by Bishop James Conley
Christ is Risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Last Sunday we celebrated the Resurrection of our Savior, the day Jesus the Lord conquered death and rose gloriously from the tomb. Descending all the way down to the underworld, Jesus demonstrated his dominion over death and the utter defeat of sin. Our God is a living God, death cannot hold him, and he promises the same gift of life to all of us who follow him. There is nothing that can keep him away from us, not even death itself.
As we now enter into the liturgical season of Easter, we realize the profound truth of his permanent presence and abiding love for us, and the reality of his sweet words: “I will not leave you orphans.” Jesus remains with us, even to this day. Joining this truth to the Gospel accounts during the Octave of Easter, we see that the disciples recognized Jesus’s presence with them in the Breaking of the Bread: The Eucharist.
And so, we must ask ourselves, is the Holy Eucharist a necessity for me, or is it merely an option or an accessory? Four years ago, we were amid a world-wide pandemic. We were in lockdown and the Eucharist, the ability to attend Mass daily in person, was suspended. How did we manage? To be sure, it was a very strange and disturbing time for all of us. It’s worth remembering those days and recalling how we felt. The livestreaming of Mass became ubiquitous, and thanks be to God, we were able to at least view the Mass being celebrated daily, even though we couldn’t be present, but it wasn’t the same. What was that like for us? Did we get used to that? Are we still not attending Mass on a regular basis?
It is easy to take something for granted when we have easy access to it, when the times are convenient and when we don’t have to expend too much energy to attend. But what happens when it is taken away? Do our hearts long for it again? In the words of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, can we say, “did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
One of the occupational hazards for a priest – and I am speaking to myself when I say this – is to allow the Mass to become routine. The Mass is something every priest does every day. The words of the Mass are pretty much the same every day. It is true, the readings from Sacred Scripture change according to the day and during the Easter Season, the Church in her liturgy presents to us the many and varied appearances of Jesus after the resurrection. But the standard words of the Mass remain the same and they can become routine for us.
Therefore, particularly during this time of Eucharistic Revival, we priests need to pay special attention to the ars celebrandi – the art of celebrating the Mass. It’s a wake-up call for us priests. Bishop Andrew Cozzens, the US Bishops’ leader of the Eucharistic Revival, reminds us to make every effort in our parishes and in our communities to reinvigorate the way we celebrate the Eucharist.
Bishop Cozzens writes: “Priests, especially pastors, have a unique role to play in reinvigorating worship. [In this second] Year of Parish Revival, we invite and encourage all our faithful priests to a renewed, careful attention to the ars celebrandi (the art of celebrating). This ensures that “the Paschal Mystery is made present so that the baptized, through their participation can experience it in their own lives.”
Bishop Cozzens goes on to quote Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter, (Desiderio Desideravi, no. 49) on the Liturgical Formation of the Lay Faithful, calling priests to:
• Fidelity to the texts and rubrics of the Church
• Prayerful understanding of the liturgical texts, feasts, and seasons throughout the year
• A reverent sense that the minister and the assembly are ordered in such a way that they “may draw from it more abundantly those fruits” for which the Church instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 16)
• Proper preparation for celebrating the liturgy
For us priests, this is an examination of conscience. Do we take these words seriously? Are we striving to be the very best stewards of the mysteries entrusted to our care? Do we allow ourselves to be amazed at the awesome privilege we have as priests to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for our people?
As we prepare to celebrate the Octave of Easter, on Divine Mercy Sunday, let our hearts be filled with both amazement and gratitude for the promise Jesus made to us, “I will not leave you orphans.” The Eucharist is the fulfillment of this promise, of his desire to remain always within our sight. The Eucharist is our constant encounter with our Risen Lord, the place where the eyes of our hearts are opened, the place where we find strength to follow him and where we obtain our share in his victory over sin and death. This is why the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of our spiritual life with the Risen Lord.
It is my hope and prayer that during this Easter Season, as we journey together through the Eucharistic Revival, that you may encounter the Risen Christ in the Eucharist, just as the disciples did on the road to Emmaus. May you be strengthened to live more courageously, convicted with joy in the great gift of our Faith: Jesus is alive, death and sin have no mastery over us, and we are now sharers in the promise of Eternal Salvation.
