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Church of the Eucharist - New Evangelization

Introduction: Church of the Eucharist

Deacon Barth E. Bracy

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"The Church has only one life: that which is given her by her Spouse and Lord."
(John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, 68)

Our Holy Father's proclamation of the Year of the Eucharist, the capstone to his promulgation of Ecclesia de Eucharistia and Redemptionis Sacramentum, together with the calling of the 2004 World Eucharistic Congress in Mexico and the 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist, represents the fufillment of a vision he announced in his very first encyclical, Redeemer of Man, on the 4th of March 1979.

Pope John Paul II described the time from the beginning of his pontificate to the Jubilee Year as a "new advent, a season of expectation" (Redemptor Hominis, 2), a time of "renewing our hope in the definitive coming of the Kingdom of God!" (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 46) He then proclaimed that "The Year 2000 will be intensely Eucharistic" reminding us that: "In the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Savior, Who took flesh in Mary's womb twenty centuries ago, continues to offer Himself to humanity as the Source of Divine Life." (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 55) In Ecclesia de Eucharistia he professed anew the centrality of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Church recalling that the Ecclesiology of Communion was, according to the 1985 Synod of Bishops, the central theme of the 2^nd Vatican Council. The Pope thus sets forth his agenda for the Church in the Third Millennium:

"To contemplate the face of Christ, and to contemplate it with Mary, is the program I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium, summoning her to put out into the deep on the sea of history with the enthusiasm of the New Evangelization. To contemplate Christ involves being able to recognize Him wherever He manifests Himself, but above all in the Living Sacrament of His Body & Blood. The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist." (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 6)

In proclaiming the Year of the Eucharist, beginning with the World Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara (10-17 October 2004) and ending with the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican (2-29 October 2005), the Holy Father initiates the New Evangelization: "Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36)... Jesus Christ, the one Savior of the world, yesterday, today and forever! (Cf. Heb. 13:8)... "In Christ, Whom we adore Present in the Mystery of the Eucharist, the Father uttered His final word with regard to humanity and human history." (Message for World Mission Sunday 2004) "The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church!" (Theme for 2005 Synod of Bishops)

The meaning of this extraordinary Year of Grace finds its first expression, as we will see, in the vision that was already given in Redeemer of Man. The fact that this vision of Pope John Paul II has unfolded through his pontificate to this culminating point upon which we now dwell and enter is incontrovertible evidence of the clear guidance of the Holy Spirit. Make no mistake, this Year of the Eucharist and the New Evangelization which it heralds represents a profound outpouring of grace for the Church and for all humanity. The New Advent is thus seen to have served as a preparation for the New Evangelization upon which we are now called to embark.

We begin now with Article 81 of Redemptor Hominis, the very first encyclical of Pope John Paul II, into which we will also integrate his later writings, especially Ecclesia de Eucharistia, in order to expose the rich meaning of this extraordinary Year of Grace.

"The Church lives by the Eucharist, by the fullness of this Sacrament, the stupendous content and meaning of which have often been expressed in the Church's Magisterium from the most distant times down to our own days (Cf. Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei)."

This first sentence already anticipates the encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, which begins: "The Church draws her life from the Eucharist... the Heart of the Mystery of the Church... the constant fulfillment of the promise: 'Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age' (Mt. 28:20)..." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 1)

Importantly, the Holy Father consistently speaks of the fullness of the Eucharist, the content and meaning of which comes to us from the very beginning, namely, the Real and Dynamic Presence of Christ, the fact of which was elaborated in the important encyclical directly referred to here by Pope John Paul II, Mysterium Fidei, which was extraordinarily promulgated by Pope Paul VI during the height of the 2^nd Vatican Council in 1965 with the purpose:
"... of seeing to it that the hope to which the Council has given rise - that a new wave of Eucharistic devotion will sweep over the Church - not be reduced to nil..." (Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, 13)
It may come as a surprise that the authoritative teaching of Pope Paul VI pointed to Eucharistic devotion as the hope of the 2^nd Vatican Council. As early as 1980, however, Pope John Paul II was even stronger in this same assertion:
"The encouragement and the deepening of Eucharistic worship are proofs of that authentic renewal which the Council set itself as an aim and of which they are the central point." (JPII, Dominicae Cenae, 3)
This centrality was also affirmed by the 1985 Extraordinary Synod of Bishops called to reflect on the 2^nd Vatican Council twenty years after its close:
The Ecclesiology of Communion - with the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit - is the fundamental idea of the Council. The Communion of the Eucharistic Body of Christ signifies and produces this intimate Communion. (Cf. 1985 Extraordinary Synod of Bishops)
The purpose of attaining the hope of the 2^nd Vatican Council motivated Pope John Paul II to release the encyclical Novo Millennio Ineunte in which he returns to the very theme that inspired Bd. Pope John XXIII to call the Council, in a word, holiness, i.e., union with Christ, and accordingly he sets forth the program for the Church in the third millennium, which he summarizes as follows:
"To contemplate the face of Christ... above all in the Living Sacrament of His Body & Blood... and to contemplate it with Mary, is the program which I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 6)
The purpose, says Pope John Paul II, for the extraordinary confluence of events that reaches a climax in this Year of the Eucharist is precisely:
"To rekindle amazement in the Eucharist!" (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 6)

After asserting our fundamental dependence on the Eucharist, the Holy Father now speaks of its fullness - what it is, what it expresses, what is actuated by it. The teaching that comes to us from the beginning is faithful and true, he explains, but can never be exhaustive because of the unfathomable depths of the Eucharistic Mystery, which we can apprehend but not comprehend.

"However, we can say with certainty that although this teaching is sustained by the acuteness of theologians, by men of deep faith and prayer, and by ascetics and mystics, in complete fidelity to the Eucharistic Mystery, it still reaches no more than the threshold, since it is incapable of grasping and translating into words what the Eucharist is in all its fullness, what is expressed by it and what is actuated by it. Indeed the Eucharist is the ineffable Sacrament!"

Ineffable means that it is too overwhelming to be expressed in words. This is a simple consequence of the fact that the Eucharist is Jesus Himself - true God and true Man - ALIVE with us! "I Myself Am the Living Bread come down from Heaven." (Jn. 6:51)

In addition to one of his own previous Letters devoted to the Eucharist, Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980), the Holy Father specifically cites, in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, three documents that give "authoritative expression" to the Church's "lively concern" for the Mystery of the Eucharist, documents that speak with such forcefulness and clarity that they will cause surprise to many readers today:
- Mirae Caritatis of Pope Leo XIII (28 May 1902)
- Mediator Dei of Pope Pius XII (20 November 1947)
- Mysterium Fidei of Pope Paul VI (3 September 1965)
Furthermore the Pope stresses that:
"The Decrees on the Most Holy Eucharist... promulgated by the Council of Trent are still a dogmatic reference-point for the continual renewal and growth of God's people in faith and in love for the Eucharist." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 9)

After affirming the fundamental dependence of the Church on the Eucharist and associating himself with teachings that have been constant and unchanging since apostolic times, the Pope now points out that this Mystery of Faith, which we cannot exhaustively define since the subject is Christ Himself, is actually the very thing that defines the Church! There is nothing new here, the Pope explains, rather he points to a radical renewal of our ancient faith built on the New and Everlasting Covenant of the Eucharist - this is the aggiornamento of Bd. Pope John XXIII...

"The essential commitment and, above all, the visible grace and source of supernatural strength for the Church as the People of God is to persevere and advance constantly in Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and to grow spiritually in the climate of the Eucharist."

"The Eucharistic Sacrifice is 'the source and summit of the Christian life' (Lumen Gentium, 11). 'For the most Holy Eucharist contains the Church's entire spiritual wealth: Christ Himself, our Passover and Living Bread. Through His own Flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, He offers life to men' (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 5). Consequently, the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, Present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of His boundless love." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 1)

The meaning of "essential commitment" is clear yet requires pause for serious reflection as few of us can honestly claim that we conform our lives to this truth.
- To visualize the meaning of essential commitment we can imagine the Christian life as climbing a mountain, the summit of which is the Eucharist. The climb may be strenuous at times but is never complicated for we always know our direction by looking up to the summit - to Jesus in the Eucharist!
  "Come let us climb the Lord's mountain!" (Is. 2:3) "You have come to Mount Zion... to God Himself, the Supreme Judge... to Jesus, the Mediator of a New Covenant..." (Heb. 12:22-24)
- At the same time, says the Pope, Christian life is like the journey of the prodigal son back to the Father's house (Cf. JPII, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 49), and...
  "In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into His Body and Blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey..." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 62)
  Here we can see that the famous poem "Footprints in the Sand" well describes Our Lord's Divine Companionship with us in the Eucharist.
The meaning of the phrase "source of supernatural strength" is equally clear and unambiguous and yet calls us to a most urgent discernment!
- In His homily at the first Holy Mass wherein He was explaining the singular importance of the Mystery of Faith He was about to institute, Jesus said:
  "I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who lives in Me and I in him will produce abundantly. Apart from Me you can do nothing!" (Jn 15:5)
  Union with Christ in the Eucharist is, therefore, the soul of the whole apostolate of the Church and of each Christian. (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 864)
- Pointing to the exemplar of fruitfulness, Pope John Paul II explains that:
  "If the Church and the Eucharist are inseparably united, the same ought to be said of Mary and the Eucharist... Gazing upon Mary we come to know the transforming power present in the Eucharist. In her we see the world renewed in love." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 57 & 62)
Are we producing abundantly? Do we see a world renewed in love? The Year of the Eucharist is an urgent invitation for us, as individuals and as a Church, to ask the perennially important question: Is Jesus in the Eucharist truly at the center?
- The Eucharist embraces all of history as the ineffable Mystery against which every generation is called to measure itself! "Every commitment to holiness, every activity aimed at carrying out the Church's mission, every work of pastoral planning, must draw the strength it needs from the Eucharistic Mystery and in turn be directed to that Mystery as its culmination." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 5, 51, 60)
- "Mary guides us to this Most Holy Sacrament because she... is a woman of the Eucharist in her whole life. The Church, which looks to Mary as its model, is called to imitate her relationship with this Most Holy Mystery." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 53)

Thus the Pope says that we must persevere and advance constantly in Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and grow spiritually in the climate of the Eucharist.

Because of its essential, defining and life-giving importance for the Church and for each Christian, the Pope now explains in the clearest of terms that the Eucharist must be accepted in its entirety and with the entirety of ourselves. The Pope speaks again of the fullness of the Eucharistic Mystery and gives the three-part summary he repeats throughout his pontificate.

"With all the greater reason, then, it is not permissible for us, in thought, life or action, to take away from this truly most holy Sacrament its full magnitude and its essential meaning. It is at one and the same time a Sacrifice-Sacrament, a Communion-Sacrament, and a Presence-Sacrament."

While the full magnitude of the Eucharist is infinite, because it is Jesus Himself living and loving in our midst, the essential meaning can be grasped because He revealed it to us. We must accept and affirm the totality of this Sacrament with the totality of ourselves, i.e., in thought, life and action!

"If in the presence of this Mystery reason experiences its limits, the heart, enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, sees the response that is demanded, and bows low in adoration and unbounded love." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 62)

The Pope insists that we must not minimize this Mystery of Faith.
"Truly the Eucharist is a Mystery that surpasses our understanding and can only be received in faith, as is often brought out in the catechesis of the Church Fathers... This faith remains unchanged and it is essential for the Church that it remains unchanged... The Eucharist is too great a gift to tolerate ambiguity and depreciation." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 15, 27 & 10)
Complete acceptance of the Eucharist has, in fact, always been the touchstone of the true disciples of Jesus. (Cf. Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, 21 & 22)
- When Jesus first announced the Eucharistic Mystery of His Body and Blood, many of His hearers were scandalized and even some of His disciples walked away from Him. (Cf. John 6:66) It was, in fact, a rejection of the Eucharist that lay beneath the betrayal of Judas. (Cf. John 6:64)
- Though it is beyond our ability to comprehend, we must trustfully accept the revealed Mystery of the Eucharist as did St. Peter: "Lord, to whom else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe; we are convinced that you are God's Holy One." (John 6:68-69)
Though the Eucharist is essentially one and the same Sacrament, we experience it in three distinct ways - Sacrifice, Communion, Presence - all of which must be embraced by Christians in thought, life and action, i.e., in faith and in practice.
1. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross are one and the same single Sacrifice. When we gaze upon the host and chalice, time and space somehow merge and the drama of Golgotha is re-presented in a living way... (Cf. JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 12 & 59)
  At Holy Mass we stand, with Mary, at the foot of the Cross uniting ourselves to the Sacrifice of Jesus to the Father. What must she have felt as she heard from the mouths of the Apostles the words spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper: This is My Body which is given for you? (Cf. JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 13, 56 & 58)
2. "The Eucharistic Sacrifice is intrinsically directed to the union of the faithful with Christ through Holy Communion... we receive His Body which He gave up for us on the Cross and His Blood which He poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Mt. 26:28)... This is no metaphorical food: 'My Flesh is food indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed!' (Jn. 6:55)... He who eats it with faith eats Fire and Spirit!" (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 16 & 17)
  At the Annunciation Mary anticipated within herself what happens sacramentally, to some degree, in every believer who receives, under the signs of bread and wine the same Body she conceived in her womb! For Mary, receiving the Eucharist meant welcoming once more into her womb that Heart which had beaten in unison with hers and reliving what she experienced at the foot of the Cross. (Cf. JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 55 & 56)
3. After Mass is over, Jesus stays with us day and night in the Blessed Sacrament - whole and entire, true God and true Man - Jesus waits for you in this Sacrament of Love! (Cf. JPII, Dominicae Cenae, 3) "Here is the Church's treasure, the heart of the world, the pledge of the fulfillment for which each man and woman yearns." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 59)
  "The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: not only by celebrating it but also by praying before it outside of Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very wellspring of grace... A Christian community desirous of contemplating the face of Christ at the school of Mary must develop this aspect of Eucharistic worship, which prolongs and increases the fruits of Communion." (Cf. JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25)
"Yes, beloved brothers and sisters, it is important that we live and teach how to live the total mysteries of the Eucharist: the Sacrament of the Sacrifice, of the Banquet, and of the permanent Presence of Jesus Christ the Savior!" (JPII, Corpus Christi Letter 1996) "Faith is not sufficient... what is required, in the words of St. Paul, is faith working through love (Gal 5:6)." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 36)

Pope John Paul II puts his words into practice by the number of hours he spends each day and night in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and by the amount of time he spends proclaiming these most basic truths of our Faith. He particularly emphasizes proclaiming and living our faith in Christ's Real Presence through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, when speaking of "shadows" regarding Eucharistic faith and devotion, the first he mentions is that: "In some places the practice of Eucharistic adoration has been almost completely abandoned." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 10) In contrast to this shadow, he has expressed his hope that Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration be established in every parish in the world! (Homily at International Eucharistic Congress, Seville, 1993)

The reason for his emphasis on adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is that it is the natural consequence and clearest manifestation of our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, which is so crucial because the absence of this faith renders a person utterly incapable of understanding Holy Mass, receiving Holy Communion or gaining the graces contained and offered in this Most Holy Sacrament. (Cf. JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 38) Thus the Pope says that: "To live the Eucharist it is necessary to spend much time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament." (Message for World Mission Sunday 2004)

After stating the essential doctrinal teachings that direct us to the fullness of divine life and transforming love to which Jesus invites us in the Eucharist, the Pope now proceeds to address at some length the error of reductionism, which he admonishes us to avoid as it hinders Eucharistic faith and devotion. Rather, he reiterates, we must respect the full magnitude and meaning of the Eucharistic Mystery. We note again his three-fold emphasis - the celebration of the Sacrament together with the sacramental sign in which Christ is Present and received in Holy Communion, which, he importantly adds, leads to sanctification and salvation.

"And, although it is true that the Eucharist always was and must continue to be the most profound revelation of the human brotherhood of Christ's disciples and confessors, it cannot be treated merely as an 'occasion' for manifesting this brotherhood. When celebrating the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the full magnitude of the divine mystery must be respected, as must the full meaning of this sacramental sign in which Christ is really present and is received, the soul is filled with grace and the pledge of future glory is given. (Cf. Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, Art. 47) This is the source of the duty to carry out rigorously the liturgical rules and everything that is a manifestation of community worship offered to God himself, all the more so because in this sacramental sign he entrusts himself to us with limitless trust, as if not taking into consideration our human weakness, our unworthiness, the force of habit, routine, or even the possibility of insult."

"The Eucharist is a gift which radically transcends the power of the assembly... The Mystery of the Eucharist - Sacrifice, Presence, Banquet - does not allow for reduction or exploitation; it must be experienced and lived in its integrity, both in its celebration and in the intimate converse with Jesus that takes place after Communion or in prayerful time of adoration apart from Mass." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 29 & 60)

Much emphasis has been placed on the so-called horizontal aspect of the Eucharist, but consider the observation of the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen that without the vertical beam of the Cross, the horizontal beam would simply fall crashing to the ground. He is speaking of humanism that denies the primacy of God's grace.
While it is true that the Eucharist has a horizontal aspect, by which it permeates all creation, this is only in virtue of the condescension of the Son of God by which He unites heaven and earth. It is precisely and only through her communion with Christ in the Eucharist that the Church becomes a sign and instrument of intimate unity with God and of the unity of the whole human race. (Cf. JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 8 & 24)
One can see that all of the erroneous liturgical practices detailed in the Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum are addressed by the Pope's simple admonition that our sacred duties arise from the fact of Christ's Real Presence in this Sacrament. Our duties arise not from liturgical scrupulosity but precisely from the fact that Jesus entrusts Himself to us with limitless trust in this Sacrament of Love. Simply put, a right belief leads to a sense of the sacred that finds its expression in right worship.
Belief in the Real Presence is in fact the underlying crisis of the Church today. Those who do not believe in Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist see Mass only as a human ritual and Communion as merely symbolic bread. The prerequisite disposition a person must have to receive the grace and pledge of glory contained in this Sacrament is a belief in the Real and Awesome Presence of its Divine Author!

After stating essential doctrines, pointing out errors, and specifying that the source of our duties towards this Most Holy Sacrament flow precisely from the fact of Christ?s Real Presence, the Pope now closes the discussion with a call to action! This appeal has been echoed throughout his pontificate and reaches a climax in the documents and events that usher in the Year of the Eucharist and the New Evangelization. Above all, the Pope's appeal is for every member of the Church to recognize and appreciate the Awesome Reality of Christ in this Mystery of Faith!

"Every member of the Church, especially Bishops and Priests, must be vigilant in seeing that this Sacrament of love shall be at the centre of the life of the People of God, so that through all the manifestations of worship due to it Christ shall be given back 'love for love' and truly become 'the life of our souls'. (Cf. Jn 6:51, 57; 14:6; Gal 2:20)"

"The Church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as one gift, however precious, among so many others, but as the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of Himself, of His Person in His sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Art. 11)

As individuals Christians and as a Church we must be vigilant, i.e., watchful and alert, to see that we are centered on the Person of Christ in the Eucharist. Our thoughts, our actions and our lives are Christian only to the extent that they are an extension of Him Who says I am the Vine, you are the branches:
"If we are to experience the Eucharist as the 'source and summit of all Christian life' (Lumen Gentium, 11) then we must celebrate it with faith, receive it with reverence, and allow it to transform our minds and hearts through the prayer of adoration." (JPII, Seoul South Korea, 7 October 1989)
In the Eucharist we have the Sacrifice of our Redemption, we have Communion with the Body and Blood of our Redeemer, and we have Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior abiding with us until the end of time. Underlying this Mystery of Faith is precisely the Real and Abiding Presence of Christ in this Sacrament of His Love.
"The Eucharist is reserved in churches to serve as the spiritual center of a religious or parish community, indeed of the whole Church and the whole of mankind, since it contains, beneath the veil of the species, Christ the invisible Head of the Church, the Redeemer of the world, the center of all hearts, 'by Whom all things are and by Whom we exist' (1 Cor. 8:6)." (Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, 68 & 56)
"Thus the Church has always offered and still offers the cult of adoration (latria) to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, not only during Mass, but also outside of Mass. The ancient documents of the Church attest to this." (Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, 57) Pope John Paul II affirms the inestimable value of Eucharistic adoration and says:
- Bishops, Priests and Deacons must encourage Eucharistic adoration by their words and by their example.
- The same holds true for parents and teachers of children;
- All Christians, in fact, must be distinguished above all by the art of prayer.
Thus in the course of each day none of the faithful should omit visiting the Blessed Sacrament. (Cf. JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25)

A specific way the Pope has asked us to put the Eucharist at the center of the life of the People of God is through Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. He established perpetual adoration at St. Peter's Basilica in 1981 and at the International Eucharistic Congress of 1993 in Seville, Spain, he expressed his hope that every parish in the world would do the same. The rationale for perpetual adoration is both clear and compelling:

Practicality: The more we limit the hours the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for adoration, more also do we limit the opportunity for people to find time for the daily visit and weekly holy hour that all Christians are encouraged to make. The more we expand the hours, the more we expand the opportunity. Through perpetual adoration, the Church becomes the image of Bd. Pope John XXIII, the village fountain open all of the time for all to come and quench their thirst.
Identity / Mission: Action follows being - identity gives rise to mission. The 1985 Synod of Bishops insisted that the Church can not be reduced to organizational structures because, ultimately, the Church is a community of the faithful, afire with the Holy Spirit, gathered under their Bishop, along with his helpers the Deacons and Priests and gathered around Jesus in the Eucharist! A parish gathered around the Eucharist in perpetual adoration realizes her identity and grows as the people, temple and family of God (Mission Sunday Message 2004).
Witness: Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is the clearest possible proclamation of our faith in Christ's Real Presence and an eminent witness that Jesus is at the center of parish life. "Like the woman who anointed Jesus in Bethany, the Church has feared no extravagance, devoting the best of her resources to expressing her wonder and adoration before the unsurpassable gift of the Eucharist." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 48)
Justice: Justice demands that each be given their due. Jesus dwells with us day and night in the Blessed Sacrament as our Emmanuel - God with us. (Cf. Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, 67) Because He is God and because of all He has done for love of us and for our salvation, Jesus is worthy of perpetual adoration. "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honor and glory and praise!" (Rev. 5:12)
Love of Neighbor: Through Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration a parish becomes a continuous and efficacious agent of authentic human development. "Closeness to Christ in silence and contemplation makes us attentive and open to human joy and distress and broadens our heart on a global scale. Through adoration, the Christian mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the sowing of the Gospel. (JPII, Corpus Christi Letter 1996)
Love of God: Love knows no limits! Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration places no limits on the love we offer to the Heart of Jesus. "Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration. May our adoration never cease!" (JPII, Dominicae Cenae, 3)

It should be noted that with the promulgation of the Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, it is an official recommendation that each Bishop designate at least one chapel of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in every community with an ample population. Since there are only 168 hours in a week and only one or two committed individuals are required for each hour, this recommendation would clearly apply to all but the smallest of communities.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, "The Eucharist is truly a glimpse of Heaven appearing on earth." (JPII, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 19) We have much to do in realizing the awesome vision the Pope describes to us as the Church of the Eucharist, yet a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

The Pope tells us that the New Advent announced in his first encyclical has come to a close and he now beckons us to embark upon the New Evangelization - new in its ardor, in its methods, and in its expressions, new for the explicit and deep reference to the Eucharist as the center and root of Christian life. (Cf. JPII, Seville, June 1993)

"Evangelization for the Eucharist, in the Eucharist and from the Eucharist - three inseparable aspects of how the Church lives the Mystery of Christ and fulfills its mission of communicating it to all men." (JPII, Seville, June 1993)

Many, like Martha, might protest that there are more important things to do (Cf. Lk. 10:38-42). Some, like Judas, will even tell us it is all a waste (Cf. Jn. 12:1-8). In his encyclical Mirae Caritatis, Pope Leo XIII explained that such sentiments are only the "natural result of human pride". For my part, says the Pope...

"I can wish for nothing better than to stir up and foster in the hearts of all men the dispositions of mindful gratitude and due devotion towards this wondrous Sacrament, wherein lies the hope and the cause of salvation and of that peace which all men so anxiously seek." (Leo XIII, Mirae Caritatis, 2)

Countless mystics, popes and saints have testified that the world will be healed, restored and renewed through the power that comes from Jesus in the Eucharist. We have tried everything else and yet the world continues to groan in pain. Should we not take note of the advice given to the leper Naaman by his servant, "If the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it?" (2 Kgs. 5:13)

The Pope isn't asking us to do something difficult nor to abandon our many other works and undertakings, rather he is simply asking that we put Jesus in the Eucharist at the center of our lives and at the center of the Church, precisely so that all of our other efforts will bear abundant fruit and the world will be transformed in love!

"It is not a matter of inventing a 'new program'. The program already exists... it is the same as ever. Ultimately, it has its centre in Christ Himself, Who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in Him we may live the life of the Trinity, and with Him transform history until its fulfillment in the heavenly Jerusalem." (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Art. 60 & Novo Millennio Inuente, Art. 29)

The materials in this book provide the motivation and the content for the New Evangelization. The first step, the Pope says, is to center our own lives on the Eucharist through Holy Mass, Holy Communion, and by committing ourselves to a weekly holy hour and daily visit with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

"The Eucharist and Mission are inseparable... To evangelize the world there is need of apostles who are 'experts' in the celebration, adoration and contemplation of the Eucharist." (JPII, Message for World Mission Sunday 2004)

May Mary, Woman of the Eucharist and Star of Evangelization, lead us to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, to rediscover the Real Presence of the Incarnate Word and Redeemer - Priest and Victim for us and our salvation, to prostrate ourselves in gratitude, adoration, contemplation and love, and to say... 'Here I am Lord, send me!'

The author is a husband, father and permanent Deacon who has been promoting Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration (PEA) since 1993. He has preached and established chapels of PEA in Burma, Colombia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. In 1999 he began working in the Philippines as he believes that from there PEA will effectively spread throughout Southeast Asia. In 2001 he co-founded, together with the Rev. Msgr. Josefino S. Ramirez, HP, the League of Eucharistic Guardians. He can be reached through email with questions about PEA.

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