The Eucharist rests on a paten at the altar in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Wilmington, Del., May 27, 2021. On June 19, 2022, the feast of Corpus Christi, archdioceses and dioceses across the U.S. held eucharistic processions to launch the U.S. bishops’ three-year National Eucharistic Revival. (CNS photo/Chaz Muth)
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“The Eucharist is not just a word, it is an action, a verb. It gathers us together as an ohana … to give thanks as sons and daughters of God our Creator. It nourishes us as an ohana through a sacred meal as sisters and brothers in Christ, who left us his presence in bread and wine. It sends us forth as an ohana, as a community in Christ, to be bread broken and wine poured out, with the most vulnerable, to be our best and to bring out the best in others.” (“The Eucharist-One ʻOhana” video of the Diocese of Honolulu)
For many, the long Labor Day weekend holiday was the last summer opportunity for family and friends to celebrate as ohana. It was also, for some, the first chance to gather and give thanks for surviving a pandemic, which exposed both the vulnerability and resilience of the human family. But on every weekend, even every day, the sacrament of the Eucharist provides the opportunity to gather and give thanks for God’s blessing and gift in transforming human vulnerability into resilience as one ohana.
As part of the U.S. bishops’ pastoral plan for 2021-2024, all dioceses in the country have been invited to participate in National Eucharistic Revival. Pope Francis’s homilies on the Eucharist are a valuable resource for this initiative. In his 2021 homily on the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, our Holy Father focused on Matthew’s Gospel narrative of the Last Supper. “At the culmination of his life, Jesus breaks himself apart at the Passover supper with the disciples. In this way Jesus shows us that the aim of life lies in self-giving, that the greatest thing is to serve.”
Pope Francis said the Eucharist connects the fragilities of human vulnerability to Christ’s example and call to serve all in need. “Jesus becomes fragile like the bread that is broken and crumbled. But his strength lies precisely therein, in his fragility. In the Eucharist, fragility is strength: the strength of the love that becomes small so it can be welcomed and not feared; the strength of the love that is broken and shared so as to nourish and give life; the strength of the love that is split apart so as to join all of us in unity. Each time we receive the Bread of Life, Jesus comes to give new meaning to our fragilities, he heals us from those fragilities that we cannot heal on our own, with love. This is the logic of the Eucharist: we receive Jesus who loves us and heals our fragilities in order to love others and help them in their fragilities.”
This year, in his message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in September, Pope Francis also points toward vulnerable persons on the margins or peripheries as important for revitalizing our Eucharistic celebrations. “The arrival of Catholic migrants and refugees can energize the ecclesial life of the communities that welcome them. Often they bring an enthusiasm that can revitalize our communities and enliven our celebrations.”
Another vital resource for the Eucharistic Revival is the Diocese of Honolulu video “The Eucharist-One ‘Ohana,” in which Bishop Larry Silva reminds us that “Jesus left us his presence in the form of bread and wine, so that we can always be nourished. He gives us our daily bread so that we can also be broken and shared, and like wine be poured out in service and love for others. Jesus is so wise that he knows the nourishment of the Eucharist will make us hungrier, hungrier for serving others.”
Bishop Silva also points out the connection of the Eucharist to service in Hawaii’s St. Damien and St. Marianne of Molokai. “St. Damien hungered to be with the patients with leprosy so that he could serve them in the name of Christ. St. Marianne hungered for the work of serving those whom others did not want to serve.” The bishop ends the video with the reflection: “Being able to share the body and blood of Christ is a gift and a blessing. It also calls us to be the body of Christ broken for the world. St. John Paul II said ‘a truly Eucharistic community cannot be closed in upon itself. The Eucharist challenges us to recognize our place within a community and the human family.’ So let us do these things in memory of Jesus, let us be bread broken and wine poured out as One ‘Ohana, Witness to Jesus by sharing all the wonderful blessings that God has given us.”
View the locally produced video “The Eucharist-One ‘Ohana” on the diocese website catholichawaii.org/catholic-essentials/sacrament-videos/eucharist. For the full texts of Pope Francis’ Corpus Christi homilies and his full message for the 2022 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, please visit officeforsocialministry.org.
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
