Dear Parish Family:
As we enter into the Easter Season, we are blessed to start celebrating first Holy Communions this weekend and next. So, please keep those young people and their families in your prayers. Holy Communion is Jesus! What a wonderful gift we have—the very real Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (the Eucharist).
The U.S. Bishops have been concerned about our belief in this real presence and our dispositions of heart towards the Blessed Sacrament, especially in the light of a recent survey that stated that 70% of Catholics do not actually believe in the Real Presence. This is why they have launched a three year Eucharistic Revival across our nation. Last year, on the feast of Corpus Christi, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis initiated the “diocese year” for the revival with a Eucharistic Procession in downtown Indianapolis.
This year, on Corpus Christi, we begin the “parish year” for the revival. And St. Malachy will initiate it as well with a Eucharistic Procession. In fact, the feast of Corpus Christi is on the weekend of our St. Malachy Summer Celebration (June 10th). Following the 4:30pm Mass, we will walk in procession with the Blessed Sacrament out the stage on the field for Summer Celebration to offer prayers and benediction with the Blessed Sacrament initiating our celebration of the parish Eucharistic revival. Over the coming year, we will work to inspire and increase our Eucharistic focus in all that we do here at St. Malachy.
If you are wondering what a Eucharistic Procession is, let me explain... Our Catholic Tradition is full of triumphal processions which proclaim Christ our King. A Eucharistic Procession involves the priest carrying the monstrance (which holds the consecrated large host for adoration) as he walks to a special altar for special prayers. If you attended the Holy Thursday Mass, you would have seen such a procession—even though this procession did not include the monstrance but rather the consecrated hosts in the gold ciborium (the covered containers that hold the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle).
This year, you would have also noticed that we used a new canopy (made by a parishioner) to cover the priest carrying the Blessed Sacrament in procession. Theologically, covering anything shows its dignity. This is why we very often veil chalices, ciboriums, and tabernacles. Veiling signifies something that is (1) holy, (2) beautiful and (3) life-giving. We veil the Blessed Sacrament because Jesus is holy, beautiful and life-giving. This is also why women have traditionally veiled as well since we should always honor women as holy, beautiful and life-giving.
The canopy also holds the idea of pitching a tent. In John 1:14, we read: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” In the Greek, the word for “dwelt among” means literally to “pitch a tent.” The canopy symbolizes this tent which God has come to dwell among us. We might also think of the Meeting Tent, which housed the Ark of the Covenant (the real presence of God for the Jews), where the Jewish people gathered to worship God in the desert.
While we walk/process, we also chant Scripture and sing hymns as we accompany Jesus walking behind Him to the place He is leading as His faithful flock. This is usually to an altar (which symbolizes sacrifice) where He blesses us. We might also consider how after the Last Supper, the Apostles accompanied Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane singing psalms where Jesus prayed to the Father.
I hope you mark your calendar to join us that afternoon for both the Eucharistic Procession and Summer Celebration! Whether you join us for Mass and walk in the procession or watch from the field and receive the Lord’s benediction, this will be a wonderful way for our parish to initiate the next year of Eucharistic revival that Archbishop Thompson and the other bishops of our nation have invited us to respond to.
Reflection and transformation of the heart is at the center of this Eucharistic Revival. We want to fall more and more in love with Jesus, who is really and physically present to us in the Blessed Sacrament. How blessed we are! Let me Lord Jesus renew your mind!
In Jesus, through Mary and St. Joseph,
Father Danda
