Love Bade Us Welcome

LOVE BADE US WELCOME A Pastoral Letter on Giving Thanks and Praise to the Lord and On a Theology for a Eucharistic Revival

(1) The Catholic Bishops of the United States were shocked that the Pew Research Center survey of Catholics indicates that about 31% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of the Risen Lord in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Their response is to invite us to an experience that will revive our love for the Risen Jesus always present in the Sacrament of His Most Holy Body and Precious Blood. In the spirit of this Eucharistic Revival, Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay, has released his Pastoral Letter, entitled, “Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist: Disciples Called to Worship.” I would encourage you to prayerfully read this beautiful document. Here is the link for you: Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist. (2) The greatest treasure in our Church is this wondrous mystery that what appears to be bread and wine are transformed really into the Precious Risen Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit at every Mass celebrated someplace in the world at every minute of every hour. The Risen Lord Jesus makes Himself so small, in the same way that He embraced our humanity as an Infant placed in the crib at Bethlehem, so as to be real Food and Drink for our journey in this life. Jesus never leaves us alone. Jesus promises that our reception of His Body and His Blood in Holy Communion will draw us into eternal life. (3) This mystery of transubstantiation, that the substance, which is the essence of what is bread and what is wine, is changed into the divine, while the appearances of the bread and wine remain unchanged, is beyond what our minds can fathom but within the realm of what our hearts can embrace in trust. The Lord’s love is lavish and abundant and never stingy. The Lord’s love never stops flowing from His Heart and we can be immersed in this love again and again and again. (4) The English poet and priest, George Herbert captures so beautifully the mystery which is our Mass in his poem, Love. Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back Guilty of dust and sin. But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning, If I lacked any thing. A guest, I answered, worthy to be here: Love said, You shall be he [she]. I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear, I cannot look on thee. Love took my hand, and smiling did reply, Who made the eyes but I? Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame Go where it doth deserve. And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame? My dear, then I will serve. You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat So I did sit and eat. 1

(5) Reverend Herbert reminds us that you and I do not need to prove our worth in the eyes of the Lord. Jesus’ love cannot be earned. Jesus’ love is a pure gift. Jesus’ love touches our hearts, wounded by sin and selfishness, and even a fear of death itself, and we are healed. In his Apostolic Exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudiem), Pope Francis reminds us that “the Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” (Paragraph 47) (6) In Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter Desidero Desideravi: On the Liturgical Formation of the People of God, the Holy Father, in meditating on the Last Supper, writes: No one had earned a place at that Supper. All had been invited. Or better said: all had been drawn by the burning desire that Jesus had to eat that Passover with him. (Paragraph 4) (7) So let us not be standoffish. Let us come often to the Lord’s Table to receive this medicine of mercy and nourishment. (8) In the fourth century of the new Church’s story, the believers of Abitinae, a small town in the Roman province of Africa, were forbidden by the Emperor Diocletian to gather for the celebration of the Eucharist and ordered to burn the Christian Scriptures. They were put on trial for refusing to carry out the Emperor’s orders. The priest Saturninus, under the pain of excruciating torture, declared, “Sine dominico non possumus. [Without Sunday - without the Eucharist - we cannot live.] (9) So let us ask the Lord to bless us with a deep-down, life-transforming conviction that we cannot live without the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the heartbeat of our lives and of the life of our Church. Without a heartbeat, our future would be dire, indeed! (10) Jesus’ unselfish gift of Himself to us in the Eucharist does have the power to transform our lives. But this transforming power is so much more immense and spectacular that it cannot be contained in our lives only. In remarks before a Mass with young people in Cologne, Germany, on August 21, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI said this, In their hearts, people always and everywhere have somehow expected a change, a transformation of the world. Here now is the central act of transformation [by making the Bread into Jesus’ Body and the wine into Jesus’ Blood] that alone can truly renew the world: violence is transformed into love, and death into life. Since this act transmutes death into love, death as such is already conquered from within, the Resurrection is already present in it. Death is, so to speak, mortally wounded, so that it can no longer have the last word. To use an image well known to us today, this is like inducing nuclear fission in the very heart of being - the victory of love over hatred, the victory of love over death. Only this intimate explosion of good conquering evil can then trigger off the series of transformations that little by little will change the world. 2

(11) To give you a visual image of the rippling effects of this miraculous transformation which is packed into the Eucharist, I would invite you to view this short video. It presents a young couple, she is sitting and he is lying on a blanket, and they are sharing a picnic lunch on the shore of Lake Michigan in the city of Chicago. The picture’s frame is expanded by the power of ten again and again. For example, the frame moves from one meter to ten meters to one hundred meters to one thousand meters to ten thousand meters, to one hundred thousand meters, and on and on, you get the idea. I like to think of the Holy Mass, the Eucharist, as being like this - exploding as a power of transformation, reaching out into every galaxy, of which there are billions. There is no human heart or no place that should ever be devoid of the Eucharist! Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0. (12) With this as an inspiring backdrop, let us now unpack the richness of the Eucharist. Rather than walk us through the parts of the Mass, my approach moving forward is to highlight some aspects of the Eucharist. (13) Let me first highly recommend a YouTube Video Series on the Mass presented by Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, Australia. These videos, about three minutes or so in length, are excellent. Here is the link for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=oCDzi7KZUS8&list=PL8-1Dil2Zzb9GuvPXBbBAdocpTCY1k_sW (14) Also let’s not forget that the first document approved by Vatican Council II on December 4,1963, was the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum concilium). I encourage you to spend time with this document in prayerful reflection. Here is the link for you: https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat- ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html (15) In paragraph 10, we read “the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; as the same time it is the font from which all power flows…from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us and the sanctification of [persons] in Christ and the glorification of God…[are] achieved…\" (16) If the desire of our hearts is to draw nearer to the Lord and fall more deeply in love with Him, we need to ascend to the mountain’s summit, from where everything is put into the Lord’s frame of reference, and we need to plunge into the font, from which all grace flows. This is our precious Mass. (17) In Roman society of the first century, every soldier would make a solemn vow of loyalty and obedience to the Emperor. This promise or oath, interestingly, was called a sacramentum in Latin, the common language of the people. (18) This then is the origin of our word sacrament. In the rich tradition of our Catholic Church, the sacraments bring us into a closer relationship with the Lord. The sacraments call forth from our hearts a commitment to the Lord. This intimacy with Him is to always be growing deeper and deeper. 3

(19) The sacraments are not events that are pinpointed to a single moment in our lives. Let us consider the Sacraments of Initiation. In our Baptism lived every day, we are reminded that we have put on Jesus and that the light of His Loving Spirit lives in our hearts. In the Sacrament of Confirmation, we are strengthened every day with the renewing gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. In the Eucharist, which can actually be celebrated daily, in contrast to Baptism and Confirmation, we are nourished with the Lord’s presence, which never leaves us on our pilgrim journey through this life, always on our way back home to the Lord. (20) The sacraments, then, are always drawing us into a mutual and living relationship with our Lord God. Through the sacraments, our vow to give the Lord the preeminent place in our hearts is refreshed again and again, and hopefully kept dear throughout our lives. In the multifaceted beauty of the diamond of our faith, which are the sacraments, the Eucharist shines with a special brilliance and should have a special place in our hearts. Saint John reminds us so pointedly of Jesus’ reality, “Without me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) I. THE EUCHARIST: SACRAMENT OF THE TABLE OF THE WORD AND THE TABLE OF HOLY COMMUNION (21) A focal point of Jesus' ministry was table fellowship. Jesus loved to share a meal and conversation with his holy companions as well as those who longed to get to know him. While some of the Pharisees were appalled by whom Jesus sat down to table with, Jesus was always inviting and turned no one away. His Heart was big and always open; His love was abundant and lavish. (22) At the wedding dinner in Cana of Galilee, Jesus performed his first miracle, changing a hundred eighty gallons or so of water into wine. (John 2:1-11) Everyone especially enjoys a glass or two of wine at a wedding celebration. Wine reminds us of the beauty of joy. Wine warms our hearts. Jesus was not stingy in making the wedding wine available to all; His love is lavish. Jesus has come so that we may have abundant life. This abundance of love and joy is Jesus’ dream for every person. (23) We human beings would waste a way if not for the precious gifts of food and drink in our lives. We would shrivel up without the life-giving gift of our relationships with one another. So, too, our spiritual lives contract without the real food and drink of the Lord’s words to us and the gift of his Most Precious Body and Blood. While the offering of a livestream Mass was essential in keeping us connected as a spiritual family during the pandemic, we realize that we cannot be nourished indefinitely by a virtual diet. Still today, though, our livestream Sunday Mass is appreciated by those who are struggling with serious health issues or simply away from the parish. This virtual ministry reaches far and wide and does fulfill a need for people to find a community of faith which ministers to their spirits. (24) On returning to Mass in-person, people’s hearts were brought to tears and there was a joyful sense of homecoming. (25) To hear the Word of God proclaimed is to be in the real presence of the Lord God. The Word longs to reverberate amongst an assembly of God’s people; many hearts receiving that same Word at the same time. The Word of God is real food for our journey. Sometimes we are 4

comforted by the Word, and, at other times, we are challenged. The Word of God becomes the North Star of our lives, always revealing the Way, the Truth and the Life, our Lord Jesus, to us. The Prophet Ezekiel was literally directed by the Lord to eat the scroll of His sacred words. (Ezekiel 3:3) The Word of God is real food! Just as we would be remiss to arrive for Mass after the consecration of the bread and wine, when we arrive in the middle of the Proclamation of the Word, we are depriving ourselves of this vital nourishment. (26) Similarly, at this Sacred Meal, which is the Mass, we are nourished by the Precious Body and Blood of our Risen Lord Jesus. We are not re-enacting the Last Supper but rather, in real time, now, Jesus chooses to give Himself completely to us. For all eternity, now and forever, Jesus will always give Himself to us. This is the nature of love. Love always goes out of itself, willing the good of others. (27) I have said over and over again, if only the bread and wine are transformed into Jesus’ living and real presence among us, and we are not becoming more and more caught up in the transformation Jesus wants to do in our lives, that is, becoming divine as He is divine, the power of the Mass becomes only a tiny fraction of what it is meant to be. (28) If we can say “Yes!” to Jesus’ presence in Holy Communion, but we cannot say “Yes!” to Jesus’ presence in the lives of those around us, who are the Body of Christ and a Beloved Community, the Mass becomes only a tiny fraction of what it is meant to be. (29) As early as the Church’s teaching in the Didache (the Teaching of the Apostles) in the second century, there is this call to create a Beloved Community: As this broken bread was scattered over the mountains, and was gathered together to become one, so let Your Body of the Faithful be gathered together, from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom; for the glory and power are Yours forever. (30) When Jesus instructs us, “Do this in memory of me,” he is not directing us to carry out just the ritual and rubrics of the Mass. The “this'' Jesus is referring to is really about imitating His example of unselfish love. In undying trust, Jesus handed himself over to the Father. At every Mass, we are invited to hand ourselves over to the Lord, to trust that our unselfish love will transform our lives and the lives of those we love, and even the lives of those whom we have never met. We place our sometimes selfish lives alongside the bread and wine on the Lord’s Table, eager for the Holy Spirit to transform us into our unselfish Jesus! (31) Gathered around the Table of the Word and the Table of Holy Communion, we participate in the wedding banquet feast. Heaven and earth are linked forever around our Eucharistic Table. We are intimately united to the Lord Jesus and to one another. Truly Jesus marries himself to us, the Church, the People of God, for all time and eternity! II. THE EUCHARIST: SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR AND PASCHAL MYSTERY (32) The Mass is both a meal and a sacrifice. The table is also an altar. In the story of our Jewish sisters and brothers of old, worship of the Lord was expressed in offering the Lord God the first fruits of the grain and of the livestock. In the renewal of the covenant between God and 5

God’s People, Moses sacrificed a bull, and its blood was sprinkled upon the altar and the people. Blood is life and all of human life is energized in the flow of love between God and God’s People. (33) The blood of the Passover Lamb was sprinkled upon the doorposts of the homes of the Israelite people to serve as a saving sign as the Angel of Death passed over the land of Pharoah’s Egypt, striking down the first born of humans and beasts. It was this saving mark of blood that made possible the release of the Israelites from the land of slavery, setting them out on their journey to the Promised Land. (34) The prophet, John the Baptist, points out Jesus in the crowd on the shore of the Jordan River with the telling words, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (35) It is the blood flowing from Jesus’ hands and feet, from his side and heart, that saves us as we stand at the foot of His Holy Cross. Sin and death, selfishness and hatred, and violence and revenge never have the last word. The last word is Jesus’ resurrection. Nothing can quench the thirst of the Lord for His people. He freely hands himself over to the religious leaders and to the Roman occupiers of his time. It is this sacrifice of the Lord upon the Tree of the Cross that is offered for love of us, in real time and now, at every Mass. (36) The Lord’s love is sacrificial. The Lord’s love holds nothing back all for the sake of our well-being. Sacrifice may be one of those dirty words in the human lexicon. The human tendency towards selfishness can stifle the notion of making sacrifices. If I think only about myself, my life is far from being sacrificial. (37) One of the stunning stained glass windows in the sanctuary of our church tells the story of Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of his only beloved son, Isaac. (See Image 1) Hebrew Scripture scholars suggest that this story is a proof text against the slaughter of children which was common among the pagans who thought that their pagan gods’ anger could be appeased by such human sacrifice. The God of the Hebrews made it clear, as the Lord stayed the hand of the angel about to slaughter Isaac, that such sacrifice was an abomination. (38) Yet, this story of sacrifice is seen as a type or prefigurement of the sacrificial death of God’s Only Beloved Son, our Jesus. Let’s be clear that the primary reason for the death of the Lord was because He posed a threat to the authority of the religious and civil leaders of Jesus’ time. God the Father did not demand the death of His Son. What parent would ever act in such a way! But Jesus’ death was sacrificial in nature as he held nothing back in pouring out his unconditional love upon all of humankind. Jesus died for love of you and me only and not to appease a Father livid over the sins of God’s children. It is Jesus’ love, poured out like His Blood, that washes away sin and death. (39) If in Baptism we put on Jesus and if in the Mass we become more like Jesus in thought and deed, our friendship with the Lord should have a sacrificial tone. Every parent knows full well the sacrificial nature of love. Loving a precious child often means that a parent puts aside her or his own wants or needs, making loving sacrifices for the well-being of a precious child. (40) I direct you again to the beautiful stained-glass windows in the sanctuary of our Church. 6 (See Image 2) There you will find the depiction of the encounter between Abraham and the Priest Melchizedek.

Every good Jew offered a tenth of his/her blessings back to the Lord. This sacrificial giving was integral to the act of worship. A tithe taken from the abundant harvest of wheat or from the growing flock of sheep or herd of goats was gratefully and generously presented to the Lord God. (41) As grateful and generous stewards, we make a sacrificial gift to the Lord from the abundance of our time, talent and treasure. This gifting is an act of worship. Like the widow who placed her gift in the temple treasury, all that she had to live on (Luke 21:1-4), our sacrificial gifts to the Lord should be given first priority rather than tending to all of our needs and wants first and bequeathing to the Lord what is left over! Everything we are and have are gifts from the Lord. Motivated by gratitude and generosity, we return a portion of those gifts back to God. We offer our gifts, as signs of our very lives, right alongside the bread and wine that are presented at the altar at every Mass. (42) We are often mesmerized by the beauty and innocence which is the Christmas Story of God’s love made visible in our midst in the human and divine person of the Infant Jesus, and rightly so. Christmas evokes warm and cozy memories for us. But all of history is realigned towards the power of goodness, beauty and truth in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. His unselfish sacrifice of his very life for love of you and me and his passing over from death to new life, which was far from warm and cozy for the Lord, is the fulcrum upon which all of the Cosmos turns. Without Good Friday and Easter, Christmas itself would be meaningless! At every Mass, we celebrate this Holy Sacrifice of our Lord and Savior! At every Mass, we celebrate Good Friday and Easter! III. THE EUCHARIST: SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION (43) In a pontificate spanning nearly twenty-eight years, after making pastoral visits to one hundred twenty-nine countries, and canonizing nearly five hundred saints and over one thousand new blesseds, after writing some thirteen encyclical letters, the one image that is enthroned in my heart is the picture of Saint Pope John Paul II, seated on a folding chair in a small prison cell, across from Mehmet Ali Agca, who attempted to assassinate the Holy Father in Saint Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981. The Holy Father was offering this Turkish young man his forgiveness, with the hope of being reconciled with him. This iconic photo made the cover of Time magazine on January 1, 1984, with the headline Why Forgive? (44) Again and again, Jesus taught that to be holy like God, his Father, is synonymous to forgiving others as God forgives us. (45) Another one of the stained glass windows in the sanctuary of our Church tells the story of the woman of Samaria who comes to Jacob’s well to fill her pail and is surprised to encounter Jesus. (John 4:4-42) (See Image 3) She has come at high noon, in the heat of the day, to avoid the smirks and nasty remarks of the other women of Samaria who gather their water in the cool dawn of the new day. This lonely woman, who has looked for loving acceptance in all the wrong places and in all the wrong men, so miserable, meets the mercy of the Lord. Her distance from the Lord disappears and her longing for the Lord’s tender embrace is realized in this moment of reconciliation. (46) The Mass is the first Sacrament of Reconciliation. The story of God's unbreakable bond of 7 love for us was waylaid by that first distancing which occurred between the Creator and us in

the Garden of Eden, supplanting Original Blessing with Original Sin. From that heartbreaking moment, God the Creator has longed to repair this original breach. (47) A beautiful story begins that recounts God’s reaching out to us again and again through our Jewish ancestors in faith, our first fathers and mothers, and the Lord’s appointed kings, judges and prophets, all so prominent in the story of salvation, centuries before the birth of the Son of God. The Incarnation of the Lord shifts into high gear the salvation story of God’s magnificent love. It is Jesus, who is Divine Love stretched out upon the Tree of the Cross, that is the antidote to that painful breach that reached all the way back to the Garden of Eden. In Jesus’ dying and rising, we are finally reconciled to our Father. This repaired bond can never be broken again. This is the reconciliation that is renewed at every celebration of the Mass. At every Mass, these notes of reconciliation peel out. For our weaknesses and tendencies towards selfishness, we beg, “LORD, have mercy. CHRIST, have mercy. LORD, have mercy.” In the Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation I, we join our prayer to that of the priest or bishop, “Never did you turn away from us, and, though time and again we have broken your covenant, you have bound the human family to yourself through Jesus your Son, our Redeemer, with a new bond of love so tight that it can never be undone.” In the Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation II, we pray together, “You, therefore, almighty Father, we bless through Jesus Christ your Son, who comes in your name. He himself…is the hand you extend to sinners, the way by which your peace is offered to us. When we ourselves had turned away from you on account of our sins, you brought us back to be reconciled, O Lord, so that, converted at last to you, we might love one another through your Son, whom for our sake you handed over to death.” In every Eucharistic Prayer, and there are fourteen of them, we pray, using Jesus’ own words, “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins.” In the Lord's Prayer, we pray, with sincerity of heart, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We anticipate, with open hearts and hands, eager to receive our living Lord in Holy Communion, praying, “…but only say the the word and my soul shall be healed.” (48) Receiving this grace of reconciliation from the Lord, it is our duty and obligation, both non- negotiable and integral to the Gospel of Jesus, to be reconciled to one another. The Lord’s precious gift of forgiveness is meant to be passed on by you and me to others. Jesus is clear in his admonition, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother [sister] has anything against you, leave our gift at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother [sister], and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5.24) 8

(49) At every Mass, then, we are invited by the Lord to examine our hearts and to begin that interior process that moves us towards reconciliation with those from whom we are estranged. This, I readily admit, is easier said than done. Let us strive together to be the Lord’s worthy ambassadors of the precious gift of reconciliation to one another. Let us not shy away from what is at the heart of the Christian life: A forgiven person forgives! IV. THE EUCHARIST: SACRAMENT OF MISSION (50) In the Gospel of John, it is noteworthy that there is no institutional narrative of the Eucharist. In John’s Gospel, we do not find Jesus’ words, spoken at the Last Supper, “This is my Body. This is my Blood.” Rather, Jesus kneels before each one of his disciples, with a gentle and humble heart bowed, and gazes upon him with tender love, as he washes his feet. I believe, too, that holy women were present at this Holy Meal and Jesus bathed their feet, too! (51) He who is our Divine Master willingly takes on the role of the servant of the household, who in the master’s name, washes the feet of his guests, as a gesture of hospitality. Peter was appalled that Jesus would lower himself to this uncomfortable, and frankly, dirty and stinky task of feet washing. The Eucharist is about selfless service. (52) In the old Latin Mass, the words of dismissal were Ite, missa est, meaning, Go, it [the assembly] is dismissed. Our words Mass, dismissal, and mission find their roots in the Latin word, missa. The Eucharist is about mission. (53) Jesus reminds us again and again of the crucial nature of that mission. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 15:15, parallels in Luke 14:23, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 17:7-8) We can emphasize full, active, and conscious participation at Mass and desire to increase that participation. We can emphasize that Jesus is really present in the assembly, just as he is present in the Word, in his Precious Body and Blood, and in his priest. We must emphasize, too, the desire to increase a sense of community among worshiping believers. Communing with Jesus in the Eucharist must be accompanied by communing with our sisters and brothers in love. To reiterate, if we cannot see Jesus in our sisters and brothers, it will be difficult to see Him in the Eucharist. (54) These emphases, however, will fall flat on their face, so to speak, if we do not emphasize 9 our call to mission. In the intervention made by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina prior to the Conclave of Cardinals who elected him Pope, the future Francis cautioned our Church about the dangers of self-referentiality, a tendency to look within and be absorbed by navel gazing. He lamented that Jesus must sometimes find Himself knocking from within so that we let him out. The self-referential Church seeks to keep Jesus Christ within herself and does not let him out. (March 2013) A Church that always looks inward is a sick Church.

(55) In his wonderful book Anam Cara, the Irish poet and theologian John O’Donohue writes, \"Love does not remain within the heart, it flows out to build secret tabernacles in a landscape.\" This insight echoes our own parish’s desire to be about mission, seeing the sacred movement outward of the ripples of God’s love, through our hearts, to all hearts. (56) A Church that looks outward is an alive Church. Truth be told, Jesus has already tabernacled himself in the hearts of our sisters and brothers who find themselves among the least, the lost and the last. When we encounter them on the peripheries of society, you and I will always be inspired. It is at the peripheries that the Church functions like a field hospital, ministering to wounded persons whose hearts yearn for healing and hope. (57) We are Jesus’ missionaries and we carry within us the beauty, truth and goodness which is Jesus’ Gospel. We are the Lord’s disciples, impelled by the Holy Spirit, striving to think and feel and act like Jesus, who go forth from the Mass to make disciples. This great commission is the only reason for which the parish exists. This great commission is the only reason for which the Church exists. (58) This mission finds its impetus and direction in the Church’s absolute certitude in the sacred dignity of every person. No person should be denied the grace of hearing of the Lord’s unconditional love for him or her. No person should be denied the most basic of human rights, the rights to food and water, to shelter and clothing, to a good education and dignified work with a living wage, and to health care. No person should be denied the freedom of worship or religion. Love without justice, is merely sentimentalism. (59) If I am going to be a bearer of Jesus’ Good News, sent out into my family, my workplace, my neighborhood and even to the ends of the earth, I have to embrace these social teachings of the Catholic Church. I cannot be a party to racism, sexism, age discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, anti-semitism or anti-any religion. The Gospel of Jesus cannot be co-opted by patriotism or nationalism. Our first loyalty is always to the Lord. (60) This eucharistic mission reminds us that we must be a Church without walls. As the great American poet, Robert Frost, wrote so convincingly in Mending Wall, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,/That wants it down.” As Jesus’ missionary disciples, how do you and I, in every situation, tear down walls to build bridges? The Gospel proclaims without wavering that we are all God’s family. Jesus’ mission was only to love all God’s people, all the time, always trusting that His Father’s love would transform human society. The Eucharist is the leaven for this mission of transformation in love! V. THE EUCHARIST: SACRAMENT OF REST, ADORATION, THANKSGIVING, PRAISE AND MYSTERY (61) Whether we exercise on a treadmill or not, we often feel worn out by the hectic pace of our lives. There is so much expected of us and we try conscientiously to meet the expectations of so many people. Our spirits can be drained or we may struggle at times with a bit of depression, anxiety or fear. The Third Commandment serves as an urgent reminder that we need to slow down. Our energy batteries are often in need of a spiritual charge. “Keep holy the Sabbath” points us again in the direction of our Creator God and Lord. Worship invites us to stop in our 10

tracks and to acknowledge that the Lord is always present in our lives. The Lord is our Anchor and our Strength, our Peace and our Joy. Jesus invites us, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; you will find rest for yourselves. (Matthew 11:28-29) It would do us good to remember Saint Teresa of Avila’s prayer for us: Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing away. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices. (62) Our Sunday Sabbath is a day to praise the Lord and to thank the Lord for his loyalty in love and fidelity to us. Adoration of the Lord moves us to our knees. I always liked the prayerful reminder to myself: Lord, you are God and I am not! Breathing in the transcendence of our God - God’s complete otherness - elicits from our hearts only praise and thanksgiving. Prayers of praise, adoration, and thanksgiving, realizing that God does not need any of these from us, change us. Our hearts are expanded to reach out for the goodness, beauty and truth, which come only from the Lord. (63) The Greek word eucharistia means thanksgiving. When standing in prayer before the Cross of Jesus or in the Garden of Resurrection, our hearts can only be filled with thanksgiving for the expressions of the Lord’s great and constant love. (64) Standing in the bright lights of this mystery of the unstoppable Divine Love, flowing among the Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity, and spilling as from a fountain upon you and me, our hearts and minds, our bodies and souls are brought to utter silence. (65) Awe and reverence of the Lord begin in silence. The mystic Father John Climacus said, “The friend of silence comes close to God. In secret he [she] converses with God and receives God’s light.” The Trappist mystic, Father Thomas Merton, said often, “A friend of Jesus is necessarily a friend of silence.” (66) Our celebration of the Mass imparts the breath of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. This inspiration is enhanced by the moments of silence in the liturgy. We need to improve our listening skills when we relate to the Blessed Trinity. Our prayer sometimes is too one-sided; we do the talking and the Lord does the listening. The Spirit’s movement in our lives is just the opposite: We do the listening and the Lord does the inspiring. This listening for the Lord happens in the silence. I am reminded of the prophet Elijah, in a bad space as he is hounded by the vindictive, vengeful Queen Jezebel who wants to murder Elijah for his insolent behavior towards her gods of Baal. Elijah is in hiding, hoping to hear the voice of the Lord. He peeks his head outside the cave. The Lord’s voice is not in the whirlwind, nor the earthquake, nor the thunder. In the stillness Elijah hears the comforting, strengthening voice of his Lord. He hears a tiny, gentle whisper. (I Kings 19:11-12) (67) I encourage you to open your heart to the silence which the liturgy offers. We have to 11 practice more at being still and silent. The invitation to call to mind our sins of selfishness at the beginning of Mass, as well as the invitation, Let us pray, before the Collect (Opening Prayer), the brief pause after the First Reading [before the singing of the Responsorial Psalm], the more significant pause after the homily, and finally the stillness after the reception of communion are moments when the Lord is wanting to speak to us. Just be present and receptive. No reason to look at your watch here!

(68) I do believe that adoration before the Blessed Sacrament is so appealing to so many people because it creates a silent, still space. It is a holy time dedicated to breathing in the Lord’s Spirit, basking in the warmth of the Lord’s love, and being inspired by His guidance. The caution I offer in regard to prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is to not be mesmerized by a Jesus-and-me preoccupation. Even prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is always about Jesus-and-us. In prayer there can never be us and them, but only us. (69) It will do us good to bring before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament our prayers for our suffering sisters and brothers throughout the world. In this unprecedented year of gun violence, my heart aches deep down to read the stories of our beautiful children and young people, and so many not-so-young people who are no longer with us. I see their faces. I feel the pain of their family members whose lives have been shattered by such senseless violence. I pray before the Blessed Sacrament with these holy people in my heart and place them into the heart of Jesus. Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament must also reach far beyond myself. VI. A FINAL IMAGE AND THOUGHT (70) I would encourage you to make time to take a closer look at the four stunning stained glass windows that adorn the sanctuary of our church, beaming their intricate beauty over the Table of the Lord. In this Pastoral Letter, I have already pointed out to you The Sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham’s Tithe to the High Priest Melchizedek, and the Woman at the Well. (71) Finally let me call your attention to The Meal at Emmaus. (See Image 4) Saint Luke’s account of the appearance of the Risen Jesus to the downcast Cleopas and his companion as they walk away from Jerusalem towards the village of Emmaus after the death and burial of Jesus is a literary masterpiece. (Luke 24:13-36) Luke paints our Jesus at his best. He is truly someone who accompanies us on our journey of life, never leaving us alone. Jesus is truly someone who listens to us and empathizes with all of our joys and sorrows. This art of accompaniment, which Pope Francis suggests as a way to be Church, indicates a willingness to enter into the experience of another’s person’s life, absent any quickness to judge or correct sternly. Accompaniment always pulls someone into the Church rather than pushes her or him out. (72) The Aha moment for Cleopas and his companion, just maybe his wife, is when the risen Lord accepts their invitation to join them for a meal in their home in Emmaus. It is only when Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and shares it with Cleopas and his wife that they recognize Him as their Risen Lord and Savior. In that moment, they recall how Jesus walked and talked with them on the way to Emmaus, explaining everything that was destined to happen to Him because of His great love for all of His sisters and brothers in every place and time. Their hearts burned within them. (73) May our hearts burn with love for the Risen Jesus everytime we gather around His Table with each other. May our hearts burn with the same love for each other. The mural of the Breaking of the Bread at the Last Supper painted by Samuel Akainyah can be 12 viewed on the chapel wall at Saint Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago. Around the table are men, women, and children from every tribe and nation (some famous and others not). In the

center of the mural is a very faint image of Jesus. You might ask why the Lord’s image is so faint. The pastor, Father Michael Pfleger, replies, “Until everyone is welcome at the table, Jesus cannot come into the fullness of his glory.” (“Coming into the fullness of His glory”, a homily by Anita Baird, for the Third Sunday of Easter, Catholic Women Preach 1, by Elizabeth Donelly) (74) Deep in the Heart of Jesus on the night of Last Supper was the prayer that He continues to offer for us, with every ounce of passion that he can muster, “That they may all be one, as you, Father are in me and I am in you, that they may all be one in us.\" (John 17:21) May our Good and Gracious Lord place this prayer on our lips and in our hearts every time we gather as Church for the Breaking of the Bread! Father Bill + -Given to the People of God of Saint Mary Parish, Appleton, Wisconsin on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, June 11, 2023 Image 1: Mentioned in Image 2: Mentioned in Image 3: Mentioned in Image 4: Mentioned in Paragraph (37) Paragraph (40) Paragraph (45) Paragraph (71) Sacrifice of Isaac Abraham & Melchizedek Woman of Samaria Meal at Emmaus 13