Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

     In the progression of the Gospels that we will hear proclaimed over the next month Our Lord is preparing His followers to receive the most precious gift that mankind has received from God, namely the Holy Eucharist.  The preparation begins with Jesus feeding the body.  Once hunger and thirst are satisfied, He raises the stakes, as it were, to feeding the soul.  Our human nature suffers from a double hunger and once the more basic is taken care of we can dispose ourselves for the greater gift.

     Unfortunately many do not move on from the primal needs to the higher spiritual needs.  The first takes care of this world, the second with the heavenly. The first is passing, the second eternal.  But why is it that, more and oftentimes solely, people’s interest and devotion are for the earthly satisfaction rather than the heavenly?  It’s all a matter of belief. If we believe that we are immortal, i.e., made to live forever then we recognize we need something or better yet Someone to reassure us that that our destiny is beyond time and space and that as social beings we are meant to live in a communion with others, most especially the One Who has created us. The assurance comes with the promise of Presence, here and now that comes to completion when we transcend the limitations of this world.  That Presence is the Lord Himself in the Holy Eucharist. 

      In the aftermath of the recent National Eucharistic Congress we affirm that we are a Eucharistic people, united with God and others, who believe in the Presence of Christ among us under the appearance of Bread and Wine.  Just as the masses journeyed to find Jesus and flocked to Him, so too we journey every time we make our way to Holy Mass to hear the Words of our Savior and to partake of the Food for Eternal Life.  Having been fed it is our mission to go and let the world know He is here.

With Blessings,

Father Langan