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Catholic
News & Herald
UOCQ-80L
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