Bulletins

November 29, 2015

Download the Bulletin as a PDF

Having reviewed most of the theological sections of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the document on the Sacred Liturgy from the Second Vatican Council, we can turn our attention to Pope Saint John Paul II.

His last major work touching on the Sacred Liturgy came in 2003 and is called Ecclesia de Eucharistia or “The Church of the Eucharist”. Interestingly enough, in all of his one hundred four footnotes, he quotes only once from Sacrosanctum Concilium. His theological and historical is extensive and will help us fill in a complete picture.

The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences the constant fulfilment of the promise: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity. Ever since Pentecost, when the Church, the People of the New Covenant, began her pilgrim journey towards her heavenly homeland, the Divine Sacrament has continued to mark the passing of her days, filling them with confident hope.

The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church 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” (Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests 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…. The Church was born of the paschal mystery. For this very reason the Eucharist, which is in an outstanding way the sacrament of the paschal mystery, stands at the centre of the Church's life. This is already clear from the earliest images of the Church found in the Acts of the Apostles: “They devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (2:42)

You can read it online: bit.ly/EcclesiaDeEucharistia_ENG

This Sunday we all begin a new liturgical year. On Wednesday we start a novena to help our Confirmandi make the final preparations for a new life in Christ. Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, unchanging and yet always new. May this new beginning lead us all deeper into the mystery of God among us.

God bless you!

Fr. Christopher J. Pollard