Dear Friends:

Every Christmas morning, we hear proclaimed at mass the prologue of John’s gospel. In John 1:14, the Greek literally says that “the word became flesh and pitched his tent among us.” We might say that God became flesh and moved into the neighborhood. We know that God tented with the Israelites in the wilderness and now Christ pitches his tent with us. Why did the word leave a glorious throne in heaven to pitch a tent in the rough and dusty confines of earth? It says a lot about how God sees us and how much god loves us!

In this Parish Year of the Eucharistic Revival, it’s fitting to think of each celebration of the Eucharist as Christ pitching his tent with us, the people of God. He gladly enters into solidarity with whatever we are experiencing in life. In her book “Redeemed,” Heather King imagines Jesus saying at each celebration of the Eucharist, “I’m in solidarity not only with your humanity, your brokenness, your sins; I’m in solidarity with your pathologies. And in offering up my very flesh, I am going to transform the consciousness of all humanity, for all time.”

By now my first pastoral letter as bishop, titled “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” has been distributed around the diocese. There are four sections to it: Eucharist as gift, Eucharist as encounter, Eucharist as communion, and Eucharist as mission. Ultimately, the Eucharist sends us forth as missionary disciples to pitch our tents with those most in need and to take the Christ we have received in our hearts to those who do not yet know him.

Clearly, we must begin with the poor. I am aware that the homeless in our community will soon enough have to pitch their tents in the snow. Some families and the elderly suffer from food scarcity. Especially at Christmas, let us consider offering our time or financial support to Catholic service organizations, such as Catholic Charities, which through its food shelf program meets the needs of our brothers and sisters who are hungry.

Though far away, our hearts go out to the victims of the war in the Holy Land and in Ukraine. We see migrants who risk everything, and who face exploitation and danger as they flee violence and oppression, seeking to find a better life in our country, just as our own ancestors did. Even the Holy Family fled violence and moved to Egypt. Surely Christ has pitched his tent among them, and so can we, through our sympathy and prayers.

As Christmas approaches, we give thanks that the Word became flesh and chose to pitch his tent among us human beings. The greatest gift we have ever received, Jesus Christ, dwells within us and comes to us at every Mass. As his disciples, we take him to others so that he can pitch his tent in the hearts of the lonely, the homeless, those struggling with mental or physical illness, immigrants, prisoners, struggling farmers and any who are in need.

Yours in Christ, Bishop Patrick Neary

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Catholic theologian, author and teacher, Dr. Tim O’Malley will be the keynote speaker Sept. 7-9 at the local Eucharistic Congress (see box for details). O’Malley serves as the director of education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. He’s the author of seven books and his articles have appeared in America magazine, Our Sunday Visitor, Religion News Service and Angelus magazine. On his Twitter feed, he recently wrote: “Outdoor adventure is necessary for my well-being. East Tennessee remains ingrained in my being.”

Q. You’re the author/editor of “Becoming Eucharistic People.” What inspired you to write it? What have been the fruits of writing it?

A. During the pandemic, I was asked to write a book on the doctrine of Real Presence. What I discovered there was the gift of Christ’s presence dwelling among us, feeding us, inviting us to recognize once again his hidden presence in the hungry and thirsty. Then, I thought: Well, you can’t just tell people that and expect them to become what they receive in the Eucharist — the love of Christ poured out for the life of the world. You need a process of gradual formation. So, my book “Becoming Eucharistic People” was interested in that. How do you live a Eucharistic life? It’s worship, it’s letting yourself be formed by the Eucharist, it’s challenging a sense of religious practice as merely private, and it’s love of your neighbor unto the end.

The fruits, I think for me, have been a recognition that the Eucharistic Revival speaks into the deepest concerns of the Church today: how do we live together, and even love one another, with a charity that comes from Christ and not ourselves?

Q. You’ve been out speaking a lot. What has that experience been like?

A. I’ve learned a lot. The Church in many dioceses throughout the United States is thinking about what it means to engage in evangelization. They’re wondering about new pastoral strategies. And what I’ve discovered is that the Eucharist provides a kind of renewal of the imagination to help us think about this renewed evangelization. One that heals, enlightens, and unifies. We’re not a bureaucracy.

You can’t just hire (even the best) consultants to come in and restructure leadership.We need a mission. Our mission, as the Church, isthe self-giving love of Christ. It’s love and love unto the end. This is attractive, and I get a sense that this could be a new springtime in our beloved Church (despite all the challenges, which are very real).

Q. What are you seeing nationally regarding the Eucharistic Revival? What is your hope that the Eucharistic Revival will do?

A. The Second Vatican Council was clear: the Church is a eucharistic mystery before the Church is anything else. We are not members of Christ’s Body because we align with the political platform of the Republicans or Democrats, because we are readers of the National Catholic Register or Reporter. We are Catholic, conformed to Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit made to worship the living God. I want every baptized Catholic, especially the lay faithful, to recognize that their vocation is the Eucharist. To offer their lives as a sacrifice of love for the life of the world. To receive our Lord in the Eucharist in a way that makes their flesh and blood lives different. To spend time before the Lord in quiet, learning to see with gratitude the gift of love that is given in the Eucharistic mystery. And to love one another, especially those who our society treats as most unlovable. We are called to communion — the most remarkable, beautiful communion that any human being could imagine.

Q. What are you most looking forward to when you come to Minnesota?

A. I look forward to being with the people of the Dioceseof St. Cloud. I look forward to seeing dear friends from Saint John’s and Saint Benedict’s. I look forward to praying with the monks of Saint John’s Abbey. I look forward to cheese curds and a visit to the Pickled Loon. I also can’t wait to see Bishop Patrick Neary, who I have known since 2000 (well before he was your ordinary).

Q. What is at the heart of the message you’ll be sharing with the people of St. Cloud?

A. What I’ve said above: you are a eucharistic people! You are temples of the Holy Spirit made to consecrate the whole world back to the Father through the Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit. In your family. At your job. In politics. In agriculture. In hunting and friendship and hiking. God wants it all: Lift up your hearts to the Lord.

Q. Why should people come to the retreat or family event?

A. You can’t become a eucharistic people in the abstract. Just like you can’t love in the abstract. It’s easy to love humankind. It’s hard to love this person or that person. Our task is to come together. To manifest our love of Christ to the world. To become what we receive in the Eucharist.

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If you go: Diocese-wide Retreat

When: Friday, Sept. 8, check-in at 8:30 a.m.
Where: Seven Dolors Church, Albany
Retreat begins at 9 a.m. with presentations by Dr. Tim O’Malley, prayer, small and large group discussions, personal reflection time and a shared meal, ending at 3 p.m., followed by Mass.
Cost: $15 to offset costs for lunch and materials
To register: www.stcdio.org/eucharistic-revival

If you go: All-diocese Family Friendly Event

When: Saturday, Sept. 9
Where: Lake George, St. Cloud
Daily Mass at 8 a.m., eucharistic procession around the lake, adoration, confession; several presentations by Dr. Tim O’Malley; music by SONAR, Eucharistic Word and Art display; kids’ activities, inflatables, food trucks, service learning and opportunities; Benediction, Divine Mercy Chaplet, multicultural procession to St. Mary’s Cathedral with Mass at 4 p.m., followed by St. Mary’s annual Block Party.
Cost: Free to attend (bring your own picnic lunch
or purchase from food trucks)

The post Diocesan Eucharistic Congress keynoter Dr. Tim O’Malley: ‘You are a eucharistic people!’ appeared first on The Central Minnesota Catholic.

His quest began in 1991, before the current church building even existed. Don, along with Joanne and others who were committed to the concept, formed small prayer groups who gathered regularly and prayed that they could get the idea off the ground.

“St. Anthony’s has always been a church of prayer,” Joanne said. “In the old church, you could go and pray any time and there was always someone there praying. It was when they added an elevator in the old church that a classroom became accessible and that’s where we started adoration,” Joanne recalled.

That was Jan. 12, 1995; and when St. Anthony’s dedicated a new church building in 2001, it included a separate eucharistic adoration chapel. This is now it’s 28th year being open 24 hours, seven days a week, with a few exceptions during liturgical holidays.

Over the years, the need for adorers has waxed and waned, and it especially took a hit during the pandemic. Last fall, Nicky Carlson, a member of St. Joseph Parish in Waite Park, heard about the need for help organizing and finding more people to participate. She felt called to step forward to assist.

“It is such an important part of our community that I just want more people to experience it,” Carlson said.

Carlson herself first encountered the real presence of Jesus while coming forward for a blessing at a Catholic church in the Twin Cities several years ago. She grew up Baptist, and as a young adult her natural curiosity inspired her to ask questions about her faith and explore other traditions. While discerning with a Catholic priest, she often sat in the pew during Communion until he encouraged her to go through the line to receive the blessing.

“I was a little unsure, but I went up,” Carlson said through tears, recalling the sacred moment. “I could see the person next to me about to receive the host and, as the priest was holding it up, I truly saw Jesus present in the Eucharist.”

Because of her profound love and respect for the Eucharist, Carlson has found that, in addition to her love of Mass, she has a deep devotion to eucharistic adoration and wants others to have the opportunity to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament whenever they are able.

“Spending time [in adoration] helps you learn to live in the quiet and allows you to hear God’s voice,” Carlson said. “For me, it’s the only place I can really do that. There is noise everywhere. Having a place where you can go and really listen is important. When I look at Jesus in the monstrance, I feel like I am making eye contact with him. When I think about how many people are allowing Jesus into their lives, I can just imagine what that does for our whole community.”

Joanne added that she, too, is always touched by the ways adoration speaks to people in different times of their lives.

“We don’t know all the little things — or big things — happening in people’s lives but we know a lot of people come through here, some who are members and many who are not. We also see a lot of young people discerning vocations come here to pray. It is always so encouraging to see that,” she said.

Carlson has been so moved by the commitment and dedication of those who sign up for holy hours, sometimes multiple times a week, and people who drive from all over to come and spend time in the chapel. While the response is great, Carlson said there is always a need for more adorers. Interested people can contact her at nicolechristine789@gmail.com.

“When I look on our schedule and see how many people are committed, it is just overwhelming. Some have multiple hours, some come in the middle of the night, some come multiple days each week. Some people come alone, some bring their families. I just want that for more people.”

Since Joanne’s husband, Don, died in 2011, she has continued his legacy as an adorer and wants to encourage others to give it a try. For those who haven’t experienced it, the unknown can feel uncomfortable.

“Sometimes people don’t know what to expect or what to do when they first go, but all I can think of is what Mother Teresa said, just ‘come and see.’”

‘Come and see’ event

Joanne, Nicky and others are planning a retreat-like event at St. Anthony’s June 17 to help people grow in their faith, especially in light of the National Eucharistic Revival that began nearly a year ago. (See box)

The event will begin with Mass at 9 a.m. with Bishop Patrick Neary and include talks by Father Brady Keller and Fred Blonigen, and “eucharistic love stories” from local people including Nicky’s testimony.

“My greatest hope is that people who don’t understand or know the Real Presence would come to that understanding, and for those who do, to deepen their love for Jesus,” Carlson said. “It’s the same thing I tell my eighth- and ninth-graders when I teach faith formation — I don’t teach you about the Mass, or prayer or the Eucharist so you can memorize the facts. It’s so you fall in love with the Mass, with prayer and with Jesus.”

If you go…

• When: Saturday, June 17
• Where: St. Anthony Church, St. Cloud

The day begins with Mass at 9 a.m. with Bishop Patrick Neary, C.S.C., followed by short talks from guest speakers Father Brady Keller and Fred Blonigen and with eucharistic love stories (testimonies) from local Catholics. Lunch will be available and requires an RSVP by visiting stcdio.org/eucharistic-revival. Following lunch will be a holy hour and Benediction.

For more information about this and other Eucharistic Revival resources, visit stcdio.org/eucharistic-revival.

The post All Called to Christ ACC will host ‘Come and See’ event June 17 appeared first on The Central Minnesota Catholic.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — Mike Wavra thinks of the 2024 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage as “an opportunity to walk with the Lord.”

He and his wife, Cindi, both 65-year-old retirees, plan to join the pilgrimage at its northern launch point in Minnesota in May 2024, and then walk for about a week, before rejoining the pilgrims seven weeks later in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.

The Wavras are among thousands of Catholics from across the United States anticipated to participate in next year’s pilgrimage to the Congress, part of the U.S. bishops’ three-year National Eucharistic Revival that began in 2021. The pilgrimage has four routes, with one beginning in the north, south, east and west of the country.

Pilgrims traveling in the “Eucharistic caravans” on all four routes will begin their journeys with Pentecost weekend celebrations May 17-18, 2024, leaving May 19. They will all converge on Indianapolis July 16, 2024, the day before the five-day Congress opens.

The pilgrimage is an opportunity for prayer and evangelization, as well as a way to engage Catholics unable to attend the Congress, said Tim Glemkowski, the National Eucharistic Congress’ executive director.

“What the pilgrimage does is it builds us in prayerful anticipation for what God is going to do at the Congress,” he told OSV News May 5. “It’s two months of us pilgrimaging, fasting, praying, interceding, asking the Lord to renew his church, his bride, in those five days. … They’re not two different things. It’s one pilgrimage: five days of which happen in a stadium in Indianapolis, and two months of which happen across our country on the way there.”

Weekend stops in major cities will include special liturgies, Eucharistic adoration, processions and service opportunities, Glemkowski said.

The northern “Marian Route” that the Wavras plan to take begins in northern Minnesota at Lake Itasca, the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The route follows the river to St. Paul and Minneapolis, its first weekend stop. Then the route heads south to Rochester, Minnesota, and then east through La Crosse and Green Bay, Wisconsin. It continues through Milwaukee, Chicago and Notre Dame, Indiana, before arriving in Indianapolis.

The “Juan Diego Route” begins more than 1,600 miles south of Lake Itasca in Brownsville, Texas, at the U.S.-Mexico border. It will follow Texas’ eastern border through Corpus Christi and Houston, and continue through New Orleans; Mobile, Alabama; Atlanta; Nashville, Tennessee; and Louisville, Kentucky.

The “Seton Route” — named for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first U.S.-born saint — begins in New Haven, Connecticut, and continues through New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Steubenville, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio.

The “Junipero Serra Route” begins in San Francisco — with hope of walking over the Golden Gate Bridge — and continues through Reno, Nevada; Salt Lake City; Denver; North Platte and Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri; and St. Louis.

At more than 2,200 miles long, the Junipero Serra Route is the longest and most rigorous route. Pilgrims will use transport to cross sections of their route, but the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains are expected to be crossed on foot. In an interview with Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, for a February episode of the popular podcast “Catholic Stuff You Should Know,” co-host Father John Nepil said he wanted to walk with the Eucharist and fellow priests over Colorado’s Vail Pass, which, at 10,541 feet above sea level, is the highest elevation the pilgrimage routes will reach.

Besides the thrill of the physical challenge, “there’s always been a close connection for me between thinking of the Eucharist as the source and summit of our faith, and the ways we reflect on the Eucharistic high points as a place of transcendence, and then the way it connects to the mountains,” Father Nepil, a priest of the Archdiocese of Denver and vice rector of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, told OSV News May 8. “We just kind of jumped at that as a cool prospect of leading some people and shepherding them over that pass as we make our way.”

Modern Catholic Pilgrim, a pilgrimage nonprofit with offices in Minnesota and California, is organizing the national pilgrimage. Its founder and president, Will Peterson, connects the pilgrimage to the scriptural journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus, where two of his disciples met Jesus after the Resurrection. Luke 24 recounts how Jesus comforted them, and then revealed himself in the breaking of the bread.

The routes include important Catholic sites in the United States, such the 18th-century ministry of St. Junipero Serra in what is now California, the Philadelphia tombs of St. John Neumann and St. Katharine Drexel, and in Wisconsin, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, the only approved Marian apparition in the United States.

“People are going to reach an ‘Emmaus point’ at these spots along the way, and we want to support the local church,” Peterson said May 9. “That’s where it’s such a great gift to coordinate with like 65 dioceses to say, ‘How can we really highlight the great sacred sites of your diocese?'”

Each pilgrimage route is expected to have 12 “perpetual pilgrims,” young adults, including two seminarians, committed to traveling the entire route, from their launch points to Indianapolis. Each route also will include priest chaplains who will carry the Eucharist, usually in a monstrance specially designed for the pilgrimage. While some chaplains may join the entire pilgrimage route, others may join for segments of the journey, Glemkowski said.

The faithful are invited to join the pilgrimage for hours, days or weeks. Each day of the pilgrimage will begin with Mass and a Eucharistic procession with the local community before pilgrims continue the trek to their next stopping point. Pilgrims joining the Eucharistic caravans for short stretches will be responsible for arranging their own food and overnight accommodations, although some parishes along the routes may provide meals and lodging.

Parishioners of St. Bernard Parish in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, the Wavras have worked out their own logistics: They plan to take their truck with a camper and two motorized bicycles, and “hopscotch” their way along the route, taking their truck each morning to drop off their bikes at that evening’s stop, driving back, walking the pilgrimage route, and then taking their bikes to pick up their truck.

The Wavras expect the pilgrimage to include comradery with fellow Catholics and their bishop, Bishop Cozzens, whose Diocese of Crookston is home to Lake Itasca and the first stretch of the Marian Route. Bishop Cozzens is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, which is overseeing the revival.

The pilgrimage “brings Jesus out of our churches and out into the public,” Mike Wavra told OSV News May 4. “This is just an opportunity for people to see the Jesus that we know and love.”

Wavra also expects the pilgrimage to attract interest and curiosity from non-Catholics. “They wonder what some crazy Catholics are doing, following a piece of bread,” he said. “It’s not a piece of bread, it’s the Lord himself. What an opportunity for us to share that.”

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — With the ceremonial opening of doors at the new chapel at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, hundreds got their first look at the place where 92 men from 16 dioceses across eight states will pray daily both to encounter Christ and discern their vocational calling.

Three bishops, including Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, assembled in the sanctuary April 20 for the dedication of the new chapel, which included anointing of the chapel’s altar and walls.

They were joined by more than a dozen priests and deacons, including the seminary’s current rector, Father Jonathan Kelly, and his predecessor, Father Michael Becker, both of whom played key roles in the design and construction of the chapel. It is part of a larger construction project at the seminary scheduled to be completed later this spring. St. John Vianney College Seminary has partnered with Zeman Construction, Finn Daniels Architects and the Studio of Liturgical Design and Consulting.

During his homily at the dedication Mass, Archbishop Hebda, filled with emotion, gave his impression of the chapel and of its importance in the formation of the St. John Vianney men who will spend time there trying to hear God’s call in their lives.

“This is a chapel that speaks about a generous response,” he said, acknowledging the many benefactors who contributed to the cost of the $10 million renovation project. “It’s not just adequate, it’s spectacular. It’s a way in which we are able to demonstrate to the seminarians that we think that what they’re doing is incredibly important. But it’s also a way in which we’re able to communicate that God has to be at the heart of everything we do in this seminary.”

In remarks at the end of Mass, Father Kelly said he hopes the chapel will help in the overall mission of the seminary, which is to form “men who are authentic and transparent. … The one place that we want to be truly authentic is before God in this chapel.” To that end, the chapel is filled with natural materials like wood and stone, augmented by large windows that let in lots of daylight. That, combined with artwork created by local iconographer Nicholas Markell, help give all who enter the chapel “a sense of the divine,” Father Kelly said.

The central part of the chapel — and St. John Vianney — is the tabernacle containing Jesus himself, in the Eucharist.

“Jesus is here,” Father Kelly noted, making a connection to the ongoing National Eucharistic Revival, “and he is the center of our life, and the center of our home.”

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The washing of the feet and the institution of the Eucharist go together, then, forming a whole of what Christ bequeathed to the church the night before he died. The Eucharist is the means by which we receive Christ’s love, and his foot washing gives us the model for sharing his love.

But there’s yet another aspect of John’s narrative of the Last Supper that I think completes and bonds the ties between instituting the Eucharist and the washing of the Apostles’ feet. Here, I’m thinking of Christ’s lengthy prayer to His Father — his prayer for unity.

Fully aware of our fallen nature, Jesus anticipated the struggles and strife, divisions and discord that would plague his followers down the road. In the context of the first Eucharist, Jesus offers a prayer in which he pleads for unity among his followers. He indicates that the very credibility of his message hinges upon that unity. The very mission of the church depends upon it.

“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:20-23).

Jesus prayed that his disciples would be united. But are we?

Very little is new in Church history, but there are some features to ecclesial life today that haven’t been experienced for some time. Church teaching is openly questioned. Bishops publicly argue with bishops. Catholics enter into uncharitable disputes (to put it mildly) on social media. We can’t even agree on Eucharistic practice. Most days, the Church can look more like a debating society than the living Body of Christ. How can we convince the world to believe in Christ when we can’t get our act together and show the world a better way?

The task before us in reviving our Eucharistic faith is multifaceted. Yes, we need greater reverence and wider worship of our Lord in the Eucharist, but — as Pope Benedict XVI wrote in “Deus Caritas Est” — “A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.”

“The Body of Christ” the minister says as we receive the Eucharist. This means we receive the whole Body of Christ. We are one body in Christ, right?

“Amen,” we respond, agreeing to treasure all those who receive the Lord’s body, recommitting ourselves to Christ’s last hope at his last supper.

Perhaps a fruit of our Eucharistic Revival will be a reinvigoration of our desire to foster ecclesial communion. It’s the Eucharist itself that establishes and reinforces the communion of believers. The Eucharist is the tie that binds. The Eucharist is also our model and blueprint for achieving it. Christ prayed for unity among us, and he showed us how to achieve it through sacrifice and charity. Our reception of the Eucharist should mean we do not impose upon Christ an image of who we want him to be; we accept him for who he really is. And that means we accept each other, help each other and love each other — and truly work toward the advancement of the kingdom of God through lives of sacrifice and charity. The life of the world depends upon this Eucharistic living.

Michael R. Heinlein is author of “Glorifying Christ: The Life of Cardinal Francis E. George, O.M.I.” and currently in formation for the Association of Pauline Cooperators.

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