Year
of the Eucharist - an opportunity to grow spiritually
by Ann Przybilla
Director of Worship
Beginning this month, we
embark on the Year of the Eucharist.
This is an opportune time for us as church to examine our own devotion
and understanding of the Blessed Sacrament.
This is a year to be observed by the church all over the world,
announced by Pope John Paul II to begin with the World Eucharistic Congress
that will take place October 10-17 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The year has been prefaced by two documents that have recently been offered to
us. The first document, written in 2003,
is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II, titled Ecclesia de Eucharistia
(On the Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church). In that document, particularly Chapter 2, the
Pope emphasizes that the building up of the church is reinforced by
participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice. It is a unifying event, central to
the life of the church, which was born from the paschal mystery and continues
to this day through the help of the Holy Spirit. In Chapter 5, the Pope stresses the dignity
of the Eucharistic celebration and that there have been both positive and
negative developments in its celebration since Vatican Council II. He notes that it is his duty “to appeal
urgently that the liturgical norms for celebration of the Eucharist be observed
with great fidelity” (no. 52)
From that came the
Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum
(Sacrament of Redemption), just released this March from the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The Instruction gives
liturgical norms and remedies for abuses against the Holy Eucharist. While
making no change in existing liturgical law, Redemptionis
Sacramentum challenges the church to evaluate current
practice and to apply the norms so that “with all distortion set aside and
every reprobated practice removed, through the intercession of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, “Woman of the Eucharist”, the saving presence of Christ in the
Sacrament of his Body and Blood may shine brightly upon all people.” (no. 185)
Here in the Diocese of New
Ulm, priests and parishioners have embraced the Instruction under the
leadership of Bishop Nienstedt. We
continue then, during this Year of the Eucharist, to examine our own devotion
and understanding of the Eucharist.
There are many simple and practical ways to increase our own level of
awareness of this great Sacrament. We
can teach our children the reverent way to receive the Body and Blood of our
Lord. We can make Sunday Eucharist a priority.
We can spend time in prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. We can participate in training sessions for
our liturgical ministry. We can read
documents or other books related to Eucharistic Spirituality.
Many diocesan sponsored events
will give all the faithful opportunities to grow in faith and love of this
awesome gift, the gift of Christ himself. Watch for these events in future
publications of The Prairie Catholic.
Through our observance of the
Year of the Eucharist, may we grow spiritually from the Blessed Sacrament,
offering our very lives, in whatever context that is, as a sacrifice to God and
for the good of the world.
In the course of his homily
for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (