Voice of the Southwest: Summer 2022

The Voice of the Southwest Vol. 62 No. 1 | summer 2022 | voiceofthesouthwest.org | official news publication for the Roman catholic diocese of gallup

SACRA MYSTERIA VENERARI

“Revere the Sacred Mysteries”: A New Exhortation from Bishop Wall >2-9 How to go to Eucharistic Adoration >10-11 The Bible and the Eucharist >13

The Blessed Mother and the Eucharist

How Jesus Reveals Our Life’s Vocation

Preparing for the National Eucharistic Revival

She is our model who shows us how to revere the Eucharist; and she prepares us to receive her Son through her motherly care for us.

Do you want to know how Jesus is with you, loving you, and calling you, in the minutiae of each day and in the big life decisions that you face?

A nationwide study found that a majority of American Catholics do not believe in the Eucharist. This 3-year revival hopes to change that.

PERSPECTIVE | Page 14

PERSPECTIVE | Page 15

STORY| Page 20

2

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • FROM THE BISHOP

SUMMER 2022

SACRA MYSTERIA VENERARI:

T

o all the priests, deacons, religious, and lay faithful of the Diocese of Gallup On the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist: “To revere the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood.” This is what Saint Thomas Aquinas asks of the Lord Jesus in his collect prayer for the great feast of Corpus Christi.

This oration summarizes in a few words what should be the great desire of our hearts: to adore Christ in the Eucharist—there through Christ to worship the Father “in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:23-24)1 —that, as the collect continues, “we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption.” In this way, we begin already in this life to anticipate the pervading joys and blessedness of heaven, and in fact have a prelude to heavenly worship itself. It is no wonder, then, that Holy Mother Church exalts the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist as the “source and summit of the Christian life”: as the very Presence of Christ Himself among us, the Eucharist is the reality toward and from which all of the Church’s activity flows.2 It cannot be otherwise.

With this in mind, dear sons and daughters in Christ, I have undertaken to write this apostolic exhortation to you. My earnest desire is that each of us in our own way and state of life may better learn to “revere the sacred mysteries” of Christ in the Eucharist. It is no secret that Eucharistic faith has drastically declined in recent years. This has had many causes: irreverent liturgies, poor catechesis, and a lack of available times for confession and adoration are only a few that I could name. Simply to be a harbinger of doom bemoaning the sad state of things is not my purpose, however. I would rather like to laud the mysteries of Christ, so that, please God, in some small way we can see the beauty of the Eucharistic Lord anew, and, like the disciples on that first Easter evening, we may draw near to Him with hearts set on fire by His Presence (cf. Lk. 24:32).

The structure of this exhortation will be three-fold. First, we will examine briefly the meaning and importance of the Incarnation, that is, the coming of the Son of God in the flesh. This will pave the way for a proper understanding of the Eucharist as the Body of Christ, which will be the focus of part two. Finally, in part three we will take some time to examine the context in which Christ gives us the Eucharist, namely the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Divine Providence has seen to it that this very Sunday of Corpus Christi—the day on which I am promulgating this exhortation—will also be the beginning of the Eucharistic Revival in the United States. This will be a three-year initiative, put on simultaneously by all the bishops of our nation, to promote what we believe to be a divine desire “to see 1 All citations of Sacred Scripture come from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.

2 See Catechism of the Catholic Church [henceforth CCC], 1324.

a movement of Catholics across the United States, healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist—and sent out in mission ‘for the life of the world.’”3 Here in the Diocese of Gallup, we are planning a number of retreats, talks, and other events that will help all of us to draw near to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus in our church tabernacles and in our daily lives. This present document can itself also be used as a basis for parochial study and prayer groups that focus on the Eucharist during this time.

At the outset of this exhortation, therefore, I would like to ask, even beg for your prayers, that all in our diocese and throughout the whole Church may be drawn to the refreshing waters of life found in the Eucharist; that my simple words here may help to increase our understanding of and reverence for these sacred mysteries; and ultimately that Jesus Christ, our Crucified and Risen Lord and Savior, may be given all the glory that is His due, whether on these pages, on the altars, or in our hearts.

“O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, All praise and all thanksgiving Be every moment thine!”

PART I The Word Became Flesh: The Incarnation Why did God become man?

Saint John the Evangelist begins his Gospel with one of the most fascinating portions in all of Scripture (cf. Jn. 1:1-18). Whether examined for its literary qualities or its theological profundity, it has always provided a deep well from which to draw spiritual nourishment. So important have these verses been in the life of the Church that they have often been read over the faithful as a reminder of the great work that God had accomplished in Christ.

Now, right at the heart of these verses is the truth that changed the world: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father” (Jn. 1:14). Elsewhere Saint Paul would describe the same matter this way as he sought to describe the reality of the Incarnation: “But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4). Essentially, what both of these saints are describing is the fact that the Father sent the Son to take on our human nature by assuming it unto His Divine Personhood. The Son became like us in all things but sin (cf. Heb. 4:14-16). This matter was then later taken up in 3“Home: Mission,” National Eucharistic Revival: My Flesh for the Life of the World, USCCB, accessed April 18, 2022, eucharisticrevival.org. This will be the main website for all the happenings of the revival, and will have resources for every stage thereof.

THE DISPUTATION OF THE SACRAMENT: A frescoe by Raphael depicting Christ, flanked by Mary and other saints including John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, and Jerome. CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons. the Church’s solemn profession of faith at the Council of Nicaea in the year 325. From that day to this, we pray regularly that “for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; and by the Holy Spirit, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”

What this brief line from the Creed shows us is that the Church has long asked the question “Why did God become man?” In other words, what was the purpose of the Incarnation, and, by extension, what impact does it have on my life? This is in fact a question that should arise in the heart of every believer, for by asking it, one is forced to wrestle with the almost incredible truth that God is one of us (cf. Mt. 1:18-23; Lk. 1:26-38); that in His Incarnate Son, God chose to humble Himself to be like us (cf. Lk. 2:1-7; Ph. 2:6-11), to live with us (cf. Lk. 2:39-40), to have needs (cf. Lk. 19:31), and even to undergo temptations (cf. Mt. 4:1-11; Lk. 4:1-13), suffering, and death (cf. Mt. 26-27; Mk. 14-15; Lk. 22-23; Jn. 18-19).

The more one meditates on these facts and passages, the more he is forced to recognize the “marvelous exchange” that takes place in Christ: the Creator becomes a creature, so as to show creatures the way back to the Creator.

Already this gives a first answer to the question we just proposed.

Why did God become man? So that we could be taken back to God after we had been lost in sin (cf. e.g. Lk. 15). This is not the only answer to the question, however. Many saints and doctors of the Church have had varying answers to the “why” of the Incarnation, and each gives

a glimpse of the whole truth. Holy Mother Church for Her part has summarized all of these into four essential points.4 She says that the Word became flesh: —in order to save us by reconciling us with God (cf. I Jn. 4:10; 4:14; 3:5),5 —that we might know God’s love (cf. Jn. 3:16; 1 Jn. 4:9),6 —to be our model of holiness (cf.

Mt. 11:29; Mk. 8:34; 9:7; Jn. 14:6; 15:12)7 —and to make us partakers of 4 Cf. CCC, 456-460. The Catechism also contains in these paragraphs various Patristic quotations which are worth our prayerful reflection.

5 One can think here of the Easter Sequence, which offers “thankful praises” to God since “a Lamb the sheep redeems; Christ, who only is sinless, reconciles sinners to the Father.” Another Paschal chant, the Exultet, says “Who for our sake paid Adam’s debt to the eternal Father, and, pouring out his own dear Blood, wiped clean the record of our ancient sinfulness.”

6 “In the pierced heart of the Crucified, God’s own heart is opened up.” Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, trans. John Saward (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000), 48.

7 Consider the baptismal rite, which, at the clothing with a white garment, says “you have become a new creation, and have clothed yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven.” It is because of Christ’s holiness, given to us in the Incarnation, that we can be holy.

He enables us to do so by His grace, especially in the sacrament of baptism, where we are first made holy.

SUMMER 2022

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • FROM THE BISHOP

3

REVERE THE SACRED MYSTERIES neglected some aspect of our human nature when He became one of us, that part of us would have remained unredeemed, and we would only have been partially saved, if at all.

Christ would be a failed Savior in such a case, for His work would not have been total or complete—it would not have been finished (cf. Jn. 19:30).

In His abounding, generous, and perfect love for us, however, He did not forsake a single portion of who we are, that we might be given new life in the entirety of our human nature.

It is easy to see, then, how essential the Incarnation is to our redemption. Without it, we would still be lost in our sins. Without it, Christ would not truly have suffered, died, and been raised. And, as Saint Paul so pointedly puts it, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. […] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:17, 20).

For this reason we can join Saint Paul in saying too: “thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).

“I am with you always”

divine nature (cf. 2 Pt.1:4).8 In each of these reasons we see God’s immense desire to unite us to Himself so intimately and closely that He became one of us. So great is this gift of God Himself to mankind that no greater gift could be given. As humble recipients of such a gift, we should always seek to make some return to the Lord for all of His goodness to us (cf. Ps. 116:12). This happens, of course, in our prayers of thanksgiving and praise, and by our way of life, which is meant to reflect Christ to the world (cf. Gal. 2:20). It also happens, principally and par excellence, in the Mass, which we will examine below.

He became like us in all things but sin In addition to the question of “why,” another question that has been asked since the beginning of the Christian Era has been “how far did the incarnation go?” In other words, to what extent did the Son of God truly become one of us? The answer that the Church has given is rather straightforward: while remaining fully God, He was also fully man, truly becoming like us in all things but sin. The implications of such an answer, however, are immense.

First let us examine what it means to be fully human. It means having a body composed of bones, muscles, flesh, and tissues. It means having a rational soul that has powers of memory, intelligence, and volition.

It means having emotions, feelings, personality, and the like. More than 8 “When he appeared in our mortal nature, you made us new by the glory of his immortal nature.” Roman Missal, Preface of the Epiphany of the Lord. The Prefaces of the Nativity contain similar themes.

all this, it means we are created as male or female in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27).

Now, while this is clearly a summary of human nature, already it gives us a deep insight into Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God. For in becoming one of us, He took all of this on. As the Gospels clearly show, and as the early Councils of the Church defended, He truly was a man Who had His own flesh, body, mind, and soul. This means He had hands that healed the sick and feet that ached as He walked the ancient pathways of Galilee and Jerusalem. He had hair which grew and teeth which chewed His food. He also really had emotions and a personality, which He expressed in ways just like us: He cried and was sorrowful at the death of Lazarus, and He rejoiced when the disciples returned successfully from their first mission. Likewise, as a man He had friends and family. He even underwent temptation throughout His life, though He never fell to sin because of that.9 His life was a genuine life, His suffering was bloody, and His death was as real as it gets. He was like us in all things.

As I mentioned above, the implications of all this are enormous. Saint Gregory Nazianzus once explained why when he said that “whatever was not assumed [in the Incarnation] was not healed.” This means that “to redeem man in the totality of his body, soul and spirit, Christ assumed all the elements of human nature, otherwise man would not have been saved.”10 In other words, had Christ 9 Sin, as that which is opposed to God and His grace, is not properly part of human nature, but rather something which makes us less human. This is why Christ’s sinlessness is not an argument against His being fully man.

10 Pope Benedict XVI, “General Audience:

The Gospel of Saint Matthew begins and ends with a striking parallel.

In the first chapter, we hear that Jesus is the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy from the book of Isaiah: “‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Mt. 1:23; cf. Is. 7:14).

Then, at the end of the book, Jesus Who is Emmanuel tells His disciples just before He ascends to the Father, “behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt. 28:20).

What we can draw from these two passages is the fact that Jesus, even after ascending to the right hand of God in heaven, never abandons His people or His Church. He does not leave us orphans, as we hear in Saint John’s Gospel (cf. Jn. 14:18). Rather, He promises to stay with us always—He promises to extend His Incarnation in this world in some way. He does this, of course, through His Church, His Mystical Body. Even more particularly, He does this in the Most Blessed Sacrament, which is His glorified Body and Blood hidden under the appearances of bread and wine.

To this sacrament of Christ’s Presence we now turn.

PART II The Flesh Became Bread: The Eucharist Mysterium Fidei “This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:50-51). In these couple verses, Jesus sums up the Saint Gregory Nazianzus (2),” Vatican Website, August 22, 2007, accessed April 19, 2022, www.vatican.va/content/ benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20070822.html.

teaching on the Eucharist which He gave to the people who had come to Capernaum after the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (cf. John 6).

His words on this occasion shocked His listeners. Though we usually see Jesus consoling those around Him with words or actions of mercy, here He intentionally speaks in terms that will leave many confused and scandalized. They think He is speaking of cannibalism, and are disgusted since they misunderstand the way in which He would leave us “His flesh” to eat— under forms of bread and wine. Jesus did not water down His teaching in this moment, however, but rather reemphasized it: “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (Jn. 6:53). He even allowed many of His listeners to walk away if they were unable to accept His words (cf. Jn. 6:60-66). This shows the importance He placed on this essential reality of the faith.

From that day to this, the Church has seen many occasions of confusion and misunderstanding when it comes to the Eucharist. One example of this came shortly after the Second Vatican Council. Pope Saint Paul VI foresaw that there were some who, in an effort to renew the liturgy and our understanding of the Blessed Sacrament, were in danger of misrepresenting the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist. To avoid this, he wrote the encyclical letter Mysterium Fidei (The Mystery of Faith). In that letter, he refers to the Eucharist in the first place as a “mystery.” Now, a mystery for Christians does not refer to something we cannot know, but rather to something we seek to know ever more, the depth of which goes far beyond what we can understand with our senses and intellect alone. It is something that can only be illuminated by faith. Saint Thomas Aquinas said this very specifically about the Eucharist in one of his Eucharistic hymns, Tantum ergo: “Let faith supply for the defect of the senses.”11 One implication of this is that our human language will always fall short when we try to describe the Blessed Sacrament.

Over the centuries, however, as She has sought to understand the full meaning of the faith, the Church has been able to express the truth of the Eucharist in a clear and consistent way. It is important to review this teaching regularly, and to renew our understanding of it often, both so that we can stay in the fullness of truth in Christ, and so that we can continually go deeper into the depths of the sacred mysteries. In this part of the present exhortation, I will seek to lead us in such an exercise of faith by examining four main areas of Catholic teaching on the Eucharist: sacrifice, food and nourishment, the 11 The original text is “Praestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui.” Saint Thomas says much the same in another hymn, Adoro Te devote: “Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur, / Sed auditu solo tuto creditur. / Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius; / Nil hoc verbo Veritátis verius.”

“Vision, touch, taste all fail in beholding You, / But all is believed by hearing alone. / I believe all that the Son of God has said; / Nothing is truer than this Word of Truth.”

4

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • SACRA MYSTERIA VENERARI

sacrament of Christ’s Presence, and Holy Communion.

His Body and Blood Given in Sacrifice Throughout the Old Testament, the blood of sacrificed animals can be seen on nearly every page. From the moment of the Fall, when God clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals (cf. Gen. 3:21), to the thousands of lambs sacrificed in the Temple every year at Passover, many animals died as a constant reminder of our sin as well as the death that is the result thereof. The trouble with all these sacrifices was that the people did not change those who offered them. They remained unaffected by the external sacrifices of animals, and their hearts stayed rooted in sin.

Through the course of time, then, God worked through His holy prophets to teach His people that bloody animal sacrifices are not the true way to worship—that this is not the true way to sacrifice. In other words, He called them to interior worship of the heart, a worship that obeyed God’s Word.12 This understanding finally began to take hold in times of distress for the Israelites, particularly during the Babylonian Exile, when they could not offer sacrifice in the Temple, which had itself been destroyed. Consider, for example, the Prayer of Azariah, which expresses the idea that true sacrifice to God would come from the suffering of the people themselves, and that their prayers would take on the nature of sacrifice: At this time there is no prince, or prophet, or leader, no burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, no place to make an offering before you or to find mercy. Yet with a contrite heart and a humble spirit may we be accepted, as though it were with burnt offerings of rams and bulls, and with tens of thousands of fat lambs; such may our sacrifice be in your sight this day, and may we wholly follow you, for there will be no shame for those who trust in you (Dan. 3:15-17, emphasis added).

12 Cf. 1 Kgs. 15:22; Ps. 49:15, 23; Is. 1:11, 2:5, 12:1ff, 28:12, 55:3, 58:5ff, 66:2; Jer. 8:3; Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:14-15; Mic. 3:11, 6:8. Cf. Ex. 19:5-8; Jer. 7:22-23. These passages, listed in the Dictionnarie de Théologie Catholique under “Culte en Général,” are just a few that show the prophetic critique of sacrifices that did not involve the heart and soul of man.

One difficulty still remains: since human hearts are not pure and unblemished, the sacrifice given to God would not be whole and complete. It would not be perfect. And so even though the Old Testament was beginning to see the importance of proper worship and sacrifice, the people in it could not accomplish such a thing. God Himself had to provide the answer.

This is where the Sacrifice of Jesus enters in. We see hints of it already at Capernaum, where Jesus spoke about “the bread that I shall give.” As the bread of life Himself (cf. Jn. 6:35), He was referring to His Passion and Death, where He would give Himself up for our salvation. Later on, at the Last Supper, Jesus fulfilled this promise when He took bread and wine and said, “This is my Body…this is my Blood of the covenant” (Mk. 14: 22-24; Lk. 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-24).

Already, the words evoke the sacrifices of the Old Testament, but there is something new here: to these words Jesus adds, “which is given for you…poured out for you and for many.” There is a reference in these words to the Suffering Servant Songs (cf. Is. 50:4-7; 52:13-53:12), which help us to understand them more deeply as signifying a redemptive sacrifice, one which forgives sins and converts hearts to God.13 With these few words, Jesus fulfills what He promised in the sixth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel by giving us His Flesh under the appearances of bread, and also anticipates the Passion and Death He would undergo the next day. More than this, He shows that His Death is meant to be understood as a sacrifice14, and that the Eucharist—His very Body and Blood given up and poured out—is that sacrifice.15 This helps us understand why He commanded His disciples to “do this in memory of me”: so that they could always enter into that sacrifice made “once for all” (Heb. 10:10). This is also why we say that the memorial of the Eucharist at Mass re-presents the sacrifice of Je13 Cf. Joseph Ratzinger, God is Near Us, (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2003), 33-35.

14 Saint Paul shows that the early Church understood the Death of Christ this way when he says “Christ, our Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7).

15 Cf. CCC, 1366: “The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit.”

The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci.

sus to us, now in an unbloodied way, upon the altar.16 The Eucharist is therefore a sacrifice. In truth, because of the resurrection of our Lord, the Eucharist is the “living sacrifice” of the Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world (cf. Rom. 12:1; Jn. 1:29; Rev. 5:12), and it is this Lamb of God, offered eternally to the Father, Whom we worship and adore at every Mass.

Our Daily Bread The Eucharist is not only the memorial of Christ’s sacrifice for us, but also a meal given for our nourishment. We can consider this analogy: whatever normal bread does for our physical bodies, from sating hunger to providing strength and growth, the Eucharist does for our souls.

Now, this holy food was given to us at the Last Supper, when Jesus chose the bread and wine of the Passover meal as the elements that would become His Body and Blood. It was also at this meal where the sacrificial lamb was eaten by those participating in the memorial sacrifice.

Jesus, the true Paschal Lamb, was sacrificed on the cross for us and, in that sacrificial banquet, offered us Himself as food for the journey.

We can therefore refer to the altar of sacrifice as the “table of the Lord,” and the Mass as a banquet that is prepared for us, but with the understanding that it is not an ordinary meal. Just as a Passover meal was no ordinary dinner, but rather a banquet accompanying a sacrifice, so too the Mass is not “just a meal,” not just a gathering of friends and family. It is rather the memorial banquet that accompanies the sacrifice of Christ.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, then, is both sacrifice and spiritual nourishment.

16 Cf. CCC, 1363: “In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought

by God for men. In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real.” See also Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum concilium, 47: “At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Savior instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity….”

SUMMER 2022 One of the best places we can go to understand this is the Lord’s Prayer, which begs the Father to “give us this day our daily bread” (Mt. 6:11). The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes well what these important words mean: “Daily” (epiousios) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament.

Taken in a temporal sense, this word is a pedagogical repetition of “this day,” to confirm us in trust “without reservation.” Taken in the qualitative sense, it signifies what is necessary for life, and more broadly every good thing sufficient for subsistence. Taken literally (epi-ousios: “super-essential”), it refers directly to the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ, the “medicine of immortality,” without which we have no life within us. Finally in this connection, its heavenly meaning is evident: “this day” is the Day of the Lord, the day of the feast of the kingdom, anticipated in the Eucharist that is already the foretaste of the kingdom to come. For this reason it is fitting for the Eucharistic liturgy to be celebrated each day.17 Thus, even while there are a few ways to understand this phrase, the primary and most exalted way is in reference to the Bread of Christ’s Flesh given to us in the Eucharist. This helps us to make sense of Christ’s actions at the Last Supper: He chose bread as something that can be eaten daily, and changed that bread into Himself so that it can be our heavenly, “super-essential” subsistence.

In this regard, we must say that considering the Eucharist as our daily bread helps to stir up missionary impetus in our hearts. Just as we should, out of love for Christ, strive to provide the hungry with their daily bread so that they do not starve, so too we should strive to spread the Catholic faith to those who do not have it—to those that are hungering for truth and goodness—so that they too can share in this super-essential Bread with us who know Christ in the Eucharist. Put simply, the Eucharist leads both to serving the poor and to evangelization.18 The Real Presence of Christ Pope Saint Paul VI, in his Encyc17 CCC, 2837.

18 Cf. CCC, 2831-2835.

SUMMER 2022 lical Mysterium Fidei, distinguished at least eight ways that Christ is present to us in the Church.19 These “presences” of Christ are real and should be venerated by all the faithful, and they include “where two or three are gathered” in His name, the various works of mercy that the Church performs in His name, His presence in the Word of God, and in each of the sacraments. Saint Paul VI then continued: “There is another way in which Christ is present in His Church, a way that surpasses all the others. It is His presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which is, for this reason, ‘a more consoling source of devotion, a lovelier object of contemplation and holier in what it contains’ than all the other sacraments….’” The saintly Pontiff calls the Eucharist a “Real” presence, not because the others are not real but “because it is substantial and through it Christ becomes present whole and entire, God and man.” The Eucharist is therefore the presence of Christ “par excellence,” a presence to which nothing else in this world can compare.

Let it be said in absolute terms: the Eucharist does not simply “represent” Jesus. He is not present in the Blessed Sacrament merely as a symbol. No, rather the Blessed Sacrament is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. It is He Who is truly, really, and substantially present in this Sacrament. Additionally, He is not present in the bread and the wine, since after the Consecration the bread and the wine no longer exist.20 Just as in the Incarnation His humanity hid His divinity, so too in the Consecration the appearances of bread and wine hide His glory once more. When we are before the Eucharist then, we are before a great miraculous event and mystery: for even though we see and taste what appears to be bread and wine, we are in fact in the very Presence of God. Since Christ is present in the Eucharist, God is truly present. This means that we give to the Blessed Sacrament the worship and adoration that we give to God alone.21 We 19 Mysterium Fidei, 35-39.

20 Cf. Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, III Pars, Q. 77, Art. 1. Saint Thomas says the same thing in his sequence Lauda Sion: “This the truth each Christian learns, / Bread into His Flesh He turns, / To His Precious Blood the wine.”

21 CCC, 2628: “Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he

5

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • REVERE THE SACRED MYSTERIES see this especially in our liturgies, when we kneel and genuflect only before the Blessed Sacrament: these are postures that are due to God and only to God as signs of adoration. These were in fact the postures used by the Magi when they came to adore the new born Christ Child (cf.

Mt. 2:11), and by His disciples after the Resurrection (cf. Mt. 28:9; Lk. 24:52). Similarly, the use of incense, which from ancient times was used only in worship of the divine, shows that we recognize Christ is present in the Eucharist.

Holy Communion, with God and Man

In addition to this, we can say that Holy Communion not only signifies unity, but that it also creates and fosters that unity in the Church. In his encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Pope Saint John Paul II states that: Saint John Chrysostom’s commentary on these words [1 Cor. 10:16-17] is profound and perceptive: “For what is the bread? It is the body of Christ. And what do those who receive it become? The Body of Christ – not many bodies but one body. For as bread is completely one, though made up of many grains of wheat, and these, albeit unseen, remain nonetheless present, in such a way that their difference is not apparent since they have been made a perfect whole, so too are we mutually joined to one another and together united with Christ.”

The argument is compelling: our union with Christ, which is a gift and grace for each of us, makes it possible for us, in him, to share in the unity of his body which is the Church. The Eucharist reinforces the incorporation into Christ which took place in Baptism though the gift of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12:13, 27).24

When we look at the Latin roots of the word “communion,” we see that it means “in union with,” or “one with.” This is why “Holy Communion” is such an appropriate title for the sacrament of the Eucharist: it unites us to Christ and makes us one with Him and His Church, both in heaven and on earth.22 In other words, we receive His Body in the Host, and are therefore united to His Mystical Body the Church. Think here of Saint Paul, who said that “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:16-17).23 This all takes place by the power of the Holy Spirit, Who makes Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament and unifies us as His Church. Whenever we receive Holy Communion, therefore, this unity is strengthened, and we are more wholly and integrally united to Christ. Additionally, since the Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passion and Death, receiving Communion unites us intimately to Christ’s redemptive act, bonding us in His charity. The divine charity of Christ on the Cross, then, is the ultimate source of the union created by the reception of Holy Communion.

Because the Eucharist is a sign and cause of Communion, we must actually seek to live such a communion in our daily lives. This means we must do all we can to foster and promote our union with God, especially through regular and consistent prayer. This also means that we cannot work against that communion in any way. We must therefore strive to avoid anything that makes us less “at one” with Christ, such as, for example, consuming materials or media that would erode our faith in Christ and the Church and Her teachings. Furthermore, it means avoiding sin at all costs, especially mortal sin, for this excludes us from that unity. Finally, it means refraining from making an unworthy Commu-

is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from evil. Adoration is homage of the spirit to the “King of Glory,” respectful silence in the presence of the “ever greater” God. Adoration of the thrice-holy and sovereign God of love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications.”

22 Cf. CCC, 1331.

23 Another translation for “participation” in these verses is in fact “communion.”

24 Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, April 17, 2003, 23.

The pope also makes reference here (in footnote 42) to a text from the early life of the Church, the Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, where we find this prayer: “Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom; for Yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever.”

nion at Mass, for if we were to do so we would “be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord,” and would thereby “eat and drink judgment” upon ourselves (cf. 1 Cor. 11:27-29).25 In addition to doing all we can to maintain our communion with God, we must also try to foster unity within the Church, and avoid those things which go against it (cf. e.g.

Gal. 5:19-21). Consider the mandate of Jesus: “if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Mt. 5:23-24). Our Lord makes it a requirement that we be at peace with those around us before approaching the altar. This is because communion with God requires communion with our neighbor.

Otherwise we become white-washed tombs for whom communion has no meaning or effect in our lives or in our hearts.

O Sacrum Convivium As is so often the case, the saints can say briefly what it takes us pages to say. Saint Thomas Aquinas does just this in a single antiphon from his Office for Corpus Christi. I will take up his words here to help to summarize what I have said in this part on the Most Blessed Sacrament: “O sacrum convivium! In quo Christus sumitur: recolitur memoria passionis eius: mens impletur gratia: et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur.”

“O sacred banquet! in which Christ is received, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.”

May this prayer help us to reflect in our hearts and in our lives that great and beauteous treasure which is Christ in the Eucharist, and to receive Him there with utmost fervor and devotion!

25 Saint Thomas Aquinas, in his Commentary on 1 Corinthians, 687-697, says there are three ways to make an unworthy Communion: 1) to celebrate Mass unworthily, i.e. in a way that varies from what Christ has handed on; 2) to approach the Eucharist with a contemptable lack of devotion; or 3) to receive Communion in a state of mortal sin.

6

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • SACRA MYSTERIA VENERARI Ars celebrandi

PART III Bread Becomes the Word: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass What is the liturgy?

The Sacred Liturgy of the Church “is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows.”26 In other words, the liturgy of the Church, inasmuch as it is an exercise of the very priesthood of Jesus Christ, is the most important thing the Church does and can do. It is that “great work wherein God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified.”27 Within this, the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the high point, for the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life,”28 as we saw above. Because of all this, I think it is important at this point to discuss two significant matters: liturgical participation in the Eucharist and the celebration of Holy Mass.

Before we can do this, we must first discuss the simple question: what is the liturgy? In the plainest of terms, the Sacred Liturgy of the Church is nothing less than the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ made present in the sacraments and liturgical actions of the Church.29 It is our redemption from sin and our reconciliation with the Father renewed at every celebration.30 It is even “a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims.”31 This definition truly makes the liturgy more than something we do or are in charge of. It is instead God working in the midst of His people and on their behalf. This is why it is important, at all times, to approach the liturgy with a sense of reverence and awe.

For it is not our attempt to please God, but rather God Himself teaching us how to pray to Him, how to glorify and worship Him. To this end, we can say that the purpose, the “why” of liturgy, is primarily to give glory to God, and thereby to bring salvation to souls. This order is important, because it keeps the emphasis on God rather than us.

Participating in Mass With this basis in mind, it is easy to see why we would want to participate in the liturgy, especially that of the Eucharist, and to do so well. It is a well-known fact that one of the aims of the Second Vatican Council was just this: to foster “full, active, and conscious participation” in the liturgical rites.32 Now, this has in many cases been misunderstood as some sort of liturgical “activism” in which everybody is required to take up some role in the liturgy.

This is not what the phrase means, however.

It means instead that each person involved in a given liturgy is exercising his baptismal priesthood by internally engaging with the liturgy as it happens before us. In other words, we must be actually participating in the liturgy, whether that means attentively listening to the readings and prayers, interceding for the Church and the world, or prayerfully receiving Holy Communion. Our hearts must be engaged, meaning that no word or gesture should be made haphazardly, but rather with love and devotion. When this takes place, the Sacred Liturgy forms hearts and souls into proper dwelling places for the Lord. It readies Christians for Christian living, and prepares them to go forth from the liturgy properly strengthened to do the work of God in the world. This is why it is important that each person know what he is doing in the liturgy, that he be familiar with it, so that he can enter into it fully, actively, and consciously. This is true for clergy and laity alike.33

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup, NM.

SUMMER 2022

26 Sacrosanctum concilium, 10.

27 Sacrosanctum concilium, 7.

28 CCC, 1324.

29 Cf. Sacrosanctum concilium, 5; CCC, 1069-1070.

30 Cf. Sacrosanctum concilium, 2, 47.

31 Sacrosanctum concilium, 8.

32 Cf. Sacrosanctum concilium, 14, 48.

33 General Instruction for the Roman Missal [henceforth GIRM], 17, 18.

This brings me to the second point: the significance of celebrating the liturgy, and especially the Eucharist, well—the significance of having a good and beautiful way of celebrating the liturgy, also known as ars celebrandi (the art of celebrating). This is in fact closely related to active participation in the liturgy, as Pope Benedict XVI has pointed out: The primary way to foster the participation of the People of God in the sacred rite is the proper celebration of the rite itself. The ars celebrandi is the best way to ensure their actuosa participatio [active participation].

The ars celebrandi is the fruit of faithful adherence to the liturgical norms in all their richness; indeed, for two thousand years this way of celebrating has sustained the faith life of all believers, called to take part in the celebration as the People of God, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (cf. 1 Pet 2:4-5, 9).34 Without falling into any sort of ritualism, which would be simply saying and doing the liturgical actions for their own sake, we should rather strive to fulfill all that the Church asks of us in the liturgy so as to give glory to God and bring salvation to souls. Each small nuance in the liturgy can serve such a grand purpose, as in fact the liturgy expects: when speaking of how the priest should comport himself, the Missal makes this poignant remark: “Therefore, when he celebrates the Eucharist, he must serve God and the people with dignity and humility, and by his bearing and by the way he pronounces the divine words he must convey to the faithful the living presence of Christ.”35 In other words, all efforts should be made to express the “living presence of Christ,” even through the way we speak and pray and carry ourselves in the Sacred Liturgy.

The admonition of Saint John the Baptist is fitting in this regard: “He must increase, we must decrease” (cf. Jn. 3:30).

Pope Benedict XVI emphasized this same fact by showing how the whole of the liturgical celebration should fall under the category of “beauty.” He said that in the liturgy: The splendour of God’s glory surpasses all worldly beauty. The truest beauty is the love of God, who definitively revealed himself to us in the paschal mystery. The beauty of the liturgy is part of this mystery; it is a sublime expression of God’s glory and, in a certain sense, a glimpse of heaven on earth. […] Beauty, then, is not mere decoration, but rather an essential element of the liturgical action, since it is an attribute of God himself and his revelation. These considerations should make us realize the care which is needed, if the liturgical action is to reflect its innate splendor.36 Our obedience to what the Church asks of us in the liturgy, particularly at Mass, is not simply a matter of following onerous rules, but rather of allowing the beauty of the liturgy to express the beauty of God Himself, albeit through sensible and sacramental signs.

“Attentiveness and fidelity to the specific structure of the rite express both a recognition of the nature of Eucharist as a gift and, on the part of the minister, a docile openness to receiving this ineffable gift.”37 This is why the 34 Pope Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, February 22, 2007, 38.

35 GIRM, 93.

36 Sacramentum caritatis, 35 37 Sacramentum caritatis, 40. The earlier part of this paragraph details how this applies to all parts of the Mass: “Emphasizing the importance of the ars celebrandi also leads to an appreciation of the value of the liturgical norms. The ars celebrandi should foster a sense of the sacred and the use of outward signs which help to cultivate this sense, such as, for example, the harmony of the rite, the liturgical vestments, the furnishings and the sacred space. The eucharistic celebration is enhanced when priests and liturgical leaders are committed to making known the current liturgical texts and norms, making available the great riches found in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal and the Order of Readings for Mass. Perhaps we take it

7

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • REVERE THE SACRED MYSTERIES SUMMER 2022 Church is so strict when it comes to changing required one-hour fast before receiving Holy elements of the liturgy. Indeed, nobody “even Communion. While one hour is not long, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change such a small sacrifice of self-denial helps us to anything in the liturgy on his own authority.”38 prepare, both mentally and physically, to come In sum, the purpose of all the liturgical into the Presence of God. norms and rubrics present in the various liturI would also urge everyone to arrive at Mass gical books and documents are not to be seen early, at least by fifteen minutes. When we as hindrances to our creativity and expression, show up right as Mass begins, or worse, late, but rather ways in which we can express our we show that God is not a priority in our lives, love for God. More than this, they are also and we have difficulty shrugging off the weight ways through which the Church shows forth of the world as we try to enter into prayer.40 the glorious splendor of God, and of Jesus Arriving early allows us time to calm down and Christ present in the Most Blessed Sacrament pray with more piety, attention, and devotion. of the altar. Liturgical law, seen in this light, Finally, preparation for Mass also necessaris something precious that we should joyfully ily includes regular confession, especially for follow. To do otherwise could in fact prevent mortal sins. Confession is the primary sacrathe faithful from receiving the sacraments and mental way in which our souls are prepared to the fullness of Catholic liturgy, to which they meet the Lord. I recommend to all a monthly have a right by baptism.39 confession, if not more frequently. I also at this time renew my encouragement to our priests: be generous in offering this sacrament of recPractical Points onciliation. Your time spent hearing confesKnowing these foundational principles helps sions will always be time well spent. us to enter into the liturgy on a daily basis Thanksgiving more fully. As such, with these essentials in mind, I would like to emphasize as well some Just as we should have a proper practical matters that each of us can implepreparation for Mass, we would do well to ment as ways of fostering the liturgical lives of foster proper acts of thanksgiving afterwards. our parishes and families.

Consider for a moment the important events in life: birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc.

Preparation In each case, gifts are given as a sign of love for those celebrating a special day. There is Anything that is worthwhile involves some in these situations an unwritten and proper degree of preparation. Sports fans know this: expectation that the person receiving the gift not only does one have to purchase tickets, express gratitude, either by word of mouth often well in advance, but he must also know or by a written thank-you note. This is simply the details of the game and players if he is to part of having manners and virtue. enjoy the sport. This is to say nothing of those Again, if this applies for the important avid fans that travel great distances to see their favorite team, and even arrive hours early moments of our lives, why would it not apply to the most important thing we can possibly so as to throw a tailgate party. do at Mass? God Himself is choosing to gift Now, if this is true for mere sporting events, Himself to us—there is no greater gift than how much more is it true for participating Him. We ought, in justice, to thank Him for in the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus this. This can take place after Mass, either Christ? We cannot simply wander in with no by means of spontaneous personal prayers, preparation and expect to “get something out of Mass.” Venerable Fulton Sheen used to say particular devotions like the Rosary, or specif“Do you know the reason why you don’t get ic prayers of Thanksgiving. Many saints have anything out of Mass? It is because you don’t easily accessible prayers for after Mass. bring anything to it.” The question, then, is This of course means we should stay afhow do we prepare for Mass, and what do we ter Mass, for at least a few minutes, to pray bring in our hearts? instead of rushing out at the first chance. If I One way to prepare for Mass over time is to may harken again to sports: some games last read some book that helps you to understand four to five hours, and the fans willingly stay what is happening. This can be a commentary through the whole of it. Our Lord asks us toon the Mass or the readings, some devotional day, just as He did His disciples, “So, could you book, or an explanation of Catholic liturgy. not watch with me one hour?” (Mt. 26:40). It is There is a suggested reading list at the end of rare for Mass to go longer than this on a Sunthis exhortation to help you find at least one day, and even if it does, this is not wasted time. or two things to read. Additionally, parishes Keep that time with Jesus, and let nothing rob can and should offer times of liturgical formayou of that precious time with Him. tion, whereby the faithful are helped to understand the sacred mysteries.

Sunday Obligation More immediately, preparation can be a On that note, I would like to say just a cousimple and prayerful reading of the Mass texts and readings for a given day, perhaps the night ple things about attending Mass on Sunday.

While daily attendance is laudable for those before. The old custom of having a personal hand missal can be very helpful for this. The that are able, we are required by Church law Daily Roman Missal from Midwest Theologito participate at Mass on Sundays. This is in no way the Church simply giving us another rule, cal Forum, the Saint Joseph Weekday/Sunday but rather Her helping us to fulfill the Third Missal, and the Magnificat publication are all Commandment of keeping the Lord’s Day holy. good resources in this regard.

Pope Benedict XVI reminds us in this regard: As we prepare we should ask the Lord for particular graces, either for ourselves or for The life of faith is endangered when we others, so that we have an intentionality in our liturgical prayer. lose the desire to share in the celebration of We must remember in this regard the the Eucharist and its commemoration of the paschal victory. Participating in the Sunday liturgical assembly with all our brothers for granted that our ecclesial communities already and sisters, with whom we form one body in know and appreciate these resources, but this is not always the case. These texts contain riches which Jesus Christ, is demanded by our Christian have preserved and expressed the faith and expeconscience and at the same time it forms that rience of the People of God over its two-thousandconscience. To lose a sense of Sunday as the year history. Equally important for a correct ars celLord’s Day, a day to be sanctified, is sympebrandi is an attentiveness to the various kinds of tomatic of the loss of an authentic sense of language that the liturgy employs: words and music, Christian freedom, the freedom of the chilgestures and silence, movement, the liturgical dren of God.41 colours of the vestments. By its very nature the liturgy operates on different levels of communication which enable it to engage the whole human person.

The simplicity of its gestures and the sobriety of its orderly sequence of signs communicate and inspire more than any contrived and inappropriate additions.” Another helpful document here is Redemptionis Sacramentum by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

38 Sacrosanctum concilium, 22.3.

39 Cf. Code of Canon Law, c. 213-214.

40 There are of course circumstances—from ordinary (e.g. preparing small children for Mass) to extraordinary (car accidents on the road, inclement weather, etc.)—that could make us arrive just in time or late. These are understandable. I only refer here to general situations.

41 Sacramentum caritatis, 73. In this same place, Pope Benedict stresses the importance of worshipping God on Sunday itself, and not allowing

Bishop Wall blesses the faithful at a Corpus Christi procession.

8 The whole of Sunday, then, is meant to be given over to prayer, family, and rest from work.

Reception of Holy Communion As a final practical matter, I would like to give a few important points on the actual reception of Holy Communion. Inasmuch as we receive the Living God in the Host, we must be careful to treat the Blessed Sacrament with the utmost respect. This applies first and foremost to priests and deacons who regularly handle the Sacred Species. It applies also, and no less so, to those who receive Jesus at the time of Holy Communion.

The first point is not to rush.

Rushing through Mass or Communion is not only possibly sinful, it is also a dangerous occasion to drop the Host or lose particles along the way. Taking time to respectfully handle the Blessed Sacrament is of utmost importance.

The second point is for those receiving Communion. Holy Mother Church allows for two methods of reception: on the tongue or in the hands. Notice the wording here.

The first is on the tongue, not in the mouth or with the teeth. The second is in the hands, one on top of the other, not on a single hand or with the fingers. This means both hands are to be free and not holding anything, so that the Host can go immediately and directly into the mouth. If both hands cannot be free, as when, for example, parents are holding a child in their arms, it would be more appropriate to receive on the tongue.

A helpful way to think about this is to remember that when we receive Communion—we humbly receive the gift of God. We do not take, grab, or mishandle it in any way. Again, considering the greatness of the gift will help each person to present themselves in the proper manner for Holy Communion.

Spiritual Communion Inasmuch as the Communion procession is for the actual reception of the Eucharist, it is not appropriate at that time to come forward for blessings. Additionally, priests and deacons should not give blessings at this time either. If, for any reason, someone is unable to receive Communion on a given Sunday or even for a time, he should instead remain in the pew and use that time at Mass to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, keeping in mind that a blessing is given to the entire gathered assembly at the end of Mass. Saint Alphonsus Liguori has one of the best prayers for Spiritual Communion.42 From Mass to Life and Back At the end of every Mass, we are told to “go forth.” The hope in this instruction is that, strengthened by what we have heard and seen and Saturday evening to become the norm: “while recognizing that Saturday evening, beginning with First Vespers, is already a part of Sunday and a time when the Sunday obligation can be fulfilled – we need to remember that it is Sunday itself that is meant to be kept holy, lest it end up as a day ‘empty of God.’” 42 “My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.”

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • SACRA MYSTERIA VENERARI witnessed, we will be able to go back into our everyday lives with and for Christ, even bringing Him to others we meet (cf. 1 Jn. 1:1-4). Then, as life wears us down, we can prepare to return to Mass to encounter Christ Crucified and Risen once more, where we can be nourished at His altar with that Heavenly Bread.

In this way, our lives become shaped by the Eucharist, and we move from one Mass to another, from one Communion to the next, each time being strengthened and renewed by His Body and Blood.

Let us not, therefore, let our time with Jesus become routine! Instead, please God, may it be that time we look forward to each day and each week as the time with our Blessed Lord, remembering that “we are our Beloved’s and His desire is for us” (cf.

Song 7:10).

Veneremur cernui Whether it be in the psalms of daily prayer, at Christmas, on Good Friday, or in the middle of summer, we are constantly reminded to worship and adore the Lord.43 It is with this theme of adoration that I would like to close the present apostolic exhortation, for it is one that has particular resonance when it comes to the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. I have written on this topic before when I encouraged the priests and people of our diocese to make a regular Holy Hour,44 and so here I would simply like to indicate a few texts that help us understand more fully what adoration is meant to be.

First, I would like to point us to a homily from Pope Francis, in which he reminds us of the necessity of adoring the Lord if we are to know Him personally and bring Him to others. He also prompts us toward a simplicity in our adoration of God Almighty: All of this is only possible only if we recognize Jesus Christ, because it is He who has called us, invited us to follow His way, chosen us.

To announce and give witness is possible only if we are close to Him, just like Peter, John and the other disciples are around the Risen Jesus in the Gospel passage today [Jn. 21]; there is a daily closeness with Him, and they know well who He is, they know Him. The Evangelist emphasizes that “nobody dared to ask Him: ‘Who are you?’, because they knew well it was the Lord” (Jn. 21:12). And this is an important point for us: to live an intense relationship with Jesus, an intimacy of dialog and life, so as to recognize Him as “the Lord.”

To adore Him! […] I would like all of us to pose a question to ourselves: You, me, do we adore the Lord? Do 43 Psalm 95:6: “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!” Psalm 96:9: “Worship the LORD in holy attire.” At Christmas we hear “O come let us adore Him!” in “O come, all ye faithful.” On Good Friday, as the Cross is processed into the church, we pray “Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world.

Come let us adore.” As a final example, a well-known and wonderful hymn sings “Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him! All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him.”

44 Bishop James Wall, “From the Bishop: Why Priests (and Laity!) Should Make a Holy Hour Every Day,” Voice of the Southwest, Diocese of Gallup, January 14, 2020, accessed April 22, 2022, voiceofthesouthwest.org/from-the-bishop/fulton-sheen-holy-hour.

The Last Supper, by Juan de Juanes.

SUMMER 2022

SUMMER 2022

9

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • REVERE THE SACRED MYSTERIES we go to God only to ask, to thank, or do we go to Him also to adore Him? What does it mean then to adore Him? It means to learn to be with Him, to stop ourselves so as to dialog with Him, feeling that His presence is the most true, the most good, the most important of all.

Each of us, in our own life, in a conscious way and perhaps sometimes without realizing it, have a precise order to the things we hold more or less important. To adore the Lord means to give Him the place He should have; to adore the Lord means to affirm, believe, and not simply with words, that He alone guides our life; to adore the Lord means that we are convinced before Him that He alone is God, the God of our life, the God of our history.45 These words should cause all of us to pause and reflect: do I actually come to God simply to spend time with Him, or is it always and only about things I need in my life? There is of course time, place, and need for that, but we should also remember that adoring the Lord means, in the words of Saint Teresa of Avila, “taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us,”46 or as the peasant of Ars said, simply “looking at Him who looks at us.”47 Next we can look to Pope Benedict XVI, who reminds us that Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is an extension of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration. Receiving the Eucharist means adoring him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself. Indeed, “only in adoration can a profound and genuine reception mature. And it is precisely this personal encounter with the Lord that then strengthens the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which seeks to break down not only the walls that separate the Lord and ourselves, but also and especially the walls that separate us from one another.”48 Pope Benedict is here reminding us that our adoration of God will not be complete until we take time, regularly and consistently, to behold His dwelling among us in the Blessed Sacrament. As easily distracted humans, we must constantly return to the source of all goodness if we are to learn throughout our lives Who He truly is, as well as who we are in His light. This means, in addition to Sunday Mass, we should make time each week, and even each day, to visit our Lord hidden in the tabernacle. He waits there for us, longingly desiring to see our faces before Him. As a last guidepost, I would like us once again to hear from the Angelic Doctor. Through the centuries, Saint Thomas Aquinas has been a sure guide for those who desire an increased devotion to the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist.49 The same has been 45 Pope Francis, Homily, Chrism Mass, March 28, 2013.

46 CCC, 2709.

47 CCC, 2715.

48 Sacramentum caritatis, 66.

49 Cf. e.g. Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Letter

true in these pages. I therefore look to yet another line from Saint Thomas’ Eucharistic hymnody, one which the Church Herself takes up both on Holy Thursday and at every occasion of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. While familiar to many, it has a profound meaning to be explored by all in our prayer.

Our saint teaches us to sing “Tantum ergo sacramentum veneremur cernui.” Quite literally, we could say that this means “Such a great Sacrament, therefore, let us worship, falling headlong, with our faces towards the ground.” A little more fluidly, we could say “Let us, then, lying prostrate, worship so great a Sacrament.”

In either case, it is clear that Saint Thomas is reminding us of the proper attitude to have in the presence of God, and in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament: absolute humility and utmost reverence, even to the point of falling flat on our faces out of holy fear, love, and devotion!

With that, I will bring this exhortation to a close. At this point I would simply like to express my great desire for each of us in the Diocese of Gallup, from myself as your bishop to each priest, deacon, religious brother and sister, family, and individual: that in the coming months and years of this Eucharistic Revival, and in our daily lives, each of us may learn to long for the Lord in the Eucharist just like the deer longs for flowing streams (cf. Ps. 42:1); and that with the psalmist we can truly say to the Lord in the Eucharist: “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where no water is. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory” (Ps. 63:1-2).

Let us pray for one another to this praiseworthy end!

“May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.”

Given in Gallup, at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, this 19th day of June, in the Year of our Lord MMXXII, the thirteenth of Our Episcopate, on the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Most Reverend James Seán Wall Bishop of Gallup Studiorum ducem, June 29, 1923, 23: “Lastly, our Doctor possessed the exceptional and highly privileged gift of being able to convert his precepts into liturgical prayers and hymns and so became the poet and panegyrist of the Divine Eucharist. For wherever the Catholic Church is to be found in the world among whatsoever nations, there she zealously uses and ever will continue to use in her sacred services the hymns composed

by St. Thomas. They are the expression of the ardent supplications of a soul in prayer and at the same time a perfect statement of the doctrine of the august Sacrament transmitted by the Apostles, which is pre-eminently described as the Mystery of Faith. If these considerations are borne in mind as well as the praise bestowed by Christ Himself to which We have already referred, nobody will be surprised that St. Thomas should also have received the title of the Doctor of the Eucharist.”

10

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • SACRA MYSTERIA VENERARI

SUMMER 2022

Suggested Readings

Madonna and Child, by Bartolome Esteban Murillo.

PART I: THE INCARNATION

• Saint Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word • Catechism of the Catholic Church, 456-483, 512-570 • Fr. Romano Guardini, The Lord • Ludolph of Saxony, The Life of Jesus Christ • Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, 3 volumes • Frank Sheed, To Know Christ Jesus • Venerable Fulton Sheen, Life of Christ

The Last Supper, by Juan Ribalta.

The Foundation Mass of the Trinitarian Order,

by Juan Carreño de Miranda.

PART II: THE EUCHARIST

PART III: THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

• Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis • Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1322-1419 • Joseph Crownwood and Kenneth Howell, Mystery of the Altar: Daily Meditations on the Eucharist • Scott Hahn, The Lamb’s Supper • Saint John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia • Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist • Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, God is Near Us

• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1135-1199 (on the liturgy) • Mike Aquilina, Understanding the Mass • Fr. Romano Guardini, Meditations before Mass • Fr. Romano Guardini, Sacred Signs • Fr. Paul O’Sullivan, The Wonders of the Mass • Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy • Venerable Fulton Sheen, Calvary and the Mass • Edward Sri, A Biblical Walk Through the Mass

Eucharistic Examination of Conscience FOR PRIESTS • Do I pray regularly before the Blessed Sacrament?

• Do I celebrate Mass and the sacraments according to the liturgical books?

• Do I handle the Eucharist with reverence, care, and devotion??

• Do I distribute Communion reverently?

• Do I show reverence in the Presence?

• Do I allow people to receive Communion that ought not to (i.e. those in irregular situations or those expressly forbidden)?

• Do I go to confession regularly?

• Do I readily hear requested confessions, even outside scheduled times?

FOR PARISHES • How often do we have Eucharistic Adoration? At least once a week is good.

• How often do we have Confession to allow people to prepare for Mass and Communion? Saturdays and at least one other convenient time (e.g. a lunch or dinner hour) during the week is a good suggestion.

• Are adoration and confession at times that are reasonable and accessible for the faithful?

• Do we have a Eucharistic procession for Corpus Christi?

• Is the music we have at Mass orthodox, liturgical, sacred, scripturally sound, and conducive to prayer?

FOR DEACONS • Do I assist at Mass and the liturgy “competently and well”?

• Do I know my role at Mass and the sacraments?

• Do I handle the Eucharist with reverence, care, and devotion?

• Do I distribute Communion reverently?

• Do I go to confession regularly?

FOR FAMILIES/INDIVIDUALS • Do I/we go to Mass on Sundays as a family without fail, or do other things replace this?

• Are Sundays totally given over to prayer, family, and rest?

• Do I/we prepare for Mass by reading the readings beforehand and making the one hour fast?

• Do I/we pray (together) regularly?

• Do I/we regularly go to Confession and Adoration (together)?

• Do our children know how to be respectful and reverent in church and at Mass?

FOR TEACHERS/CATECHISTS • Do I know, believe, and teach the Catholic teaching regarding the Eucharist?

• Do I express this faith by taking my students for visits to the Blessed Sacrament?

• Do I teach my students to behave well in church and at Mass?

SUMMER 2022

11

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • PERSPECTIVES

A GLIMPSE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION

Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

Image credit: Unsplash

By Fr. Matthew Keller If we look to the Old Testament Scriptures, we can see several instances when the Lord instructs Israel to hold a memorial of some significant event in God’s plan to restore fallen man. The most famous example is the Passover, the Paschal Sacrifice and Feast. The Passover, which is the memorial of the Israelites’ being freed from slavery in Egypt, was to be observed every year. The remembrance, however, was not as simple as mentally recalling that the event happened many centuries ago.

Rather, the act of calling it to mind in some way made it a present reality.

It is not that Israel was once again enslaved and needed to be freed by the Lord, but rather that the actual event of liberation was being applied to the present.

In the life of the Church, the same principle is accomplished in the celebration of the Mass, in which Christ’s once for all sacrifice on Calvary is made present by means of the Liturgy through all the ages. Jesus made this known to us at the last Supper.

Solemn Benediction is a memorial of another mysterious event in the saving work of Christ — the Transfiguration. The liturgical rites that surround it memorialize the scene on Mount Tabor.

The Church employs ritual in order to expose what is hidden. Our Lord is so very humble that He shows none of His glory in the Blessed Sacrament.

However the whole Church worships our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament by making manifest His majesty and Glory. Our Lord humbles himself to appear to be no more than bread and wine, but the Church shows her

belief in His Real, Substantial Presence through acts of reverence and worship.

THE MONSTRANCE The monstrance is the implement in which the Eucharist is placed—or “demonstrated” as the name implies— for adoration. Most monstrances have several beams streaming forth from the Blessed Sacrament. This symbolism is taken from the Gospel account, where His face became radiant as the sun. It is no coincidence that the monstrance, too, looks like a large sun upon a stand. Christ is the true Sun, and the radiance of His face is depicted in the monstrance.

THE CANDLES The Church requires four to six candles during Solemn Adoration.

There was not only light streaming from the face of our Savior, but light surrounding them all. The candles evoke the light that filled the whole mountain, and those two lights, Moses and Elijah, that conversed with Him. THE STAND or “TABOR” The platform upon which the monstrance sometimes rests is called a “tabor”. Some Tabernacles are designed for this purpose, with a tabor, a flat surface, on the top. This is taken directly from the Transfiguration, for the mountain upon which it happened is called Mount Tabor.

Through the rites, Our Lord continues to show forth His Glory which was shown upon Mount Tabor in every Adoration chapel and at every

Benediction.

THE INCENSE Offering Incense is an act of worship. Our prayers and sacrifices rise up to God as does the smoke. But in Adoration, the smoke also symbolizes the great cloud that enveloped them on Mount Tabor, the cloud from which the voice of the Father spoke to them: “Listen to Him.” THE TABERNACLE In the Gospel account of the Transfiguration, Peter famously suggests that they build three “booths,” one for our Lord, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. No doubt Peter did not understand fully how our Lord would fulfill his request, but the word he uses is the same as for a tent — and for a tabernacle.

The word tabernaculum means dwelling-place. In the wilderness, the Israelites built the tabernacle, which in the desert was a tent. A tabernacle is often either modeled after the Ark of the Covenant, or is covered with a veil, which represents the tent in the wilderness, or both. Later, when the Temple, which also had a large veil inside, was built in Jerusalem, and the cloud of the Lord descended upon it, it was considered the new and improved “tent” — it was the dwelling-place of the Lord. Later, the One Who would refer to Himself as the new temple in John 2, would “become flesh and dwell [same as the word for the dwelling of the Lord in the tabernacle] among us.” Literally, the Word became flesh and “tabernacled” among us.

Peter’s request was granted — in

the Blessed Sacrament. Peter proclaimed that the Lord’s presence is good (“It is good that we are here!”), and asked our Lord to remain with us in a “booth,” in a tabernacle. Our Lord waits for us in the tabernacle, as St. Peter requested, and comes forth “like a bridegroom,” and is worshiped in glory in the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

All these rites have a very specific purpose: to enable us to participate in that unique event in the Gospels where our Lord showed forth His heavenly glory. Our Glorious, risen Lord gives us access to that event in every rite of Adoration and Benediction.

BENEDICTION In the Sacraments and in the Liturgy, it is Christ himself who acts through the ministry of priests.

However, when the Solemn Benediction (Blessing of the people with the Eucharist exposed in a monstrance) occurs, the priest puts on a humeral veil. This is not to prevent him from touching the monstrance or the Blessed Sacrament, as if it would be improper — of course he is unworthy, but his hands have been consecrated for that very purpose. Rather, he veils his hands to show that it is not the priest who gives the blessing. In Benediction, it is our Lord Himself Who blesses directly. That is why it is such a solemn and holy moment in the ritual.

Fr. Matthew Keller is the rector at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup, NM, and the founder of V8sforVocations.org

12

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • ADORATION AND BENEDICTION

SUMMER 2022

Try These Prayers the Next Time You Go to Adoration!

Chaplet of the Holy Eucharist

By Fr. Mitchell Brown Using regular rosary beads: 1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, an Our Father, and three Hail Marys.

2. Make the spiritual communion of St. Alphonsus: My Jesus, I believe that Thou art present in the Blessed Sacrament. I love Thee above all things and I desire Thee in my soul. Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. As though Thou wert already there, I embrace Thee and unite myself wholly to Thee; permit not that I should ever be separated from Thee. Amen.

3. On the Our Father beads, say the Fatima prayer about the Eucharist: Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.

4. On the Hail Mary beads, say this prayer: O Sacrament most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.

5. Finish with this prayer to our Lady of the Eucharist from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist: O Virgin Immaculate, who after the Ascension of thy Divine Son consoled thy exile on earth by the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament, and spent before the tabernacle the greater part of thy days and even thy nights, make us comprehend the treasure we possess on the altar.

Inspire us to often visit the God of Love in the Sacrament in which He abides to receive the homage that He deserves by so many titles and to guide, protect and console us in this exile.

The Hidden Majesty

By Fr. Mitchell Brown We gaze upon Your Majesty, Now hidden from our eyes, And see with glorious wonderment Your Myst’ries in disguise: The Paschal Triumphs here ensconced And Your Humanity.

Behold we too our Most High God, To Whom we bend the knee.

Your Sacred, Precious, Body, Blood, Our life strait from the Vine, Beneath appearances of bread And shimmerings of wine.

That Holiness which purges sin, And from which demons flee, Is given to us here below To set us truly free.

Sweet Jesus, present to us here We beg You, hear our pray’r To make us ever more like You And save us from the snare.

Amen.

Other prayers and hymns for Eucharistic Adoration At the Feet of Christ in the Eucharist

By St. Faustina O Jesus, Divine Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your love and how You emptied Yourself for me, my senses deaden. You hide Your inconceivable majesty and lower Yourself to miserable me. O king of Glory, though You hide Your beauty, yet the eye of my soul rends the veil. I see the angelic choirs giving You honor without cease, and all the heavenly Powers praising You without cease, and without cease they are saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.

Oh, who will comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy toward us! O Prisoner of Love, I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle that it may adore You without cease night and day. I know of no obstacle in this adoration: and even though I be physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for You. No obstacles exist for me...

O Holy Trinity, One and Indivisible God, may You be blessed for this great gift and testament of mercy. Amen.

I adore You, Lord and Creator, hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I adore You for all the works of Your hands, that reveal to me so much wisdom, goodness and mercy, O Lord.

You have spread so much beauty over the earth and it tells me about Your beauty, even though these beautiful things are but a faint reflection of You, incomprehensible Beauty.

And although You have hidden Yourself and concealed your beauty, my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You and my souls recognizes its Creator, its Highest Good, and my heart is

completely immersed in prayer of adoration.

My Lord and Creator, Your goodness encourages me to converse with You. Your mercy abolishes the chasm which separates the Creator from the creature. To converse with You, O Lord, is the delight of my heart. In You I find everything that my heart could desire.

Here Your light illumines my mind, enabling it to know You more and more deeply. Here streams of grace flow down upon my heart.

Here my soul draws eternal life. O my Lord and Creator, You alone, beyond all these gifts, give Your own self to me and unite Yourself intimately with Your miserable creature.

O Christ, let my greatest delight be to see You loved and Your praise and glory proclaimed, especially the honor of Your mercy. O Christ, let me glorify Your goodness and mercy to the last moment of my life, with every drop of my blood and every beat of my heart.

Would that I be transformed into a hymn of adoration of You. When I find myself on my deathbed, may the last beat of my heart be a loving hymn glorifying Your unfathomable mercy. Amen.

Prayer for the Spread of Perpetual Adoration

By Pope St. John Paul II Heavenly Father, increase our faith in the Real Presence of Your Son Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

We are obliged to adore Him, to give Him thanks and to make reparation for sins.

We need your peace in our hearts and among nations.

We need conversion from our sins and the mercy of Your forgiveness.

May we obtain this through prayer and our union with the Eucharistic Lord.

Please send down the Holy Spirit upon all peoples to give them the love, courage, strength and willingness to respond to the invitation to Eucharistic Adoration.

We beseech You to spread Perpetual Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament in parishes around the world.

We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Amen.

Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, help us to spread the glory of Your Son through Perpetual Adoration.

A Short Visit to the Blessed Sacrament Before Meditation

By St. John Henry Newman I place myself in the presence of Him, in whose Incarnate Presence I am before. I place myself there.

I adore Thee, O my Saviour, present here as God and man, in soul and body, in true flesh and blood.

I acknowledge and confess that I kneel before that Sacred Humanity, which was conceived in Mary’s womb and lay in Mary’s bosom; which grew up to man’s estate, and by the Sea of Galilee called the Twelve, wrought miracles, and spoke words of wisdom and peace; which in due season hung on the cross, lay in the tomb, rose from the dead, and now reigns in heaven.

I praise, and bless, and give myself wholly to Him, Who is the true Bread of my soul, and my everlasting joy. Amen.

13

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • PERSPECTIVES

SUMMER 2022

“And the Word Was Made Flesh”

By Fr. Peter Short, V.G. Although these words refer directly to the Incarnation of Christ, they also reflect the intimate relationship between the Word of God and the Eucharist.

The Scriptures are important in helping us understand the mystery of the Eucharist and the Blessed Sacrament reveals to us in grace the meaning of the Word.

Throughout the Old Testament, we can find important references to the Eucharist. We do not have the space in this article to mention all of them, but we will point out a few.

In the book of Genesis (14:1820) at the time of Abraham there is already a mysterious reference to Melchizedek, the king of Salem (scholars place Salem at the place which later will be Jerusalem), who was also a priest of “God Most High” and offers bread and wine to bless Abraham for his victories. Melchizedek is seen as a precursor to the priesthood and is mentioned in the Psalms and in the first Eucharistic canon of the Mass. Notice how it is bread and wine that he offers as sacrifice.

During the Exodus (see chapter 16), the People of God found that in their long journey through the desert, very quickly they needed food, and God sent them each day a ration of bread from heaven called manna. This incredible miracle, which lasted 40 years, was so important to the Jewish people that at the end of their journey they placed a portion of the manna in the Ark of the Covenant to keep in the temple as a reminder of that miracle, which gave them food from heaven for the journey.

Food for the journey brings us to the third example in the Old Testament which is from the First Book of Kings (19:1-9) where the prophet Elijah, running for his life from Queen Jezebel who sought to kill him, finds himself exhausted and discouraged in the middle of the desert. As he lay under a broom tree ready to die, an angel arouses him and tells him to eat bread placed at his head with a jug of water. This was no ordinary bread however, but the bread of angels, and with it he is able to walk forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God. So, we see in these references in the Old Testament how the scriptures describe a bread that comes from heaven and

“

MANNA IN THE DESERT: The Israelites in the Book of Exodus gather the heavenly sustenance during their

40-year travels through the desert. CREDIT: “The Gathering of the Manna” by James Tissot

gives strength for our life. The strength repeatedly appears to be necessary until we reach our victory, when we arrive at the Holy Land, the mountain of God, heaven. This is all in preparation for the Christ who will give us the true Bread from heaven.

In the New Testament the reference of Jesus to bread becomes even more clear as the Bread of Life. In John 6, Jesus speaks of Himself repeatedly as the true Bread that has come down from heaven for the life of the world: “and the Bread that I shall give for

It is unsurprising that the disciples’ hearts were “burning” as Jesus opened the meaning of the Old Testament to them. Imagine Jesus Himself giving us a homily on the Old Testament!

It was not until He entered their home and sat at table with the disciples, where Jesus, taking control of the situation, celebrates with them the Mass.

the life of the world is my flesh”.

The Gospel describes the Incarnation as the Word of God made flesh, now cites Jesus telling us that this flesh is true bread from heaven.

The link between the Scriptures and the Eucharist is described eloquently also at the end of the Gospel of St. Luke (24:1335), where he describes the disciples of Emmaus retuning home on the evening of that first Easter Sunday. Unrecognized by them Jesus walks with them and opens their minds and hearts by showing the references to Himself throughout the Old Testament.

It is unsurprising that the disciples’ hearts were “burning” as Jesus opened the meaning of the Old Testament to them. Imagine Jesus Himself giving us a homily on the Old Testament! It was not until He entered their home and sat at table with the disciples, where Jesus, taking control of the situation, celebrates with them the Mass. That is when they

recognize Him and He disappears from their midst. The disciples were prepared with the Scriptures, but they recognized Him in the “breaking of the bread”.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his marvelous hymn to the Eucharist says: “Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgement of You. But hearing suffices firmly to believe. I believe all that the Son of God has spoken; there is nothing truer than this word of truth.” (Adorote Devote). Hearing, which allows the Word to penetrate our minds and hearts so it can be received in faith, is what is necessary to begin to contemplate the great mystery before us in the Mass. What is the word of truth we hear in the Mass? “This is my Body, which will be given up for you, This is my Blood, which will be shed for you…” The Word is made flesh, and dwells with us.

Fr. Peter Short is the Vicar General of the Diocese of Gallup.

14

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • PERSPECTIVES

SUMMER 2022

Mary and the Eucharist How Our Lady points the way to her Son

By Fr. Nathanael Block, J.V. One day, the great Italian saint, Don Bosco, had a vision. In his vision he saw the Church under the image of a ship, tossed about by storms and attacked by her enemies. She only became safe when she anchored herself between two pillars: a great pillar, which symbolized the Eucharist, and a lesser pillar, which symbolized the Virgin Mary. These two pillars are the necessary anchors that we need for the safety of the Church, the family, and the individual soul.

Devotion to Mary is closely tied to devotion to the Eucharist. Our Lord gave us the Blessed Sacrament for three reasons: to be our Sacrifice, to be the greatest of the seven Sacraments, and so that He could be our Companion during this life. Our Blessed Mother helps us come to her Son. She helps us to understand what He has done for us in giving us the Holy Eucharist; she is our model who shows us how to revere the Eucharist; and she prepares us to receive her Son through her motherly care for us. Let’s look at these closely.

The Lord gave the Eucharist to be our Sacrifice. The Mass is first of all a Sacrifice, where we offer God the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ for His own Glory and for the salvation of souls. The Mass is the same Sacrifice as the Cross, since it has the same Priest, Jesus Christ, and in it the same Victim, the same Gift, is offered, Jesus Christ.

The Mass offers one and same Sacrifice as the Cross, but in a hidden, unbloody manner.

Mary shows us how to enter deeply into the Sacrifice of the Mass.

First, Mary raised Jesus. In the twelfth chapter of Exodus, God tells His people to prepare a lamb for each household, whose blood would mark the doors of their house so that the angel of death would pass over them.

He says that if any house is too small to be on its own, it should join its neighbor. Jesus is the Lamb Whose Blood marks our souls so that death and sin and the devil have no power over us. Mary is the one who prepares the Lamb and gets Him ready for the Sacrifice.

She raised the Lamb.

Second, Mary willingly offered Jesus to God as He offered Himself on the Cross. She offered Him in the Temple to the Father, and accepted the suffering that this would bring herself with peace of heart. As she remained with her Son as He died, she felt the Sword of Sorrow prophesied by Simeon, and joined her pain and love to the Love of Jesus. She shows us, therefore, how we should act at every Mass. We recognize that the Mass is for God’s Glory and to save souls, and we offer Jesus to God through the priest. Then, with Mary, we join in, and we offer ourselves. We join our prayers, our works, our difficulties, our joys, and we unite them to the Heart of Jesus. In this way, they become very precious to the Father, because they are part of the Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. With Mary, we sign our own names to the Gift Jesus gives His Father to save the world. “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Rom. 12:1) Third, Mary remained with the Apostles throughout their time with Jesus, and during the formation of the Church. She became their mother and showed them how to worship God. She does the same to every soul who comes to her for help.

THE DREAM OF ST. BOSCO: The Church under the image of a ship, tossed about by storms and attacked by her enemies, only safe when anchored between the two pillars of the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Jesus gave us the Eucharist to be our Sacrament. A Sacrifice is a gift offered to God in a solemn manner by a priest for the sake of adoring God. A Sacrament is one of the seven miracles given to the Church by Jesus for the sake of making men holy, through the pouring of grace upon the hearts and souls of men through a physical sign they can see and touch and grasp with their senses. A Sacrifice is for God, a Sacrament is for the sake of men, to make them holy and to heal the wound of the Fall. The Eucharist is both Sacrifice and Sacrament. Jesus comes to us, hidden under the appearances of ordinary bread and wine to show us that He wants to feed our souls in the way that ordinary food feeds our bodies.

Mary welcomed Jesus into her heart like no one else. She carried Him under her heart for nine months, so that every thing that she did, was done with His help, while thinking of Him, and while carrying Him inside her; she was nourished by His teaching; and she obeyed His Will, so that her heart and soul was formed by His own Hands. Mary helps us to welcome Jesus into our bodies and souls when we receive this Holy Communion, so that we are protected from sin, made close to

Jesus, and become holier.

Jesus gave us the Eucharist so that He could be our Companion. He remains in the Churches with us. This is especially related to prayer. Mary shows us how to make Jesus our Friend and Companion in the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus wants to remain with each of us, even while He remains in Heaven. The Sacrament lets Him be truly Present in every Church, in every time and place. If we want to sit at the Feet of Jesus, and pour out our hearts to Him, and listen to Him speak to us, He is always there, remaining in the Tabernacle. He wants us to visit and speak with Him. Mary always shared her heart with her Son, always spoke with Him, and lived with Him during His hidden life. Jesus has a new hidden life in the Tabernacle, and He asks us to live with Him as well.

If we want to secure ourselves, our families, and our Church, these are the two pillars we need to be firmly tied to: the Eucharist Heart of Jesus, and the Maternal Heart of Mary.

Fr. Nathanael Block is the Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Gallup, where he oversees the marriage and tribunal office.

SUMMER 2022

15

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • PERSPECTIVES

Jesus is Calling You

By Fr. Joshua Mayer I have vivid memories of my first day in seminary. I remember that I was almost late for the first thing on our schedule because we had to stop and buy clothes on the way. I remember how our car made it all the way to Denver and then broke down as soon as we arrived at the seminary parking lot. I remember the wonder I had about everything…seminary seems so mysterious!

It was late summer 2009. I was 27 years old and embarking on a completely new journey. And I was really curious about the other men who were entering seminary with me…What were they like?

Where were they from? Were they cool? Were they weird? What was their story? There were 21 of us newbies.

After our first dinner together, we were instructed to grab our chairs, sit in a circle and share a 5-minute-or-less version of our vocation story with each other.

The other guys came from many different dioceses, states and countries, and had hugely varied backstories. One was a local kid, fresh out of high school. Another was a grizzled Navy vet who had experienced a deep conversion and heard the call to be a priest.

Some felt the tug toward the priesthood during college. There were two great guys from Vietnam who got stuck in the wrong seminary for six months before they learned enough English to correct the error! I was from California and had made my way to the New Mexican high desert when Jesus began to give me clarity in my vocational search.

21 different men with 21 different stories and 21 unique calls.

Our origins were as diverse as the paths we had traveled. But as we went around the circle and shared the abbreviated version of how God got us to seminary, one thing kept coming up, without fail, in everyone’s tale: we had all spent time, regularly, with Je-

sus in Eucharistic Adoration. For every single one of us, no matter how different we were, one thing was the same: a regular Holy Hour with the Lord had played an important role in both hearing the Lord’s voice and having the courage to follow His call.

It made sense. If you want to have a relationship with someone, you need to spend time with them. If you want to understand what they are saying to you, you need to listen. And if you’d like to strengthen and deepen that relationship, even toward intimacy, you need to spend time alone together, heart to heart, giving and receiving.

This is what we do when we spend time in Adoration with the Eucharistic Lord. We come before Jesus, who is fully present with us, body, blood, soul and divinity, and we pour our hearts out to him, invite Him to process our days and weeks with us, ask Him for whatever we need… and, hopefully, we also let Him quiet our hearts so that we can really listen to Him, and begin to learn His language, which is the deep language of the heart.

When you get to know Jesus, He reveals you to yourself. When you begin to spend privileged time with Him, He will invite you to follow Him more closely. And, when the time is right, He will make His call to you clear. This isn’t an experience limited to young men being called to the priesthood; Jesus desires to spend time with each and every one of us. He has a particular call for you, to follow Him and share His mission in a unique way.

“Vocation” simply means “call.”

And so, there is the big, overarching call in our life – our “Capital V” vocation, to religious life, to marriage, to be a hermit on a mountaintop, to whatever particular mission Jesus has made us for… but Jesus also calls us every single day, and moves us with His Holy Spirit that He gave to each of us at our baptism. Throughout each

“

Vocation” simply means “call.” And so, there is the big, overarching call in our life – our “Capital V” vocation, to religious life, to marriage, to be a hermit on a mountaintop, to whatever particular mission Jesus has made us for… but Jesus also calls us every single day, and moves us with His Holy Spirit that He gave to each of us at our baptism.

day, as we go to school, or go to work, or take care of our kids, in our encounters with others and all of the ups and downs, Jesus is calling and the Spirit is moving.

But without reflecting on our day and spending time in prayer, we are going to miss most of these movements and be hard of hearing to the Lord’s call.

This is why the time we spend with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration is so powerful and valuable.

Do you want to know how Jesus is with you, loving you, and calling you, in the minutiae of each day and in the big life decisions that you face? Well, spend time with Him. Ask Him. Tell Him what’s on your heart. And LISTEN. Make a regular appointment with the

Lord, who loves to spend His time (and His whole self) for you!

In that circle of chairs, nearly thirteen years ago, twenty-one fresh-faced seminarians, each with radically different stories, realized that one thing united us all: regular time spent with Jesus, fully present in the Eucharist. It was there, listening for His voice and sharing our heart with Him, that we received enough clarity and strength to follow Jesus toward our vocation. And there, too, Jesus has a word for you, a call for you, His infinite love to reveal to you.

Fr. Joshua Mayer is the Vocations Director for the Diocese of Gallup.

Is God calling you to the priesthood, diaconate, or consecrated life?

Answer the Call: Diocese of Gallup Office of Vocations: 505-863-4406 | frjmayer@dioceseofgallup.org

SUMMER 2022

16

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • PERSPECTIVES St. Augustine in His Study, by Vittore Carpaccio

Daily Life With Christ

By Fr. James Walker It is a most natural thing for us to eat every day, three times a day at least. Staple foods recommended by nutritionists include bread products, dairy products, vegetables, proteins and more. This is all good to satisfy the needs of our human bodies.

Often the ‘other part’ of us, our souls, are not paid due attention on a daily basis. Thanks to the gracious decision of Pope St. Pius X over a century ago, we can care for our soul’s daily need for nourishment as well. The Holy Father lowered the age for the reception of Holy Eucharist to the age of seven.

Jesus Christ instituted the rite of Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. He gifted us with the greatest gift ever offered - Himself to us in the form of Holy Communion. This grace

allows us to be fully united to God Himself.

Many of the saints have shown us the why and the how of receiving Communion as part of our daily lives. St. Teresa of the Andes who died at the age of nineteen matured quickly in her own holiness as a teenager. She was known in her high school years in Chile for her own “good life” from the time she was fifteen years old. Who would not want to share in the same “good life?” It is precisely what every human is drawn to by nature. We are familiar with the great St. Augustine’s comment: “Our hearts are restless and ever will they be until they rest in Thee.” An uplifting and supportive statement such as the one offered in his Confessions by St. Augustine appeals to us so readily. It also is identified with our instinctive goal for union and happiness with God for eternity.

We enjoy many reasons consistent with our nature to receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist every day. Now is the perfect time to nourish our souls routinely, solidifying our union with the Risen Christ. In doing so, we can be assured of the very graces we require, especially in the milieu in which we live today.

Want happiness? Want to be fed, supported fully? Move now into the call of our Bishops to renew ourselves by this Eucharistic revival, especially in our own country, our own diocese, our own parish. This can only help us to help ourselves at a most challenging time in our nation.

Fr. James Walker is the Resident Chaplain of Villa Guadalupe, the home for the elderly run by the Little Sisters of the Poor in Gallup, NM.

What Does St. Augustine Say About the Eucharist?

What you see on God’s altar, you’ve already observed during the night that has now ended. But you’ve heard nothing about just what it might be, or what it might mean, or what great thing it might be said to symbolize. For what you see is simply bread and a cup - this is the information your eyes report. But your faith demands far subtler insight: the bread is Christ’s body, the cup is Christ’s blood.

Faith can grasp the fundamentals quickly, succinctly, yet it hungers for a fuller account of the matter.

As the prophet says, “Unless you believe, you will not understand.” [Is. 7.9; Septuagint] So you can say to me, “You urged us to believe; now explain, so we can understand.”

Inside each of you, thoughts like these are rising: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, we know the source of his flesh; he took it from the virgin Mary. Like any infant, he was nursed and nourished; he grew; became a youngster; suffered persecution from his own people. To the wood he was nailed; on the wood he died; from the wood, his body was taken down and buried.

On the third day (as he willed) he rose; he ascended bodily into heaven whence he will come to judge the living and the dead. There he dwells even now, seated at God’s right. So how can bread be his body? And what about the cup? How can it (or what it contains) be his blood?” My friends, these realities are called

sacraments because in them one thing is seen, while another is grasped. What is seen is a mere physical likeness; what is grasped bears spiritual fruit.

So now, if you want to understand the body of Christ, listen to the Apostle Paul speaking to the faithful: “You are the body of Christ, member for member.” [1 Cor. 12.27] If you, therefore, are Christ’s body and members, it is your own mystery that is placed on the Lord’s table! It is your own mystery that you are receiving! You are saying “Amen” to what you are: your response is a personal signature, affirming your faith. When you hear “The body of Christ”, you reply “Amen.” Be a member of Christ’s body, then, so that your “Amen” may ring true! But what role does the bread play? We have no theory of our own to propose here; listen, instead, to what Paul says about this sacrament: “The bread is one, and we, though many, are one body.” [1 Cor. 10.17] Understand and rejoice: unity, truth, faithfulness, love. “One bread,” he says. What is this one bread? Is it not the “one body,” formed from many? Remember: bread doesn’t come from a single grain, but from many. When you received exorcism, you were “ground.” When you were baptized, you were “leavened.” When you received the fire of the Holy Spirit, you were “baked.” Be what you see; receive what you are. This is what Paul is saying about the bread.

So too, what we are to understand about the cup is similar and requires little explanation. In the visible object of bread, many grains are gathered into one just as the faithful (so Scripture says) form “a single heart and mind in God” [Acts 4.32]. And thus it is with the wine. Remember, friends, how wine is made. Individual grapes hang together in a bunch, but the juice from them all is mingled to become a single brew. This is the image chosen by Christ our Lord to show how, at his own table, the mystery of our unity and peace is solemnly consecrated. All who fail to keep the bond of peace after entering this mystery receive not a sacrament that benefits them, but an indictment that condemns them.

So let us give God our sincere and deepest gratitude, and, as far as human weakness will permit, let us turn to the Lord with pure hearts. With all our strength, let us seek God’s singular mercy, for then the Divine Goodness will surely hear our prayers.

God’s power will drive the Evil One from our acts and thoughts; it will deepen our faith, govern our minds, grant us holy thoughts, and lead us, finally, to share the divine happiness through God’s own son Jesus Christ. Amen!

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was a bishop, theologian, and is a Doctor of the Church.

17

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • PERSPECTIVES

SUMMER 2022

The Eucharist and Family Life

Loving One’s Spouse as Christ Loves His Church

By Casey Gay When I was engaged, I would daydream about what married life would be like. I imagined myself in a neatly pressed apron, arranging flowers, baking bread, packing nutritionally dense lunches for my husband every day. My children would look at books and play quietly while they listened to “real” music on a real record player. I, of course, would never resort to shouting or corporal punishment, and I would be a help and delight to my husband, a source of peace and tranquility for him to escape the noise and chaos of the outside world.

Fast forward 5 years: Our fourth child is six days old, and my husband Jeremy is getting on a plane to fly across the country for a ten-week military law training. The twins and their older brother have just covered themselves (quite impressively) and the garage in their dad’s oil-based cami paint. Each room of the house looks as though it has been raided for treasure, and the bathroom mirrors are covered with soap. My voice is hoarse from shouting and the baby needs to nurse.

I knew family life would not always be easy – true charity requires real sacrifice, real suffering. I assumed there would be some uncomfortable seasons that would force me to surrender my will and my ideas of how things “should” be. I simply did not think that my sacrifice would consist of regularly feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and counseling the distressed in my own home! I did not think that my battlefield would be during Mass where I would regularly have to say the Act of Contrition for resenting my kids for being too loud or squirmy or laughing during the homily.

Yet here it was, my suffering, presented to me in the darling chubby cheeks of delight and wonder and innocence of the incredibly beautiful children entrusted to me. It’s hard.

Sometimes I want to give up. Sometimes I get worn down, and I wonder if it’s all worth it. And in the darkness when I don’t think I can do another shift of night-time vomit duty or endure another all-night emergency room visit, everything calms down just long enough for me to remember why it is worth it: so that I may do the will of the Father and I may be united with the Holy Trinity for all eternity.

MARRIAGE CENTERED ON CHRIST It probably comes to the surprise of no one that a faithful and fruitful marriage requires superhuman strength. When Christ instituted the sacrament of marriage, it was in order to restore it to its original form before the Fall. A marriage cannot attain its original shape without the intervention of Christ himself. He calls us to be an image of the selfless, self-giving love that He has for His bride, the Church. Husband and wife promise, before God, to love one another with enduring patience, charity, and wholehearted generosity, in all circumstances until death. It is a supernatural ask that requires a supernatural strength.

As Catholics, we have access to

SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE: Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (c. 1668-1670) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. CREDIT: Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest this superpower that is offered to us every single day in the Holy Eucharist. The Blessed Sacrament truly is the source and summit of the Christian life. Union with the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit is

One who loves us and pursues our hearts–repeat, repeat, repeat! Holy Mother Church gives us the tools to know Jesus in the most intimate way possible, but we have to keep showing up.

“

Husband and wife promise, before God, to love one another with enduring patience, charity, and wholehearted generosity, in all circumstances until death. It is a supernatural ask that requires a supernatural strength.”

the end for which we all yearn; it is also the source of all the sanctifying grace that fuels our souls to finish the race. We frequent confession, we receive Holy Communion, we read the Word, and we seek to know the

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that as a spouse and a parent, if you check off all the boxes of a devout life everything will be easy and enjoyable and you will never doubt your purpose. No, when I am in Mass with my

children, and I am tired and my soul is crying out to the Lord for relief, I do not usually receive emotional consolation after receiving Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Maybe it’s because I have not fostered a robust prayer life, and I cannot hear Jesus whispering to me in my heart. Maybe it’s because my baby just ripped out my earring and my toddler bit her six-year-old brother who lost his shoe while in line for a blessing. Who knows? I do know, however, that Jesus just gave Himself to me, really and truly, and this fact of faith is enough to carry me forward.

Consolation does not necessarily come in the form of relief from our struggles; consolation usually comes in the grace to know that He is with us in our struggles and has given purpose to our pain through His own suffering. Jesus is waiting for us as the way to eternal life with the Father. Seek Him. Receive Him. There is no other way.

Casey Gay lives with her husband, Jeremy, and six children in Gallup, NM.

18

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • PERSPECTIVES

SUMMER 2022

Abiding Presence:

By Dr. Bob Schuchts Growing up in a large family, I don’t remember feeling alone until I turned thirteen years old. That is when my dad left our family and moved to another city, and my underlying sense of security went out the door with him. During the day, I could keep my mind active with school, sports, friends, entertainment, and family interactions. But when I went to bed at night, I couldn’t escape the pervasive feeling of loneliness. I missed my dad terribly.

For the first time in my life, I felt unprotected. At night, every little noise scared me. I would naively pull the covers up over my face so that a robber wouldn’t see me if he broke into our house. But worse than these fears was an insidious sense of emptiness that permeated my soul. Back then, I couldn’t have expressed what I was feeling.

That would come years later after months of therapy and some healing experiences enabled me to finally grieve the loss of my dad at such a vulnerable age.

You, too, no doubt have felt the pain of abandonment in your life in some form or fashion. There could be any number of reasons why: the death of a loved one; broken friendships; not being protected in an abusive situation; or perhaps, like me, you, too, experienced the heartbreak of divorce in your family. These are obvious experiences of abandonment.

But the wound of abandonment can be manifested in more subtle ways as well, such as feeling alone in a crowd, not being understood for who you are, not receiving the

affection or comfort you need, or experiencing yourself on the outside of community life. The manifestations may be many, but underneath all of these separations is this primordial wound of abandonment that entered our human experience with original sin. On this side of Eden, all of us know what it is like to feel alone, unprotected, and cut off from intimacy in our vital relationships.

During these times, we may even wonder if anyone cares, including God. Frequently, these abandonment wounds get transferred into our relationship with our heavenly Father. Though he promised that he would never leave or forsake us (see Heb 13:5), our hearts have difficulty trusting the reality of God’s presence. When my dad left, God seemed far away to me, too. Perhaps you can relate.

Whether we are conscious of experiencing the pain of abandonment or not, it is an inevitable part of our human experience in this fallen world. Ever since that first sin, our relationships with God and one another have been fractured. We live in a world where separation and disconnection are the norm. Many of us can’t identify the feeling of abandonment because it is all we have ever known.

We think this is “just the way life is.” We get used to feeling disconnected in our families, at church, and in our daily activities. It just seems normal.

Though it may be part of our current reality, it is not what God intended for us from the beginning or the reality he desires for us now and in the future. The Catechism, basing itself on sa-

cred scripture, affirms that we are made for intimate communion with God and one another: “God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange” (CCC, 221).

In the beginning, Adam and Eve mirrored and participated in the most holy communion of the blessed Trinity. They also enjoyed a profound intimacy with one another, which St. John Paul II refers to as “original unity.” In their unbroken bond of love, they did not know the experience of loneliness or abandonment. They experienced God’s abiding presence with them at all times.

Whether we are conscious of it or not, deep down each one of us yearns for this kind of holy intimacy because it is written into the fabric of our being. The psalmist expresses this longing with poetic beauty: “My soul thirsts for God, the living God” (Ps 42:3). And the saints know of this yearning as well. After years of trying to fill his void in all the wrong places, St. Augustine finally turned his heart to the only real source of his fulfillment. Do you recognize this longing for a greater measure of God’s presence in your own heart?

In heaven it will be completely fulfilled. But we don’t have to wait to experience it. We can enter into communion with him now. The Church teaches that this is why Jesus gave us the sacrament of his presence as a means for us to continually abide in him: “The principle fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus. Indeed, the Lord said: ‘He who eats my

flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him’” (CCC, 1391, emphasis added). St. John Paul II adds, “The Eucharist is the sacrament of the presence of Christ, who gives himself to us because he loves us. He loves each one of us in a unique way in our practical daily lives.”

St. Luke’s account from the book of Acts gives us a flavor of how the sacrament of Holy Communion was practiced in the early Church. The apostles lived the reality of Christ’s abiding presence with them and allowed his presence to permeate their community life: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42). “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all” (Acts 4:32–33).

Most of these activities from the early Church are still common in our worship: the apostles’ teaching (God’s word in the scripture), the breaking of bread (the sacrament of Holy Communion), and prayer (invoking God’s presence and intercession for others). But one element is largely missing in many of our churches—“communal life.” The original in the Greek is koinonia, which when translated into English, means “communion” or “fellowship.” While we have some small degree of fellowship in our modern communities, it is still a far cry from what the

19

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • PERSPECTIVES

SUMMER 2022

How Holy Communion Heals Wounds of Abandonment early Church practiced. Can we honestly say that most of us are “devoted to communal life” to the degree that the early disciples appeared to be? Can we say we are “one heart and mind” and that our belongings are not our own but are for the good of our brothers and sisters? Can this be one of the reasons we are not witnessing the “great power” of Jesus’ resurrection as they did?

Is it naive to expect these things in our large, modern churches?

The Catechism provides the answer by reminding us the sacrament of Holy Communion is a participation (koinonia) in heavenly worship (see CCC, 1326). Are we cognizant of participating with the hosts of heaven when we worship together? It also calls this sacrament “a bond of charity” and “a sign of unity” (CCC, 1323). Within ourselves and our communities, are we really operating in unity like the early Church; can most of us say we are experiencing authentic communion (koinonia)? Why then do we call this sacrament Holy Communion when these most essential elements are neglected in our worship and community life?

The problem is obviously not on Jesus’ end. His real presence in the Eucharist truly does bring the reality of heaven to earth. His body and blood are the source of our charity and unity. Giving himself completely to us, he makes us one body with him and with one another. Yet how many of us daily embody this reality of Jesus’ abiding presence? Our wounds of abandonment and sins of isolation and selfishness seem to get in the way of true fellowship (koinonia),

Communion of the Apostles, by James Tissot

first in relationship with Jesus and then with one another.

The scriptures and Church teaching, as well as our own experiences, confirm that there can be no genuine unity or communion without self-giving love. In the words of St. John Paul II, “To celebrate the Eucharist, ‘to eat his flesh and drink his blood,’ means to accept the wisdom of the cross and the path of service. It means that we signal our willingness to sacrifice ourselves for others, as Christ has done.” In his insightful book Life of the Beloved, Henri Nouwen offers a vision of what self-sacrificing love looks like as we actively practice the sacrament of Holy Communion in our daily lives. Just as Jesus took the bread (as his body), blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples at the Last Supper, he calls us to follow his example in Holy Communion (see Mt 26:26). When we offer ourselves as living sacrifices in worship (see Rom 12:1), Jesus also “takes us,” “blesses us,” “breaks us,” and “gives us” so that we can participate with him in his holy self-offering.

Notice the sequence of events.

First, Jesus takes us and makes us an eternal offering to the Father, with himself. We are reminded that our lives do not belong to us (see 1 Cor 6:19, Rom 14:8). We were given to the Father in Baptism. Every time we celebrate Holy Communion, we are invited to reaffirm the reality that we are one with Jesus and an integral part of his body, the Church.

After taking us into his hands, Jesus then blesses us. Blessing, as we have already noted, is receiving the presence and grace of God in our lives. When we receive him in Holy Communion, Jesus sanctifies us and makes us holy. We in turn bless him with our praise and thanksgiving (see CCC, 1078).

In the Eucharist, which literally means “great thanksgiving,” we become a thanksgiving offering in communion with Jesus. He blesses us so that we can share his pres-

“

ence with others. But first we need to be broken.

Following the blessing, Jesus breaks us. This is the part most of us want to avoid. I can personally testify. The breaking process is not always easy or fun, but neither was the cross for Jesus. Without the breaking of our pride and self-sufficiency, we cannot have unity or true communion (koinonia) with Jesus or one another.

Finally, after Jesus takes us, blesses us, and breaks us, he gives us as a gift to the Father for the good of others. His abiding presence flowing in and through our brokenness becomes a healing remedy to all we encounter. Individually and corporately we become the living Body of Christ, bringing the reality of Jesus’ presence to a hungry and lonely world.

Taking, blessing, breaking, and giving—this is what it means for us to authentically celebrate Holy Communion with Jesus. Anything less is to fail to recognize Jesus’ body (in the blessed bread, in the community, and in ourselves) (see 1 Cor 11).

Examining ourselves through the mirror of scripture (especially Acts 2 and 4 and 1 Corinthians 11), we can see how many of us remain far from living in the fullness of the sacrament. But these scriptures also provide hope for us and our communities. We, too, are invited into the same Holy Communion with Jesus and our communities. But first we must let go of possessing our false comforts.

We are all prone, to one degree or another, to hold on to our life, our possessions, our time, and our energy. The inevitable fruit of this selfishness is disconnection and disunity. We see the evidence everywhere, with more than fifty thousand different Christian denominations divided over the name of Jesus. This lack of unity in the overall Body of Christ flows into every church community and family. Many of our churches, families, and communities look a lot like the rest of the world—dis-

We, too, are invited into the same Holy Communion with Jesus and our communities. But first we must let go of possessing our false comforts. We are all prone, to one degree or another, to hold on to our life, our possessions, our time, and our energy. The inevitable fruit of this selfishness is disconnection and disunity.

We see the evidence everywhere, with more than fifty thousand different Christian denominations divided over the name of Jesus. This lack of unity in the overall Body of Christ flows into every church community and family. Many of our churches, families, and communities look a lot like the rest of the world—disconnected and fragmented. No wonder there are so many lonely and lost people in the world and in our churches.”

connected and fragmented. No wonder there are so many lonely and lost people in the world and in our churches.

In the early Church, when people offered themselves to Jesus, they also offered everything that belonged to them. Their property and possessions were freely offered for the benefit of everyone in need. It was an integral part of their worship. This same pattern we see in the book of Acts continued for hundreds of years following Jesus’ resurrection. In studying Church history, I discovered that this practice of sharing the necessities of life with one another continued on for several hundred years when Christians came together to celebrate Holy Communion. At their “love feasts” they gave food and clothing to those in need and then delivered it to those in the surrounding regions.

I doubt they rushed home to shop, lay on the couch to watch football, or spent their Sundays working in the yard. Instead, they went out together as one body in Christ, giving their time, energy, and possessions so that others could realize that God cared about them intimately and would “never leave or forsake them.” They incarnated the reality they had earlier received in Holy Communion— his body and blood remained in them, and they conveyed his living presence to the world around them. They became, in a very sacramental way, his broken body and poured-out blood for a hungry and thirsty world. In contrast, many of us today throw a few dollars into the collection basket and hardly know more than a handful of people in our community. Many of us come and go to church as though we are punching the clock at work, just putting in our time and fulfilling our obligation. It must break Jesus’ heart over and over again to experience the contrast between his total self-gift and our pervasive self-centeredness. No wonder we have so little fellowship and feel alone so much of the time. Even at church, the place where we say we go to celebrate Holy Communion (koinonia), many of us remain strangers. Most of our communities don’t look much like the Church in the book of Acts.

I don’t believe this is how Jesus intended for us to live his abiding presence in the sacrament of Holy Communion.

This excerpt from Be Transformed by Dr. Bob Schuchts is reprinted with permission of the publisher, Ave Maria Press.

SUMMER 2022

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • NEWS

What Is the National Eucharistic Revival?

The mission of the National Eucharistic Revival is to renew the Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The revival is a movement of Catholics across the United States–healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist—and sent out on mission “for the life of the world.”

The Eucharistic Revival is not a step-by-step plan or a series of meetings; it is a grassroots call and a challenge for every Catholic across the United States to rekindle the fire of love and devotion for the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

The National Eucharistic Revival is a three-year initiative sponsored by the Bishops of the United States to inspire and prepare the People of God to be formed, healed, converted, united, and sent out to a hurting and hungry world through a renewed encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist – the Source and Summit of our Catholic faith. The Revival will officially begin in June 2022, and its milestone event will be a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, IN from July 17-21, 2024. The National Eucharistic Revival and National Eucharistic Congress are a direct response to the Holy Father’s call for a “pastoral and missionary conversion which cannot leave things as they presently are” so that the Church in the United States might be “permanently in a state of mission” (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 25).

This Eucharistic movement seeks to bring together clergy, religious, laity, apostolates, movements, and parish and diocesan leaders to spur momentum, collaboration, and lasting impact for the renewal of the Catholic Church in the U.S. over the next three years. Each year will have a strategic focus for formation and missionary discipleship.

YEAR ONE (2022): YEAR OF THE DIOCESE During the first year, the U.S. bishops will be inviting their presbyterates, diocesan teams, and parish leaders to a renewed love for Jesus in the Eucharist by hosting and highlighting diocesan-wide events such as Eucharistic congresses and days of formation centered on the mystery of the Eucharist in the life of the Church.

20

YEAR TWO (2023): YEAR OF THE PARISH During the Parish Year, pastors will invite their parishioners and staff to become even more truly and deeply Eucharistic communities through small groups, increased exploration of the sacrifice of the Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, catechetical studies on the Real Presence of Christ, parish-sponsored processions, and other activities to enable deeper encounters with Our Lord in the Eucharist.

YEAR THREE (2024): YEAR OF THE RENEWAL During the third year, the Church will gather for the first National Eucharistic Congress in almost fifty years, where approximately 80,000 Catholics are anticipated to draw close to Jesus in the Eucharist by way of a pilgrimage to Indianapolis from July 17-21, 2024.

The intended fruit of the Congress is to prepare the faithful from around the country to go out to the peripheries of their communities as “Eucharistic missionaries” filled with the flame of divine charity for those around them. Following the vote of the U.S. Bishops at the November 2021 general assembly, a new corporation has been formed to plan and implement this milestone event.

Why is now such a critical time in the Church in the United States to have a Eucharistic Revival?

ence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The past decade has also seen the rise of the “Nones” among the Millennial generation, with more than 40 percent now self-identifying as “unaffiliated” with any religion. Many young Catholics find the faith to be irrelevant to the meaning of their lives and challenges.

In the midst of these challenging times, we must increase our ability to provide to those inside the Church and to the world a credible witness of the difference Jesus Christ makes in the life of every individual.

As the people of God, we must be reminded that the Eucharist truly is the living God, Jesus, with us, “always, until the end of the age,” (Mt 28:20).

As we set out to meet the needs of the world and culture around us with the love of Christ, we must first take time to experience our own Eucharistic Revival with a renewed encounter and love for Jesus in the Eucharist, “for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51).

Now is the time!

We are excited to witness what God has in store for His Church in the U.S. through the National Eucharistic Revival!

Our world is in desperate need of the love of God. Geopolitical crises, social unrest, increased polarization, and the need for recovery and renewal from the pandemic have created the opportunity to “open wide the doors to Christ” through Eucharistic Revival.

The difficulties and challenges over the last few years have shed lights on the Church’s need for healing, unity, formation, and conversion. More than 30 percent of Catholics have not returned to the pews post-pandemic, and recent What is the intended fruit of the data reveals that the majoriNational Eucharistic Revival? ty of Mass-going Catholics do not believe in the Real PresGrounded in prayer and

seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the National Eucharistic Revival has four primary goals: 1. To provide a more profound encounter with Jesus Christ in the Sunday liturgy as a point of unity among all Catholics, and through this powerful encounter, find personal healing and courage to take the Gospel to a world in need of authentic love – the love of Christ found in the Eucharist.

2. To spark personal conversions through the joyful discovery of a relationship with Christ by encountering the love of God present in Jesus in the Eucharist.

3. To elevate the truth and practices of our Catholic faith through the rediscovery of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist – the Source and Summit of our Church and of who we are as a people of God. 4. To form, inspire, and launch missionary disciples, filled with love of God and neighbor that comes from an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, to the margins of the Church and the world.

SUMMER 2022

21

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • NEWS

CORPUS CHRISTI: Bishop James Wall blesses the Catholic faithful with the Blessed Sacrament at the end of a 2018 Corpus Christi procession.

Who will be involved?

The goal of the National Eucharistic Revival is to engage every Catholic in the United States! This is a movement, not a program, and is meant to provide opportunities for the faithful to fall deeper in love with Jesus in the Eucharist and to be inspired and equipped to share that love with others.

The efforts of the Revival are being organized by a team of lay men and women, religious, priests, and bishops from across the United States. An Advisory Board of Bishops is shepherding the whole Revival.

What makes this such a unique opportunity in the Catholic Church in the US? Everything about the National Eucharistic Revival is intended to “bear fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16). By building a consistent grassroots momentum beginning with dioceses and parishes, the intention is to bring together all facets of the Church – apostolates, move-

ments, religious orders, universities, and ecclesial organizations – all rooted in a shared love for the Eucharist that will create impact in the Church for generations to come.

What is the financial investment in the National Eucharistic Revival and 2024 National Eucharistic Congress?

The three-year national Eucharistic Revival flows out of the USCCB’s 2021-2024 strategic plan and, as such, is funded by the efforts of collaborating committees at the Conference as well as by grants and in-kind donations from partners and sponsors of the Revival.

Distinctly, for the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress, this worthy investment of promoting the Source and Summit of our Catholic faith will include several contributing factors to offset the cost of resources to bring this threeyear initiative to life, similar to the financial structure of the World Meeting of Families held in Philadelphia in 2015. This includes committed donors who long to see Eucharistic

revival throughout our country, collaboration and resource sharing from Catholic entities throughout the Church in the US, and admission fees from those attending the National Eucharistic Congress.

What is the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc.? Where can we find more information on the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc.?

The National Eucharistic Congress, Inc. was formed in early 2022 in order to bring such a large-scale event to fruition. It is led by a governing board of five bishops and four lay people, chaired by Bishop Andrew Cozzens, the Bishop of Crookston, MN. A website will be launched soon at EucharisticCongress. org which will have information, resources, and an opportunity to register individuals, families, and groups for the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress.

How can Catholics around the U.S. get involved?

Pray and fast for the National Eucharistic Revival. Only the Holy Spirit can bring about the fruit He desires for the Church in America through this threeyear initiative.

Sign up to receive the “Heart of the Revival” newsletter found on our website at: eucharisticrevival.org By signing up for the newsletter, you can stay up-to-date on the latest news, events, and information about the Revival, as well as event details for the National Eucharistic Congress to be held in July of 2024.

Get involved locally! Each diocese will be engaging in the Revival in different ways. Contact your diocese or look on your diocesan website for opportunities to be a part of your local Church’s Eucharistic Revival.

Plan now to attend the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 in Indianapolis, IN. Individuals, families, and groups are all encouraged to register to be a part of an extraordinary moment in the life of our Church.

SUMMER 2022

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • NEWS

Everything you need to know about the National Eucharistic Congress

By Shannon Mullen & Katie Yoder, Catholic News Agency Seeking to rekindle devotion to the Eucharist, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted Nov. 17 to launch an ambitious, three-year revival initiative, culminating with a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in 2024.

“My sense, from speaking with you, is that the Holy Spirit is leading us together to fulfill a great need for the Church,” Bishop-designate Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., one of the architects of the multi-faceted campaign, said Wednesday during the USCCB’s annual fall assembly in Baltimore.

The revival initiative will include the development of new teaching materials, training for diocesan and parish leaders, the launch of a dedicated revival website, and the deployment of a special team of 50 priests who will travel the country to preach about the Eucharist.

The campaign will officially launch on June 19, 2022 on the feast of Corpus Christi. Dioceses will be encouraged to hold Eucharistic processions on that day, Cozzens said. He said Blessed Carlo Acutis, the young Italian Catholic who used his computer skills to share online content about Eucharistic miracles, will be the patron of the revival’s first year.

Perhaps the revival’s most am-

bitious component is a National Eucharistic Congress planned for July 17-21, 2024 in Indianapolis, Cozzens announced Wednesday.

In an interview with CNA, Cozzens said the congress would be the first of its kind in the United States in nearly 50 years. He told the bishops during his presentation that the last large U.S. Eucharistic congress took place in Philadelphia in 1976. Previously, Cozzens said, such national eucharistic events were held once a decade.

The bishops voted 201 to 17 in favor of the revival campaign, with five abstentions. The voting was anonymous and conducted electronically.

“I am very hopeful that it will produce the great fruits that all my brother bishops are praying for and hoping for during these days, including helping people in the course of the revival to rediscover the beauty of the Mass and return to Mass,” Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City said prior to the vote.

“I think we’re on the cusp and on the verge of something truly impactful and wonderful for the Church in the United States,” Coakley said. “I think this might be just what we need.”

“Let the revival begin, brothers,” Cozzens said after the vote.

Currently an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Cozzens serves as chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. In an interview with CNA,

he said the initiative is a comprehensive effort to spark a greater love and devotion to the Eucharist.

“Our goal is to lead people to a deeper encounter with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist so that their lives can be transformed,” Cozzens said.

“And the reason it’s three years is because we want to affect the Church at every level,” with different initiatives geared for parishes, dioceses, and the country as a whole, he said.

“We want the depth. We don’t just want to have a couple of nice celebrations that say the Eucharist is great,” Cozzens told CNA. “The bishops are asking for a deep and sustained focus on the Eucharist. And my hope is that … this will become a long-lasting movement,” Cozzens said.

Other highlights of the revival plan include the following: • The distribution of a “howto” handbook to diocesan leaders in December.

• The launch of a dedicated website, EucharisticRevival.org, expected in January, providing a wealth of catechetical resources in both English and Spanish, including the new document on the Eucharist the bishops approved Nov. 17. Cozzens said the website is being funded by FORMED, an online provider of Catholic faith formation resources, amounting to an inkind gift of $1.2 million.

• The commission of a new study on Catholic belief in the Eucharist by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. Cozzens said the study

22 will be funded by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. The new study stems in part from concerns among U.S. Catholic leaders about the validity of a widely referenced Pew Research Center survey in 2019 that found that just one-third of U.S. Catholics agree that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

• The development of a national advertising campaign about the revival effort, funded by a grant from the Knights of Columbus. The Knights of Columbus is also partnering with the USCCB to provide dioceses with a “tool kit” for holding Corpus Christi processions.

During the discussion about the revival initiative Wednesday, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, said that while he supported the idea of holding a Eucharistic Congress, he questions the estimated $28 million cost associated with holding the event, which Cozzens said he hopes can draw between 80,000 and 100,000 people to Indianapolis.

“I think this is a wonderful proposal. I’m a little concerned, though, and I’ve mentioned this to you once before, the $28 million price tag on this gathering, I think, might appear to be a bit scandalous, if you think about all of the things that the Church needs and asks money for.”

“We’re talking about a lot of people, that’s the real issue,” Cozzens responded. “That’s why it costs so much. I do think the spiritual fruits of the event will be worth the investment.”

Blessed Carlo Acutis named a patron of Eucharistic Revival campaign

By Christine Rouselle, Catholic News Agency Blessed Carlo Acutis will serve as the patron of the first year of a new three-year Eucharistic Revival project the U.S. bishops approved Nov. 17, a designation that entrusts a critical initiative to the intercession of a popular modern Catholic hero known for spreading devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

Acutis, an English-born Italian Catholic who died in 2006 at age 15 shortly after being diagnosed with leukemia, used his technical prowess as an amateur computer programmer to share information online about Eucharistic miracles.

He is the first Catholic from the Millennial generation to be beatified.

Among the sentiments Acutis shared online is his testimony that “the more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.”

That same message is at the heart of the bishops’ Eucharist campaign, which was endorsed Wednesday during the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual fall assembly in Baltimore. Patrons for the other years of the campaign were not announced.

Set to officially launch with diocesan Eucharistic processions around the country on June 22, 2022 for the feast of Corpus Christi, the effort will include the creation of a new Eucharistic revival website, the development of new teaching materials, special training for diocesan and parish leaders, a traveling team of Eucharistic preachers, and a host of other initiatives.

The campaign will culminate with a National Eucharist Congress, the first of its kind in the United States in nearly 50 years, to be held July 17-21 in Indianapolis, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens, one of the architects of the revival campaign, announced Wednesday. Cozzens is the bishop-desig-

Bl. Carlo Acutis. CREDIT: carloacutis.com nate for the Diocese of Crookston, Minn and an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

The bishops’ campaign, which many Catholics view as long overdue, comes at a time when devotion to the Eucharist is lagging among those who identify themselves as Catholic, surveys and other indicators show.

That trend already was well underway during Acutis’ lifetime. His mother has said that before she had Carlo, she went to Mass only

for her First Communion, her confirmation, and her wedding. But as a young child, Carlo loved to pray the Rosary. After he made his First Communion, he went to Mass as often as he could. He asked his parents to take him on pilgrimages, particularly to the sites of Eucharistic miracles.

Acutis was beatified on Oct. 10, 2020, in Assisi, Italy.

For more information on Bl. Carlo Acutis, visit carloacutis.com

SUMMER 2022

No Priests = No Eucharist!

Please keep our priests in your prayers! And pray for our current and future seminarians who will one day become priests!

The Most Rev. James S. Wall Rev. Francis Akano Rev. Anselm Amadi V. Rev. Alberto Avella Rev. Nathanael Z. Block V. Rev. Joachim Blonski Rev. Mitchell A. Brown V. Rev. Frank Chacon Rev. John Cormack Rev. Daniel P. Daley Rev. William Day Rev. Edwin Diesen Rev. Anthony Osondu Dike Rev. Divine Ekebe Rev. Timothy W. Farrell V. Rev. Kevin H. Finnegan Rev. Msgr. Leo Gomez Rev. Blane Grein, OFM Rev. Jose Gutay, OFM Rev. Robert Hyman Rev. Faustinus Ibebuike Rev. Dale Jamison, OFM Rev. John Jung, CM V. Rev. Daniel F. Kassis V. Rev. Matthew A. Keller Rev. Christopher Kerstiens, OFM Rev. Jeffrey King

23

THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHWEST • VOCATIONS

Rev. Msgr. Arthur MacDonald V. Rev. Thomas R. Maikowski Rev. Gil Mangampo V. Rev. Joshua Mayer Rev. Charles McCarthy, OFM Rev. Patrick McGuire, SMA Rev. Jerry Mesley Rev. Peter Morello Rev. Pio O’Connor, OFM Rev. Lawrence J. O’Keefe Rev. Isaac Ogba Rev. Cyprian Okere Rev. Cornelius Onyigbuo Rev. Augustine Opara Rev. PJ Pabatao, OFM Rev. Donald Richardson Rev. John Sauter V. Rev. Peter Short Rev. David Tate Rev. Jerry Thompson Rev. Patrick Universal Rev. Edgardo Diaz Vazquez, OFM Rev. James E. Walker Rev. Patrick Wedeking Rev. Larry Weidner Rev. Raja Yeruva

A Prayer for Vocations through the intercession of St. John Vianney O God our Father, You promised “I will appoint shepherds for My sheep who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble: and none shall be missing.”

(Jer. 23:4-5). Hear the prayers of Your flock. Through the intercession of Your beloved priest, Saint John Vianney, we beg You to call to the sacramental priesthood generous men who will desire nothing more than to serve You in imitation of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest.

And after You call them, we pray that You sustain the doubtful, console the discouraged, and strengthen the weak as they start the long and demanding preparation for the priesthood.

Mary, Mother of priests, and example of faithful, humble, and joyful acceptance of God’s will, help all those who are called to the priesthood to open their ears and hearts to the gentle call of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Voice of the

Southwest

Publisher The Most Rev. Bishop James S. Wall Editor Suzanne Hammons Office Manager Anna Flores Contributors:

Bishop James S. Wall Fr. Nathanael Block Fr. Mitchell Brown Casey Gay Fr. Matthew Keller Fr. Joshua Mayer Dr. Bob Schuchts Fr. Peter Short Fr. James Walker

Send comments to: media@dioceseofgallup.org or mail: PO Box 1338 Gallup NM 87305-1338

On the Cover Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup, NM.

Where to find us dioceseofgallup.org facebook.com/dioceseofgallup twitter.com/dioceseofgallup youtube.com/c/dioceseofgallup Instagram: @dioceseofgallup The Voice of the Southwest can be found in any parish, mission, or Catholic school in the Diocese of Gallup. To receive a subscription to your home, contact us at media@dioceseofgallup.org or 503 W. Historic Highway 66, Gallup NM 87301

Our Promise to Protect If you or someone you know has been abused by a priest, deacon or other employee or minister of the Catholic Church, please report this to: Elizabeth Terrill Victim Assistance Coordinator

505-906-7357

victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org We will help.

Your confidentiality will be protected.

Prayer for Seminarians O Lord Jesus Christ, great High Priest, I pray that You call many worthy souls to Your holy priesthood. Enlighten the Bishop in the choice of candidates, the Spiritual Director in molding them, and the professors in instructing them. Lead the seminarians daily in Your unerring footsteps; so that they may become priests who are models of purity, possessors of wisdom and heroes of sacrifice; steeped in humility and aflame with love for God and man; apostles of Your glory and sanctifiers of souls.

Amen.

Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us.

Diócesis de Gallup Promesa de Proteccíon Si usted o alguien que usted conoce ha sido víctima de abuso por parte de un sacerdote, diácono u otro empleado o ministro de la Iglesia Católica, favor de reportar el incidente a: Elizabeth Terrill Coordinador de Asistencia para Víctimas

505-906-7357

Priests of the Diocese of Gallup at the annual Chrism Mass.

victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org Nosotros le ayudaremos.

Su confidencialidad será protegida.

Do Háida’bił bee hodozįįł daíigi beeádee haho’dzíí’ Catholic Church dóó éé’ neishoodii yił ndaałnishi’ igíí dóó Baa ndaałah’ igíísh doo há’ atééh’ igoo da, nínįi’ yiyiiłaah’ Dóó’ oóshlí ła’ ísh ákóbí’ diiłyąą go nił beehoozin, Akohootįįngo nił beehoozin’go baahwíí’ diłníi’ Elizabeth Terrill Victim Assistance Coordinator

505-906-7357

victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org

Eucharistic Days of Recollection Mass, Conferences, Adoration October 1, 2022 December 3, 2022

February 4, 2023 June 3, 2023

10:00am—4:00pm Mountain (New Mexico) Time Sacred Heart Retreat Center Gallup, NM

$15 Registration Fee per Person (For lunch) Spaces are limited. Contact Sacred Heart Retreat Center to reserve a spot!

Email: shrc@dioceseofgallup.org Phone: 505-722-6755