June 18-19

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

     Long before there was a Bible or any compilation of the Sacred Scriptures of the New Testament there was and always has been, since the Last Supper, the Holy Eucharist.  Our Lord Jesus Christ ever fulfills His promise,” I will not leave you orphans.”  In other words: “I am with you until the end of time”.  Every time then that the Church has gathered, She has not only listened to and recalled the Words of the Lord but She has also celebrated His Presence in His Body and Blood, the Food of eternal life.

     As we celebrate this glorious Solemnity of Corpus Christi, we rise in gratitude for the most precious, and sadly least understood, gift that God has bestowed upon humanity.  To be absolutely clear and to the point the Most Holy Eucharist is the unbloody Sacrifice of our Savior upon the cross, the complete and total offering of the Son of God to the Father in order to reconcile humanity.  Because of the original sin of our first parents, there was a break in the intimacy that we had with our Heavenly Father.  Jesus our Savior repaired the rift caused by sin and continues to reconcile us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the re-presentation of Calvary.  No greater love has this world known than the Sacrifice of the Son of God for the redemption of us all.  And it continues to this day at every Catholic and Orthodox altar.

     With today’s Solemnity the Church in the United States begins a year of Eucharistic renewal.  Sadly, so many Catholics have drifted away from the Sunday celebration of Mass no doubt because they do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.  How is it possible that we ignore  the very words of Christ our Savior:  ” Do This in memory of Me”?  In the days ahead, we shall recall with great emphasis the Mystery that makes us one with God and with each other.  Let us devote ourselves to the renewal and greater appreciation of what God has given us in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

With Blessings,

Father Langan