Pope Benedict
encourages us to have greater
devotion to the Eucharist.
What better New Year resolution?
What directed the wise men to Bethlehem was their faith—a faith that made them follow the star which finally brought them to the stable, and there they recognised the babe in the manger the Messiah, the Son of God, and bowing down they worshipped him.
Pope Benedict urges every Catholic, every parish to deepen their faith in the Eucharist, and their devotion to this most precious gift from God, for in this sacrament, under the appearances of bread and wine, is the living Risen Christ. Below is an excerpt from his long and moving letter to the Church on devotion to the Eucharist:
Dear brothers and sisters, the Eucharist is at the root of every form of holiness, and each of us is called to the fullness of life in the Holy Spirit. How many saints have advanced along the way of perfection thanks to making their eucharistic devotion the centre of their lives.
This most holy mystery needs to be firmly believed, devoutly celebrated and lived
intensely in the Church. Jesus' gift of himself in this sacrament, which is the memorial
of his passion, tells us that the progress in our spiritual lives is founded in uniting
ourselves with Christ in the Eucharist. The celebration of mass allows us to draw
near to God's love and to persevere in that love until we are fully united with the
Lord whom we love. The Eucharist can transform every aspect of our human existence.
I therefore ask all priests to spare no effort in promoting a true eucharistic spirituality.
I exhort the lay faithful, and families in particular, to find a new and greater
devotion to this most holy sacrament.
At the beginning of the fourth century, Christians
were still forbidden to celebrate the Eucharist. Some who felt bound to celebrate
mass on the Lord's Day, defied the prohibition. They were martyred after declaring
that it was not possible for them to live without the Eucharist, the food of the
Lord. May these martyrs, who made the Eucharist the centre of their lives, intercede
for us and teach us to be faithful to our encounter with the risen Christ. We too
cannot live without partaking of the sacrament of our salvation, and this desire
is reflected in our lives as we gather for mass each Sunday.
In Mary Most Holy, the
Immaculate Virgin, we find most perfectly the essence of the Church. The Church
sees Mary as the "Woman of the Eucharist," as she was called by Pope John Paul 11.
For this reason, as the priest prepares to receive on the altar the true body born
of the Virgin Mary, speaking on behalf of the liturgical assembly, he says in the
words of the canon: "We honour Mary, the ever-
Her holy name is also invoked and venerated in the canons of the Eastern
Christian traditions. The faithful, for their part, commend to Mary, Mother of the
Church, their lives and the work of their hands. She is all-
Sunday January 6th. 2008
Our devotion to the Eucharist
For the Catholic Church, like the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Eucharist is the
very centre of its life.
First of all, the mass is the means by which we continue to offer to God our Father the perfect sacrifice of his Son on Calvary. As it says in the Canon of the mass ...through him, with him and in him, we glorify God and ask him for all our needs for body and soul.
Secondly, the Eucharist is the very source of holiness when we receive our Lord in holy communion.
My flesh is real food...my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
We have the privilege of daily mass; we have Christ’s presence day and night in the tabernacle, where the red sanctuary light reminds us his presence.
Sadly, we can take his presence among us so much for granted, neglect him and not make the full use of this wonderful privilege. Anyone who has a deep devotion to the Eucharist by receiving our Lord often in Holy Communion, finding time in their lives to spend even 15 minutes daily before the Blessed Sacrament, will increase rapidly in holiness, The Eucharist is the source of all graces, and our Lord will draw us closer and closer to himself the more time we find to honour him this sacrament of his love. It is such a deep joy to keep him company in the tabernacle on the altar.
Through Holy Hours and days of Expositions in our parish, we will try to increase our love of the Eucharist, and to make it the centre of our lives.