“The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life. …For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our Passover and our living bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to all.’ 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.”
In this opening paragraph of his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Saint Pope John Paul II, provided a powerful reminder of the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of all followers of Christ. We need our Lord in our lives and are blessed that he has given himself to us in this clear sign. We truly receive him, body and blood, soul and divinity, whenever we receive Holy Communion. We are truly in his presence when we come before him in the Blessed Sacrament, whether reserved in the tabernacle or exposed on the altar.
Every year, we are privileged to set apart some time to be with our Lord exposed in the Blessed Sacrament during our annual Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion. This year, our Annual Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion will be held next week: 10 – 12 October. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on Sunday, 10 October, after the 11:30am Mass and remain exposed until Evening Prayer and Benediction at 7:00pm. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on Monday and Tuesday after the 8:00am Mass and remain exposed all day. On Monday evening, there will be Evening Prayer and Benediction at 7:00pm. On Tuesday evening, the Annual Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion will conclude with Mass, Procession and Benediction at 7:00pm.
Father Waters graciously accepted my invitation to lead us in reflection on the Blessed Sacrament over these three days. It will be one of the last times that we will benefit from his reflections before he leaves for his new assignment so I encourage you join us! Fr. Waters has titled his presentations: St. Joseph: the Eucharistic Man. As we celebrate the Year of St. Joseph and have become even more aware of the precious gift of the Eucharist during this time of pandemic, we certainly will do well to reflect on this theme. So, I invite everyone to come and join in to spend some time before Our Lord truly present to us, exposed for our adoration and worship, inspiration and direction! And, if you need some inspiration to help you, bring a Bible along and reflect on the Eucharistic passages found in all the Gospels as well as Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (cf. Matthew 14:13-21; 15:32-39; 26:17-30; Mark 6:34-44; 8:1-21; 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-30; John 6:1-15, 25-69; 13:1-17:26, 1 Corinthians 11:23-29).
The practice of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in every parish has a long history in our Church. Although its origins are lost in time, St. Charles Borromeo, the patron saint of our seminary who was the archbishop of Milan from 1564 – 1584, wrote about this devotion, known in Italian as Quarant’Ore, as if it were already well established in his day. It was probably started to counter the claim of the Protestant Reformation that our Lord was not really present in the Blessed Sacrament and that Holy Communion was just a memorial of the Last Supper.
This devotion has a long history in this Archdiocese, as well. Saint John Neumann introduced it when he became bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. Bishop Neumann called for every parish in the Philadelphia Diocese – which at that time included most of Pennsylvania, all of Delaware and the southern half of New Jersey – to provide a Forty Hour Eucharistic Devotion every year. The number 40 as a scriptural number speaks of preparation and purification: recall the 40 days of rain in the time of Noah, Moses’ 40 days on Mount Sinai before he received the 10 Commandments, the Israelites’ wandering in the desert for 40 years before arriving in the Promised Land, Our Lord’s 40 days in the desert before he started his public ministry and 40 days among us between his Resurrection and Ascension. Times were assigned to parishes so that Our Lord would be exposed on an altar in the Diocese at all times throughout the year. At that time, very few Catholic received communion more than a few times in their lives due to a theological focus that stressed Christ’s divinity and our unworthiness. Consequently, they were eager to come before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament so that they could at least be in our Lord’s presence, even if they felt unworthy to receive him in Holy Communion.
Today, most Catholics who attend Mass receive Communion regularly once they receive their First Holy Communion. But, everyone would benefit from taking time before the Blessed Sacrament for an extended time of prayer and reflection. Our parish provides for this every Monday, when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed from the end of the 8:30am Mass until Benediction at 4:30pm. And, our Annual Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion offers even more time for us to spend time with our Lord present in the Eucharist. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this special moment in our annual parish life. Whether you stop in for a few moments or an hour, I assure you that you will benefit greatly from quiet time in the presence of our Lord. I can’t think of a better way to come together to worship our Lord, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament!