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Church of the Eucharist - New Evangelization

Chapter 2: The Mission of the Church

Rev. Fr. Vincent Martin Lucia

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Ch 2

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Dear friends, says the Pope,
"This is the Church's mission.
This is your mission.
Go! Prepare the way
for the Lord Who comes."

"In the urgency of this missionary mandate,
the Gospel of Christ,
the message of happiness for every person,
should be courageously presented."

"The Christian humbly lowers himself
to exalt Jesus, and, like the Baptist,
is called to point to Jesus
as the awaited Messiah."

"His task is to invite people
to fix their gaze on Jesus
in the Blessed Sacrament."

"Like the precursor,
it is Christ and not himself
Whom he must emphasize."
'One more powerful than I is to come.'⁴⁰
'Behold the Lamb of God.'⁴¹

"Everything must be directed to Him,
to His coming, to His Presence,
to His Mystery."

"Evangelization for the Eucharist,
in the Eucharist, and from the Eucharist,
is how the Church lives the Mystery of Christ
and fulfills its mission
of communicating It to all men,
a mission that lasts until the end of time,
as Jesus said He will be with us always."

"Jesus remains with us
in the Blessed Sacrament
as our most faithful Friend,
Who calls to us with the soothing words:
'Come to Me.'⁴²

This is why every person must meet Him,
know Him, and follow Him."

Mary is the Star of the New Evangelization.
Like a shining star,
she guides our steps to the Lord.

Mary is the woman of faith who believed
that the small Infant she held in her arms
was the Creator of the whole universe.

Now she helps the whole world believe
that the small Host the priest elevates at Mass
is the Lamb of God.

When the angel told Mary
that she would be the Mother of Jesus,
she asked, 'How can this be,
since I do not know man?'⁴³

'How can this be?'
is the question some ask now
regarding the Real Presence
of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

The answer the angel gave Mary
to explain the Incarnation
is also the answer
that explains Transubstantiation.

'The Holy Spirit will come upon you
and the power of the Most High
will overshadow you.'⁴⁴
'The Virgin shall be with Child.'⁴⁵
'For nothing is impossible with God.'⁴⁶

What happened to Mary,
when the Word became Flesh in her womb,
happens now at Holy Mass,
when Christ comes upon the Altar.

As the Holy Spirit came upon Mary
and the Word became Flesh,
so does the Holy Spirit come upon the gifts,
of bread and wine at the consecration,
to change them into the Body and Blood of Christ,
'For nothing is impossible with God.'⁴⁷

Through the power of the Holy Spirit
'nothing is impossible with God'
explains the Mystery of Christ's Birth,
as well as the Mystery of His Real Presence
in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

When Mary said to the angel
'I am the servant of the Lord,'⁴⁸
she was given the mission of bringing
the Presence of Christ into the world
and the world into the Presence of Christ
in the Blessed Sacrament.

Mary is the Father's missionary.
Her Visitation to Elizabeth after the angel left her
describes her universal mission to all humanity.

With zeal she made haste
to bring Jesus hidden in her womb,
to her cousin Elizabeth,
who was filled with the Holy Spirit
as soon as she came into the Presence of Christ.

Mary is called 'Blessed' because she trusted
that the Lord's words to her
would be fulfilled.

With Mary's help, we learn to trust
in the Lord's Word to us, as He says,

'The Bread I will give is My Flesh
for the life of the world.'⁴⁹

When Jesus first spoke these words, says the Pope,
"Those who hear Him do not understand.
Their outlook is too materialistic,
and they are unable to grasp
the unlimited horizons of the Spirit."

"But Jesus is not prepared to back down.
He is ready even to lose
those who are closest to Him,
'Will you also go away?'⁵⁰ "

"On her part," emphasizes the Pope,
"the Church knows that the Eucharist,
received by her as a Gift,
is destined for all people."

"Let us ask Mary to help us rediscover
the centrality of the Eucharist.
As the Word was made Flesh through Mary,
so too, through Mary all humanity is led
to the Word made Flesh in the Eucharist."

Pope John Paul II says,
"For two thousand years
the Church has been the cradle
in which Mary places Jesus
and entrusts Him to the adoration
and the contemplation
of all peoples."

His name is Emmanuel, 'God is with us.'⁵¹
Bethlehem means 'house of bread'
as He continues His Incarnation
dwelling with us today
as 'the Bread of Life'.

His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament
was foreshadowed in the Old Testament.
'Truly the Lord is in this spot.'⁵²

God dwelt among His people
in a place called 'the Meeting Tent,'
known as 'the Dwelling.'⁵³

'May You watch day and night over this temple,
the place where You have decreed
that You shall be honored.'⁵⁴

'A tabernacle was constructed.
The outer one, in which were the lampstand,
the table, and the showbread,
was called the holy place,'⁵⁵
'where I will meet you.'⁵⁶
'You are my intimate friend.'⁵⁷

'Behind the second veil
was the tabernacle called the holy of holies
in which were the altar
and the ark of the covenant.
In the ark was the golden jar
containing the manna.'⁵⁸

God instructed the people
to reverence the manna
and the showbread
'as something most sacred.'⁵⁹

This was to prepare His people
for the reverence and perpetual adoration
due to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament,
'the Living Bread come down from Heaven.'⁶⁰

'I intend to build a house for the honor of the Lord,
... for the burning of fragrant incense in His presence,
for the perpetual display of the showbread
... such is Israel's perpetual obligation.'⁶¹

The theme of the Old Testament is the promise
of a New Covenant of love and friendship
between God and His people.

'See, the days are coming
when I will establish a New Covenant.
I will be their God, and they will be My people.
They will all know Me.'⁶²

It was not until the Last Supper,
while instituting the Eucharist, that Jesus declared,
'This is the New Covenant in My Blood'⁶³
to fulfill God's promise:

'I will make an Everlasting Covenant with them
and I will put My Sanctuary among them forever.
My Dwelling shall be with them.'⁶⁴
'The ark of the covenant they will no longer think of
or remember or miss.'⁶⁵

When He was on the Cross,
'the curtain in the sanctuary was torn in two'⁶⁶
because, 'by His own Blood
Christ has come and entered the sanctuary
once and for all.'⁶⁷

'He is Minister of the New Sanctuary
and the true Meeting Tent.'⁶⁸
This is 'where myriads of angels
in festal gathering
assemble to adore Him.'⁶⁹

'All the angels of God worship Him'⁷⁰
because on the Cross He cried out,
not only for Himself but for all humanity,
'My God, why have You abandoned Me?'⁷¹

Christ opened His arms on the Cross
so that in the Eucharist all mankind
may be forever embraced in the Father's love.

In this Sacrament is fulfilled
the Father's promise to mankind:
'For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great tenderness
I will take you back.'⁷²

In the great tenderness of the Eucharist,
God embraces man.
In the intimacy of this Sacrament
His words are fulfilled.

'They will all know Me.'⁷³

That all know Him in the Eucharist
is the mission of Mary.
"And who better than Mary can accompany us
in this journey of the mind and heart?"

"Because Christ her Son is the Savior of all,
Mary is the Mother of all."

When Jesus said on the Cross:
'Woman, behold your son,
Son, behold your Mother,'⁷⁴
Mary became the spiritual Mother
of the entire human race.

Nobody wants more
to make Jesus known
and loved in the Eucharist
than His Mother Mary.

As she stood by Him
at the foot of the Cross,
Mary saw Him so unloved and so unwanted.
In her sorrow, her Heart became one with His,
so that all hearts may be united in Him.

'Come and I will show you the woman
who is the Bride of the Lamb.'⁷⁵

Mary brings the Church and all humanity
into an espousal union with Jesus in the Eucharist.
The triumph of her Immaculate Heart
will be the Eucharistic Reign of her Son
through perpetual adoration,
which will bring about the New Era.

'If My people humble themselves, pray,
and seek My Presence,
I will revive their land.'⁷⁶

The humble prayer of the Rosary
leads us to the Eucharist.
"As a prayer, the true nature of the Rosary
helps us to stay in the Presence
of Christ's company, to know Him better,
assimilate His teaching, and live His Mysteries.
The Rosary is the contemplation of Christ
in His Mysteries, in close union with Mary."

As Mary and the Apostles 'devoted themselves
to constant prayer'⁷⁷ in preparation for Pentecost,
so does Mary now gather the Church
around the Presence of her Son
in perpetual adoration to prepare the world
for a second and more powerful Pentecost.

"All generations will call Mary blessed
because she believed in the marvels
accomplished by the Holy Spirit."

"These marvels are accomplished
in every holy hour of prayer
as the generosity of Jesus
in a single holy hour
may be likened to the generosity of Jesus
at the wedding feast at Cana
where His Mother instructed
those waiting on table
'Do whatever He tells you.'⁷⁸ "

At Cana, 'He ordered six stone water jars
to be filled to the brim,
each one holding fifteen to twenty-five gallons.'⁷⁹

What does Jesus tell us today?
'Could you not watch one hour with Me?'⁸⁰

For just as He changed water
into generous amounts of wine, so too,
Jesus changes the time you spend with Him
into a copious outpouring of grace
upon you and the whole world.

A holy hour is a prelude to the Wedding Feast,
'Happy are they who have been invited
to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.'⁸¹

In a foretaste of the Divine Banquet,
each holy hour is an invitation
to partake in a feast of Heavenly graces.

"Jesus remains in our midst in the Blessed Sacrament
where He pours out the blessings of His Redemption
upon all who come into His Presence."

"This is because He is burning with desire
to be loved in the Blessed Sacrament,
and those who respond to this desire
build a new civilization of love."

The Eucharist is the Lover
in the Song of songs
Who pursues the love of His Bride, the Church.
The Eucharist is the Gift of Jesus Himself.

'If only you recognized God's Gift
and Who it is...'⁸²
"The mission of the Church
must be a voice that refers to the Word,
a friend who leads to the Bridegroom."

"In virtue of the prophetic mission of the Church,
the lay faithful are called to testify
how the Christian faith in the Eucharist
constitutes the only fully valid response
to the problems and hopes that life poses
to every person and society."

"You are called
to be prophets of Christian hope,
for the Eucharist is the principle
of the new humanity
and the renewed world,
in fulfillment of the earnest prayer of the Lord
at the Last Supper,
'THAT ALL MAY BE ONE.'⁸³ "

"As we eagerly await
the definitive coming of the Lord,
when the Church's Spouse
returns in glory,
humanity must hope.
It is a hope that stimulates vigilance.
Vigilance is prayer."

"This is why
the Church and the world
have a great need
for Eucharistic adoration."

"Let us be generous with our time
in going to meet Him."

For as 'love hopes in all things,'
and as 'love never fails,'⁸⁴
this is what will bring about
an everlasting peace to all mankind
in a Wedding Feast between God and man
that will never end.

Scripture References

⁴⁰ Mt 3:11
⁴¹ Jn 1:29
⁴² Mt 11:28
⁴³ Lk 1:34
⁴⁴ Lk 1:35
⁴⁵ Mt 1:23
⁴⁶ Lk 1:37
⁴⁷ Lk 1:37
⁴⁸ Lk 1:38
⁴⁹ Jn 6:51
⁵⁰ Jn 6:67
⁵¹ Mt 1:23
⁵² Gn 28:16
⁵³ Ex 40:34
⁵⁴ 1 Kgs 8:29
⁵⁵ Hb 9:2
⁵⁶ Ex 30:6
⁵⁷ Ex 33:12
⁵⁸ Hb 9:3-4
⁵⁹ Lev 24:9
⁶⁰ Jn 6:51
⁶¹ 2 Chr 2:3
⁶² Jer 31:31-34
⁶³ Lk 22:20
⁶⁴ Ez 37:26-27
⁶⁵ Jer 3:16
⁶⁶ Lk 23:45
⁶⁷ Hb 9:12
⁶⁸ Hb 8:2
⁶⁹ Hb 12:22
⁷⁰ Hb 1:6
⁷¹ Mk 15:34
⁷² Is 54:7
⁷³ Jer 31:34
⁷⁴ Jn 19:26-27
⁷⁵ Rv 21:9
⁷⁶ 2 Chr 7:14
⁷⁷ Acts 1:14
⁷⁸ Jn 2:5
⁷⁹ Jn 2:6-7
⁸⁰ Mt 26:40
⁸¹ Rv 19:9
⁸² Jn 4:10
⁸³ Jn 17:21
⁸⁴ 1 Cor 13:7-8