April 9, 1993

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Catholic

News & Herald

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ving Catholics in

Western North Carolina

in the

Volume 2 Number 31

Diocese of Charlotte

Risen.

9 Is

April 9, 1993

From The Bishop

Letter

Holy Thursday, 1993

My

Dear Friends

Our Holy

in Christ:

Father,

Pope John Paul

II,

announced

that the

45th International

Eucharistic Congress will be held in Seville, Spain from June 7-13.

The purpose of

Congress, as with all the Eucharistic Congresses that have been held in the past, to bring about a new awakening for a true, solid Eucharistic devotion to Jesus

this is

Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and a deeper appreciation for the Eucharistic Liturgy. will be leading a pilgrimage

I

from the

diocese to Seville, to join pilgrims from

all

over the world to pay homage to Our Lord in the Eucharist. Information about the pilgrimage will be forthcoming so that

who

those that

do

are interested in joining us for

wonderful experience will be able to

so. I

realize that not

everyone will be able can benefit

to journey to Spain, but all of us

mm.

by renewing our love for the Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament in our own parishes. I have asked the pastors to have a Eucharistic celebration in their parishes

between April 18 and

May

23 and,

in

addition, a vicariate or regional celebration

where people from a number of parishes will come together to celebrate Christ dwell-

ing

among

us. It is

an opportunity for

all

Catholics throughout the diocese to reflect on the gift of the Eucharist, the 'nourish-

ment from heaven provided by Jesus Himself.

Let me encourage you, my dear people,

to take part in these parochial

celebrations;

I

am

and vicariate

confident that the Lord

will bless each of us, as we celebrate His presence among us and worship Him in the

Holy Eucharist. You will be hearing more about these parish and vicariate celebrations.

During Photo by

)one Parish

JOANN KEANE

Wins National

bnor For Religious Education By

CAROL HAZARD Associate Editor

OONE —

"If

'

seed has flowered at

St. Eliza-

church and, as a result, the small in the heart

ains has

of the Appalachian

won

the

Mustard Seed

award is given annually for mce in parental leadership and pation in religious education from tional Catholic Educational Ason. St. Elizabeth is one of five ie

;s,

including St. Francis of Assisi

-igh, 's

honored with the award,

a tribute to the lay leadership in

P ish

and their involvement

in reli-

jiducation," said Jesuit Father H.

Bradley, pastor of St. Elizabeth.

Easter Break <-use

of the Easter holidays, The

News & Herald will not be bshed April 16. Our next issue

foiic

">e

April 23.

week of

the year,

we

celebrate the institution of the

It

teaching?

you have faith as a of mustard seed, you will say to ountain, move from here to there, will move; and nothing will be Isible to you." (Matthew 17-20) te

this holiest

can be a wonderful opportunity for us to reflect on this beautiful gift which the Lord gave to His Church. I would encourage everyone to re-read the 6th chapter of St. John's Gospel, which is concerned with the promise and institution of the Blessed Eucharist by Our Lord. One of the most striking features in every period of Christian history is the persevering and constant love which Catholics manifest in their devotion to the Blessed Eucharist. We can ask ourselves why is it that we believe and adore Jesus Christ in the Eucharist? What is our authority for accepting so stupendous a Eucharist.

"To put

it

To answer these questions, we must go back to that time when Jesus walked on We must see the Lord as He lived and listen to His teachings on the

very succinctly," Father

Bradley wrote in a letter to the NCEA, St. E s could exist with dynamism with'

out a pastor."

Carol Brown, parish coordinator of religious education, said she

— "a

was

sur-

church of 350 families in Boone, North Carolina" won the national award. Brown will accept the award for the parish April 14 during the NCEA 90th Convention in New Orleans. More than 14,000 educators are expected to attend the conven-

prised St. Elizabeth

little

the earth.

Blessed Eucharist. We must watch Him after His baptism in the Jordan River. We may see Him as He told the paralytic to rise and walk; as He touched the blind, who saw and praised Him; as He touched the rotting flesh of lepers and instantly cured them. We may see Him as He multiplied five loaves of bread into food for 5,000 people; we may see Him as He fed the poor, forgave sins, and preached the Gospel of penance. No teaching ever left His lips but that He stamped the seal of divinity

by working some miracle. was while surrounded by a crowd of followers that He said: "I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that a man may eat it and not die. I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will

upon

it

It

tion.

live forever;

Although small in size, St. Elizabeth is mighty in spirit. "I have lived around the country and I have never been in a parish quite like St. Elizabeth," Brown said. "The church works the way it should work ...

(Jn.

Maybe

it's

because of the size

— we're

big enough to have viable programs, but small enough for people to get involved."

Brown

was hard pressed to weren't already busy

said she

find parents

who

See Honor, Page 2

and the bread

that

I

shall give is

my

flesh, for the life

of the world."

6:48-51)

The Gospel tells us that when the disciples of Christ heard this, many of them away they could not accept the fact that He was promising to actually give

turned

them His flesh as food and His blood as drink. Since that day, that passage has been tossed about by scholars who were unwilling to accept the Real Presence in the Blessed Eucharist. Could Christ really have meant His flesh and blood, or was He speaking symbolically of faith?

It is

true that everything Christ said about His flesh

and blood can be applied, also, to faith, but if that is all He meant, how easy it would have been for Christ to explain to His disciples that He was only speaking figuratively. It was evident to His disciples that He meant what He said, and so, as the Gospel tells us, they walked away from Christ. Notwithstanding the confusion See Letter, Page

3


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