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17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 26, 2020

Dear Friends,

On the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Scripture readings invite us to reflect on our approach to obtaining the most treasured possession of all, The Kingdom of God. What have you done personally thus far, and what will you do henceforth to perpetuate the values of the Kingdom of God in this troubled world?

I want to congratulate Tony and Pat Spadafora who were awarded the Family of the Month for July 2020. I thank them both for their dedication to our community at SJE. I also want to thank Ken Mader who served as Grand Knight for the year 2019-2020, and I wish to welcome Tony Spadafora as our new Grand Knight for 2020-2021. Thank you, brother Knights, for your service.

Now we shall take a few minutes to delve deeper into the beauty of the encyclical “Ecclesia De Eucharistia” (The Church draws her life from the Eucharist) by St. John Paul II on the vital role that the Eucharist plays in the life of the Church. Today, let us reflect on the 8th and 9th paragraphs:

  1. When I think of the Eucharist, and look at my life as a priest, as a Bishop and as the Successor of Peter, I naturally recall the many times and places in which I was able to celebrate it. I remember the parish church of Niegowić, where I had my first pastoral assignment, the collegiate church of Saint Florian in Krakow, Wawel Cathedral, Saint Peter's Basilica and so many basilicas and churches in Rome and throughout the world. I have been able to celebrate Holy Mass in chapels built along mountain paths, on lakeshores and seacoasts; I have celebrated it on altars built in stadiums and in city squares... This varied scenario of celebrations of the Eucharist has given me a powerful experience of its universal and, so to speak, cosmic character. Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the  Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth.  It embraces and permeates all creation. The Son of God became man in order to restore all creation, in one supreme act of praise, to the One who made it from nothing. He, the Eternal High Priest who by the blood of his Cross entered the eternal sanctuary, thus gives back to the Creator and Father all creation redeemed. He does so through the priestly ministry of the Church, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. Truly this is the mysterium fidei which is accomplished in the Eucharist: the world which came forth from the hands of God the Creator now returns to him redeemed by Christ.
  1. The Eucharist, as Christ's saving presence in the community of the faithful and its spiritual food, is the most precious possession which the Church can have in her journey through history. This explains the lively concern which she has always shown for the Eucharistic mystery, a concern which finds authoritative expression in the work of the Councils and the Popes. How can we not admire the doctrinal expositions of the Decrees on the Most Holy Eucharist and on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass promulgated by the Council of Trent? For centuries those Decrees guided theology and catechesis, and they are still a dogmatic reference-point for the continual renewal and growth of God's People in faith and in love for the Eucharist. In times closer to our own, three Encyclical Letters should be mentioned: the Encyclical Mirae Caritatis of Leo XIII (28 May 1902) (Leonis XIII P.M. Acta, XXII (1903), 115-136), the Encyclical Mediator Dei of Pius XII (20 November 1947) (AAS 39 (1947), 521-595) and the Encyclical Mysterium Fidei of Paul VI (3 September 1965) (AAS 57 (1965), 753-774).

 The Second Vatican Council, while not issuing a specific document on the Eucharistic mystery, considered its various aspects throughout its documents, especially the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium and the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium. I myself, in the first years of my apostolic ministry in the Chair of Peter, wrote the Apostolic Letter Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980), (AAS 72 (1980), 113-148) in which I discussed some aspects of the Eucharistic mystery and its importance for the life of those who are its ministers. Today I take up anew the thread of that argument, with even greater emotion and gratitude in my heart, echoing as it were the word of the Psalmist: “What shall I render to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (Ps 116:12-13).

Be Blessed!

With love, Fr. John


Questions for July 26, 2020 Bulletin excerpt from Ecclesia de Eucharistia  Paragraphs (8-9)

  1. Even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the is always in some way celebrated on                          .
  2. The mystery of faith accomplished in the Eucharist is this: The world which came forth from the hands of God the Creator now returns to him                                       by Christ.
  3. The Eucharist, as Christ’s in the community of the faithful, is the most                             of the Church?
  4. What is the name of the Holy Thursday Apostolic Letter that St. JP II wrote in 1980?