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Church of the Eucharist - New Evangelization

Chapter 1: The New Evangelization

Rev. Fr. Vincent Martin Lucia

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Ch 1

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Scripture says of Jesus,
the world never recognized the Son.¹
'He was in the world,
but the world did not know Who He was.'²

This is why John the Baptist said,
'There is One among you,
Whom you do not recognize,
the strap of Whose sandal
I am not worthy to unfasten.'³

Then the sky opened,
and the Holy Spirit descended
upon Jesus like a dove
as a voice from Heaven said,
'This is My Son, My Beloved.'⁴

The only time the Father speaks
is to tell the world
Who Jesus is and where to find Him:
'This is My Son, My Beloved.'⁵

This is the evangelization
of the Heavenly Father,
to tell the world where Jesus is
that all may come to Him.

Where is He now
that all may come to Him?
Pope John Paul II answers this question
when he tells us
where Christ is on earth today.

"It is in the Blessed Sacrament," the Pope says,
"that these gentle words are fully verified.
'Come to Me all you
who are weary and find life burdensome,
and I will refresh you.'⁶ "

The Pope asks mankind,
"Where are you going?"
and then continues to say:

"With this question in your hearts,
I hope that you find the answer
at the feet of Christ
in the Blessed Sacrament."

"With the same conviction as Peter, who said,
'Lord to whom shall we go?'⁷
The Pope says, "let us kneel today
before the Blessed Sacrament of the altar
and renew our profession of faith
in the Real Presence of Christ."

Jesus told Peter
that it was the Father Who revealed
His true identity to him.
The true identity of Jesus today
is found in the Eucharist.
'I Myself am the Living Bread.'⁸

The Father continues to reveal
the true identity of His Son
in the Eucharist.
'The Father Who sent Me
bears witness to Me Himself.'⁹

Because the Father wants the whole world
to come to His Son,
the Father speaks to the heart of every man,
of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

This is what Jesus meant
at His Eucharistic discourse when He said,
'They will all be taught by God,
everyone who has heard the Father
and learned from Him,
comes to Me.'¹⁰

'Father I want
those You have given Me
to be with Me where I am.'¹¹

'No one comes to Me,'
Jesus said, 'unless the Father
Who sent Me draws him.'¹²

This means that for every step one takes
to come to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,
one is being drawn there
by the Fathers grace.
'He Who gives Me glory is the Father.'¹³

'The Father loves the Son,
and has given everything over to Him.'¹⁴
'All the Father has belongs to Me,'¹⁵
said Jesus, 'and all the Father gives Me,
shall come to Me.'¹⁶

Thus the message, the meaning,
and the mission
of the Fathers evangelization
is to draw all mankind
to the Heart of His Beloved Son
in the Blessed Sacrament.

This 'is the Father
accomplishing His work,'¹⁷
bringing all humanity
to His Son in the Eucharist.

Pope John Paul II
asks us "to pray with him
for the New Evangelization
that the whole world needs."

The Pope explains "new for the explicit
and deep reference to the Eucharist
as the center and root of Christian life."

He says, "The Eucharist is indeed
the source and summit of all evangelization.
It is the horizon and the goal
of all preaching of the Gospel."

This because, says the Pope,
"Jesus Himself is the Good News,
and the Good News is directed
to clinging to Him as Lord and Savior."

Coming in prayer
into the Presence of Jesus
in order to develop a personal relationship
with Him as Lord and Savior
is called Eucharistic adoration.

The Pope says,
"Everyone is called to grow spiritually
in intimate union with Christ
Who calls each one,
personally, by name."

Eucharistic adoration is
a personal encounter with Jesus.

For this reason, the Pope says,
"It is urgent that the New Evangelization
encourages the search for Jesus Himself
in Eucharistic adoration."

"Remaining in silence
before the Blessed Sacrament,
it is Christ, totally and really Present,
Whom we discern, Whom we adore,
and with Whom we are in contact."

The Gospel is not complicated,
but simple.
This is why Jesus
praised His Father:

'What You have hidden
from the learned and the clever,
You have revealed
to the merest children.'¹⁸
Then He simply said,
'Come to me all of you.'¹⁹

The Pope says it is
"from His Eucharistic dwelling
that Jesus repeats
to each man and to each woman,
'Come to Me.'²⁰ "

The Pope emphasizes the inclusion
of each man and each woman
because what the disciples said in the Gospel
is meant for all humanity.
'You have nothing to fear from Him.
Get up. He is calling you.'²¹

The Gospel is Gods love letter to man,
calling us to Himself,
Love Personified,
as on every page,
the Gospel leads us
to the Word made Flesh,
dwelling among us in the Eucharist.

To make it easy for everyone
to come to Jesus
in the Eucharist,
the Pope encourages
the practice of perpetual adoration,
with permanent exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

A chapel always open
is a sign of the open arms of the Father,
like the father in the parable
of the prodigal son, just waiting,
with outstretched arms for everyone.

The Pope says,
"The entire mission of the Church
is directed to fellowship with the Father
and with His Son Jesus Christ."

Going to the chapel
to be in the Presence of Christ
is coming into the arms of the Father.
'Believe Me that I am in the Father,
and the Father is in Me.'²²

"As pilgrims on the path of time,
the whole of life," says the Pope,
"is like a great pilgrimage,
for it is a journey to the Fathers house."

"Where we discover anew each day,
in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament,
the New and Everlasting Covenant,
that 'God is love.'²³ "

"It is a Covenant open to all peoples
in view of the great eschatological banquet
foretold in the Gospel," says the Pope.

"God sends His servants out
to invite all to the Wedding Feast
because He wants His banquet hall to be full."

The Pope says,
"Because the Eucharist is
the Fathers greatest Gift,
the love of Christ compels us
to make known and loved
the Fathers Gift to everyone."

'Yes, God so loved the world
that He gave His only Son.'²⁴
Adoration is appreciation to the Father
for the Gift of His Son.

Jesus said,
'It is My Father Who gives you
the Real Heavenly Bread.'²⁵

The image of Abraham
willing to sacrifice Isaac
only begins to describe
this Gift of the Fathers Love.

This is because the Eucharist
comes from the Fathers Sacrifice
of His only Son.

The Eucharist is
'the glory of an only Son
coming from the Father
filled with enduring love.'²⁶

The Pope says, "The Eucharist
is in Itself a missionary event."

"As 'the Living Bread come down from Heaven,'²⁷
the Eucharist is the Sacrament of God
going ever in search of man."

The Eucharist is Jesus
reaching out to humanity directly.
'I Myself will pasture My sheep,
I Myself will give them rest,
the lost I will seek out,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal.'²⁸

The Pope says,
"Here in the Blessed Sacrament,
it is the Person of Christ
Who welcomes man afflicted by difficulties,
and consoles him with the warmth
of His understanding and love."

The Pope stresses,
"In the Eucharistic Mystery,
the Risen One, in fact,
has wished to continue
dwelling in our midst,
so that every human being
can know His true Name,
and experience His boundless Mercy."

This is the New Evangelization.
In the eternal now of God,
it is the Father calling
all of His children to come
into the Eucharistic embrace
of His Divine Son
'that all may be one.'²⁹

The Pope says,
"Each of you must be a fervent witness
to Christs Presence in the Blessed Sacrament."

Through each of us,
the witness of perpetual adoration
is the Father saying to the world today,
'This is My Son, My Beloved.'³⁰

By our witness, the true identity of His Son,
and where to find Him, is revealed.

Like the Holy Spirit
Who gave witness to the Presence of Jesus
at the Jordan, by descending upon Him
in the form of a dove,
through perpetual adoration
each of us gives witness to Him
by surrounding Him
with an unbroken chain of love.

'He who loves Me, said Jesus,
'will be loved by My Father.'³¹

'The Father loves Me for this,
I lay down My life.'³²
Adoration is appreciation to Jesus
for all He has done for our salvation.

Through the love and appreciation
given to the Lord in perpetual adoration,
He is never left alone,
the chapel is always open,
and together as a People of God,
we give witness to the world
that Jesus, the Risen Savior, is really there!

Adoration is witnessing to Jesus.
'The prophetic spirit proves itself
by witnessing to Jesus.'³³

Jesus said,
'Whoever acknowledges Me before men,
I will acknowledge
before My Father in Heaven.'³⁴

Eucharistic Evangelization is
a divine love call
for all humanity to come
to Jesus Himself
in the Blessed Sacrament.

'Everybody is looking for You,'³⁵
Peter told Jesus.

Evangelization is telling everybody
where Jesus is today,
truly Present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

As the friends of Jesus in the Gospel
were called to tell the world
that He had risen,
we are called to tell everyone
where the Risen Savior dwells.

The Pope says, "The Eucharistic Mystery
is in fact the summit of evangelization,
for it is the most eminent testimony
to Christs Resurrection."

"Here, as in no other place on earth,
we hear the Lord say once more,
'Do not fear, I have overcome the world.'³⁶ "

"The Resurrection of Jesus
is the definitive seal
of all of Gods promises.
For by His Resurrection,
He opens the way to when
mans pilgrimage will come to an end
and 'God will be all in all.'³⁷ "

The Pope says, "Christianity is not static
and cannot be reduced to doctrine
or mere principles because
the Person of Christ,
as the center of Christianity, is ALIVE,
and His Eucharistic Presence
is dynamically ACTIVE in renewing us
and the entire cosmos."

"In the Risen Christ, all creation rises to new life,
as the very Presence
of the Risen Christ among us means,
'Now, I am making the whole of creation new.'³⁸ "

"At the dawn of a new millennium,
Christians should look to the future,"
says the Pope, as he exclaims that:

"New Evangelization is the Good News,
proclaiming the Eucharist
as the Risen One
Who is worthy of our trust
to 'make all things new.'³⁹ "

Scripture References

¹ 1 Jn 3:1
² Jn 1:10
³ Jn 1:26-27
⁴ Mt 3:17
⁵ Mt 3:17
⁶ Mt 11:28
⁷ Jn 6:68
⁸ Jn 6:51
⁹ Jn 8:18
¹⁰ Jn 6:45
¹¹ Jn 17:24
¹² Jn 6:44
¹³ Jn 8:54
¹⁴ Jn 3:35
¹⁵ Jn 16:15
¹⁶ Jn 6:37
¹⁷ Jn 14:10
¹⁸ Mt 11:25
¹⁹ Mt 11:28
²⁰ Mt 11:28
²¹ Mk 10:49
²² Jn 14:11
²³ 1 Jn 4:8
²⁴ Jn 3:16
²⁵ Jn 6:32
²⁶ Jn 1:14
²⁷ Jn 6:51
²⁸ Ez 34:15-16
²⁹ Jn 17:21
³⁰ Mt 3:17
³¹ Jn 14:21
³² Jn 10:17
³³ Rev 19:10
³⁴ Mt 10:32
³⁵ Mk 1:37
³⁶ Jn 16:33
³⁷ 1 Cor 15:28
³⁸ Rev 21:5
³⁹ Rev 21:5