February 2005 Newsletter No

February 2005 Newsletter No. 87

THE YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST

“A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.

Cast me not out from your presence and your Holy Spirit take not from me” (Ps 51:3b).

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned!

“During this year Eucharistic adoration outside Mass should become a particular commitment for individual parish and religious communities. Let us take the time to kneel before Jesus present in the Eucharist, in order to make reparation by our faith and love for the acts of carelessness and neglect, and even the insults which our Saviour must endure in many parts of the world” (Pope John Paul II, Mane Nobiscum Domine, 18; Oct. 7, 04).

Your weekly Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration will help make reparation for the evils of the world today and open up the floodgates of God’s merciful love upon all humankind. “The Holy Hour is not a devotion; it is a sharing in the work of redemption . . . He [Jesus] asked for an hour of reparation to combat the hour of evil; an hour of victimal union with the Cross to overcome the anti-love of sin” (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen). Evil must be overcome with good. Greater evil must be overcome with greater good. The extraordinary evils of the world today must be overcome with the extraordinary good of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration! This is why our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, in calling for unceasing adoration asks us to be “ready” to sacrifice that we may “make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world” (Dominicae Cenae, Ch. I, Sec. 2, Art. 3).

“During this year dedicated to the Eucharist, may the sons and daughters of the Church find in the supreme sacrament of love the wellspring of all communion: communion with Jesus the Redeemer and, in him, with every human being. By Christ’s death and resurrection, made sacramentally present in each Eucharistic celebration, we are saved from evil and enabled to do good . . . building a world based on the values of justice, freedom and peace” (From Pope John Paul II's Message for the World Day of Peace, celebrated January 1, 2005).

Ideas inspired by Ecclesia de Eucharistia to help celebrate the Year of the Eucharist:

Week 18 “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:54). The Eucharist is the “pledge of future glory” ( Art. 18). Offer your Mass and Communion in reparation to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus for the sins of the world and invite others to join you in attending daily Mass during Lent.
Week 19 “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev 7:10). At Mass we offer the sacrifice of Jesus, the Eucharistic Lamb, and “are united to the heavenly ‘liturgy’” (Art. 19). Encourage parishioners, family and friends who are not signed up for a weekly Holy Hour of adoration to pledge a weekly Holy Hour with Jesus this Lent.
Week 20 We await a “new heavens” and “a new earth” (Rev 21:1). “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20). The Eucharist “spurs us on our journey through history and plants a seed of living hope in our daily commitment to the work before us” (Art. 20). Invite parish prayer groups and other groups (e.g. Knights of Columbus, Altar Rosary Society, etc.). to join you in praying for and promoting Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in your parish and community.
Week 21 “Do this is remembrance of me”(1 Cor 11:24-25). “The Second Vatican Council teaches that the celebration of the Eucharist is at the centre of the process of the Church's growth” (Art. 21). Distribute pamphlets, prayer cards and other materials on the Holy Eucharist and Adoration in your parish and community. Invite others to help you in this endeavor.

Start Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in your parish and community today!

The Presentation of the Lord—Feast, February 2
Mary and Joseph brought the Baby Jesus to the Temple, and the holy prophet Simeon took the Baby in his arms and blessed God, saying: “My eyes have seen the salvation . . . for all peoples to see: a revealing light to the Gentiles, the glory of Your people” (Lk 2:30-32).
St. Josephine Bakhita, Religious (Africa) 1869-1947—Feast, February 8
Kidnapped at 9 from Darfur, Sudan, St. Josephine was enslaved and tortured. She was later bought by a kind Italian family, freed and went to Italy with them at the age of 21. Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament attracted her to Catholicism. She converted and joined the Canossian Sisters. St. Josephine spent many hours in Eucharistic Adoration, gazing lovingly at Jesus and, as sacristan, prepared the sacred vessels with great devotion. Grateful for God’s love and mercy, she prayed for the conversion of souls. She said: “I will send from heaven lots of graces for the salvation of souls.” St. Josephine, please pray for the people of Sudan!
Our Lady of Lourdes, (France)—Feast, February 11
“The unique glory of the sanctuary of Lourdes resides in this fact, that people are attracted there from everywhere by Mary for the adoration of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, so that this sanctuary—at once the center of Marian devotion and the throne of the Eucharistic Mystery—surpasses in glory, it seems, all others in the Catholic world” (Pope St. Pius X).
Ash Wednesday—February 9
“Return to the Lord, your God” (Joel 2:12). “All who take part in the Eucharist must be committed to changing their lives and making them eucharistic” (Litany of the Eucharist, by Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P.). Attend daily Mass and Adoration of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist this Lent.
St. Claude de la Colombiere, Priest (France) d. 1682—Feast, February 15
Jesuit Spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Claude was inspired during his adoration before the Blessed Sacrament to promulgate the message of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as revealed to St. Margaret Mary. He spent many Holy Hours in Eucharistic Adoration.
Bl. Angela of Foligno, Widow & Mother (Italy) 1248-1309—Feast, February 28
“Burning with love for us, [Jesus] You desired to give Yourself to us and took up Your dwelling in the consecrated Host, entirely and forever, until the end of time. And You did this, not only to give us a memorial of Your death which is our salvation, but You did it also, to remain with us entirely and forever” (Bl. Angela of Foligno, Third Order Franciscan).

Lenten Meditation

In the garden of Gethsemani, Jesus said “My heart is filled with sorrow to the point of death” (Mt. 26:38). Jesus came to give Himself to humanity through the gift of the Holy Eucharist, yet many would reject His Eucharistic love. Rejection broke His heart. “He looked for one who would comfort Him but found none” (Ps. 69:20). He called on His apostles to comfort Him, but they preferred to sleep because it was night. They slept through Christ’s greatest crisis, even after He pleaded with them “Could you not watch one hour with me?” (Mt. 26:40). You are the apostles of Christ today. Today is an hour of great crisis. Jesus calls out to you in the the night, “Could you not watch one hour with me?” (Mt. 26:40). He looks to you to comfort Him now!

Prayer Intentions: Please send in the names of those who need prayers for healing of body, mind or spirit and those in need of repentance, conversion and salvation.

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