04/23/00

Eucharist and Hope: the life of the Church

When Pope John Paul II visited, during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land a couple of weeks ago, the upper room in Jerusalem where tradition tells us Jesus celebrated his last supper with the Twelve, the Holy Father thought not only of that scene but of its continuation in all the Eucharistic celebrations throughout the world. He thought as well of all those ordained priests who, surrounded by the people Christ gives into their care, celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass around the world. He made mention also of all those priests martyred because of their ministry in this century, joining the sacrifice of their very lives with the sacrifice of Christ.

Into our minds and hearts in Holy Week enter the ordained priesthood, the Holy Eucharist, and the pledge of glory yet to come. The Jesus whose passion, death and resurrection redeems the world is present truly and uniquely in the Eucharist which brings that action to us in our space and our time. The Eucharist shapes the Church because the whole Christ is present and acts in its being offered. The ordained priest, acting in the person of Christ the head of his body, consecrates bread and wine, which lose entirely their own identity to be sacramentally the Body and Blood of the Lord. To that action, the baptized members of Christ’s body bring their own lives, so that the sacrifice offered to the Father joins Christ’s people to Christ himself, now risen from the dead. In receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord, we enter into Christ’s sacrifice and receive the power to live with him now so that, with him, we can enter into glory.

Do we reflect in some way the glory that is ours as a Eucharistic people? I believe we do. The Church gives glory to Christ because, especially through the Eucharist, she lives his very life. There are times, too many of them, when that glory is diminished by our sinfulness. But there is so much that is good in our families, our parishes and schools, the institutions which grow from a generosity born of grace, that we can always continue in the midst of difficulties to be a hope-filled people.

It helps, of course, to keep the whole picture in mind. The Eucharist brings the whole picture to us, just as reflecting on it brought the picture of the entire Church into the Pope’s mind during his visit to the upper room. I try to bring the whole archdiocese to mind and heart each time I celebrate the Eucharist, whether in my chapel in the residence or in the parishes or in the cathedral. In Holy Week, especially during the Mass which consecrates the oil and chrism used for the sacraments throughout the archdiocese and during the Mass of Holy Thursday, I try to bring to mind all the priests of the archdiocese and those ordained to help them, the deacons.

There are priests in parishes and others confined to nursing homes, in retirement but still very active and others in poor health which limits their activity. There are those recently ordained and those whose lives have shaped this local Church for many years. There are priests of ethnic groups which have been here for many years and others from peoples more recently arrived, especially Hispanic Catholics. There are priests recently arrived from Poland and Lithuania and others from several Asian countries. Each of them learns who he is in celebrating the Eucharist with the people.

A few weeks ago, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, searching for a chaplain for the House, asked me to give him a short list of priests who would “care for the members”, as he put it. He wanted, he said, a pastoral priest who could unite the members of a House which had become disunited in the very process of choosing a chaplain. I told him I could give him several hundred names of Chicago priests who could do that, because a priest is not someone who gives services to individuals so much as a source of unity around Christ for all the people in his care. In the end, I gave him a list of six and he went on to make his choice for chaplain of the House. He chose well, but the bench was deep.

This week, I hope you’ll think about the ways your parish priest or another priest brings hope into your life. Pray for and encourage vocations to the ordained priesthood in the Church so that together, priests and people, we may give glory to Christ by sharing now in his life. Think of how that life, given totally for us on the cross, is participated in because of the ministry of priests.

Writing to priests during Holy Week, the Holy Father said: “Let us remain faithful to what the upper room ‘hands on’ to us. May we always celebrate the Holy Eucharist with fervor. May we dwell long and often in adoration before Christ in the Eucharist. May we sit at the ‘school’ of the Eucharist. Through the centuries, countless priests have found in the Eucharist the consolation promised by Jesus on the evening of the Last Supper, the secret to overcoming their solitude, the strength to bear their sufferings, the nourishment to make a new beginning after every discouragement, and the inner energy to bolster their decision to remain faithful. The witness which we give to the People of God in celebrating the Eucharist depends in large part upon our own personal relationship with the Eucharist.”

The personal relationship each of us, priests and people, has with Christ in the Eucharist gives the deepest significance to our greeting to one another this week: Happy Easter.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago

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