholics, suggestions on how parishes can observe the Year of the Eucharist, and a schedule of events at the diocesan level. The webpage will be updated periodically.

After the Mass on Jan. 9, Bishop Sweeney led Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel.

“We pray, most merciful Father, you continue to draw us to yourself through the Eucharistic Mystery. Grant us fervent faith in this Sacrament of love [the Eucharist], in which Christ, the Lord himself, is contained, offered, and received,” Bishop Sweeney prayed in Litany of the Most Holy Eucharist, written by St. Peter Julian Eymard, founder of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers.

Those attending the Year of the Eucharist kickoff included concelebrating priests, including Father Jared Brogan, director of the diocesan Office of Worship, and Father Paul Manning, St. Paul’s executive director and diocesan vicar for evangelization. They both are overseeing a committee that is formulating plans for the Year of the Eucharist in the Diocese and sharing those plans with the diocesan Presbyteral Council, the Deans of all deaneries in the Diocese, and the Bishop. Also among those present were St. Paul’s young adults, diocesan seminarians, members of the Fran­ciscan Friars of the Renewal in Paterson, and residents of Casa Guada­lupe, a house of discernment for women, in Clifton.

Eucharistic Adora­tion on Jan. 9 included a witness talk by Sister Jessica Castillo, a first-year novice of the Sale­sian Sisters of Don Bosco in Newton. Hailing from a rough neighborhood growing up, she became aware of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eu­cha­rist at 17 during a youth retreat in the Bronx, N.Y. Sister Jessica had received her sacraments up to Confirmation but “Mass was not a priority for my parents and me because we did not fully understand the great gift our faith (in the Eucharist).” She listened to testimonies from people about how God changed their lives through the sacraments, she said.

On the retreat, Sister Jessica went to confession, where she experienced “a profound encounter with God’s mercy” and for the first time in a long time, “felt free and a deep peace.” Later, while praying in Adoration, she challenged God to show her that it was “really him.” The retreat leader prayed over her and she “experienced the overwhelming peace of God” — “a love that brought me back to life,” Sister Jessica told the faithful in attendance.

“This changed my life forever,” Sister Jessica said. “He [Jesus] is alive and is really present in the Eucharist. It is this love that has given in me the courage to respond to the universal call to holiness and in a specific way to religious life. This love, this person, is right here in front of you. It is Jesus, who has called you by name to be here in the now. It is Jesus, whom your heart desires,” she said.