by Bishop James Conley
“Christianity is the religion of the Incarnation of the Godhead in humanity, of the absolute in the relative, of eternity in time”
- St. Gregory the Great
While it is impossible to summarize the meaning of the Catholic religion in one sentence, the above quote from St. Gregory the Great comes pretty close. Over these past few months, we have celebrated the major liturgical feasts of the Christian year.
After a 40-day Lenten season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we celebrated the paschal mystery of our salvation, the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Throughout the 40 days of the Easter season, we celebrated and gave thanks to the Lord for his resurrection appearances, assuring his first disciples, and us, that he had truly risen from the dead.
After those 40 days, Jesus returned to the right hand of the Father, the “Godhead,” and 10 days later, sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. Up until Pentecost the first disciples had been observing all of these wonders and events, but with the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Church was now empowered to do what Jesus Christ did when he walked this earth in the flesh: bring to life new members of the Church through baptism and confirmation, feed and nourish his people with Bread of Life, the Holy Eucharist, heal the sick and bind up wounds, forgive sins, consecrate and sanctify marriages, ordain new deacons and priests, anoint the sick and dying and prepare souls for eternal life. This explosion of power and grace activated and vivified the Church on the day of Pentecost, the Birthday of the Church.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, at the beginning of the section on the sacraments, describes this beautifully by saying: “The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1076). The catechism then goes on to explain that in and through the sacraments, Jesus Christ “manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, until he comes” in glory. Christ’s mysteries and saving actions have now passed over into the sacraments as of Pentecost Sunday.
On Friday, May 26, I had the privilege of ordaining five young men to the transitional diaconate, the last step before ordination to the priesthood. These five men have received their summer assignments in Lincoln, David City and Hastings, and will report for duty this weekend. After completing their summer assignments, they will return to Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. and St. Charles Borromeo in Philadelphia, Pa., to complete their seminary formation and, God willing, be ordained priests in May of 2024.
On Saturday, May 27, I had the privilege of ordaining three transitional deacons to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. All three celebrated their first Holy Masses on Pentecost Sunday in their home parishes in Lincoln, Seward, and Hastings. They will report to their first assignments in Lincoln and Hastings June 19.
In my homilies for the diaconate and priesthood ordinations, I spoke about how these men were being “consecrated” and “anointed” to go out into the world, to consecrate and to anoint the people of God. They are now consecrated and anointed to continue the salvific work of Jesus Christ, to do what Jesus did and to preach what Jesus preached, namely, that we are called to share in the life-giving love of the Blessed Trinity, to deepen in our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as we celebrated this past Holy Trinity Sunday.
This Sunday, June 11, we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of the Lord. The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament par excellence. The Eucharist is where the above quote from St. Gregory the Great becomes real: God breaks into our world and makes himself present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, the “absolute in the relative, eternity in time.” Each time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist we encounter Jesus, risen and alive, in a direct and personal way.
This Corpus Christi Sunday will kick off the second year of the National Eucharistic Revival. Surveys reveal that attendance at Sunday Mass in the United States is at an all-time low. Post-Covid studies tell us that across the country only 15% of registered Catholics are now attending Sunday Mass. Here in the Lincoln Diocese, we are higher than the national average, but we too have experienced a sharp decline in Sunday Mass attendance since the pandemic.
The National Eucharist Revival is a three-year program across the county to help renew and revive belief, understanding, and love for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. On Corpus Christi Sunday, we will begin the Eucharistic Revival’s parish year (June 2023-July 2024).
I have encouraged our pastors to mark the beginning of this second year of the Eucharistic Revival by leading outdoor Eucharistic processions in our parishes, if possible. I will celebrate the 9 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln followed by an outdoor Eucharistic procession.
On Tuesday, June 20, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ, I will join Father Malachy Napier, of Franciscan Friars of Renewal, for an entire evening of “Eucharistic Encounter,” sponsored by Spirit Catholic Radio.
For the parish phase of the Eucharistic Revival, we are launching a year-long diocesan Eucharistic Passport Pilgrimage, inviting people to travel across the diocese to visit Eucharistic adoration chapels and to make holy hours with our Lord. We will issue actual passports that designate some 20 different locations from Rulo to Imperial, and many places in between, where you can make a Eucharistic holy hour and stamp your passport, indicating you have visited the location. More information of this project will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead.
I have also asked our pastors to identify a parish point person in each of our parishes to help facilitate local parish activities during the parish phase of the Eucharistic Revival. We are in the process now of gathering those names and will offer training and resources on how to implement small group initiatives in their parishes, as well as ideas for achieving the goals of the parish year. Please contact your pastor for further information.
The parish phase of the Eucharistic Revival will culminate in a national Eucharistic pilgrimage that will travel from four points across the country on its way to a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Ind. July 17-21, 2024. The “Western Route” will pass through the Diocese of Lincoln in June 2024 (see www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org).
I am very excited about the parish phase of the National Eucharistic Revival, and I invite each one of you into a deeper living relationship with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. The Lord is calling each one of us to be healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, so that we be sent out on mission “for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51).
With the Incarnation, God has taken on humanity, “the absolute in the relative, eternity in time.” The Eucharist is the greatest gift that Jesus has given us because it contains his very self. In this National Eucharistic Revival, each one of us are invited to deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ, Our Lord, through the celebration of the Eucharist, so that we can be set on fire for the mission our Church so desperately needs. Please join me in this revival.
