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Sent: Friday, September 30,
2011 8:14 PM
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Subject: Article of interest...
Bishop Jugis: The Eucharist is the love that
can change our world
Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 September 2011 22:42
CHARLOTTE — In a world sadly in need of
love, there is one place we know it can be found: at the altar in the
Eucharist, Bishop Peter Jugis said during his homily
at the closing Mass of the 2011 Eucharistic Congress in Charlotte on Sept. 24.
Bishop Jugis encouraged his flock to embrace the
Eucharist, placing Christ firmly at the center of our lives.
Catholics from across the Diocese of Charlotte filled the
Charlotte Convention Center for the two-day congress, and attendance was
unusually high for the closing Mass in Hall A, which was overflowing with
worshippers.
The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, Bishop
Jugis reminded the thousands of faithful, but he then
asked, "Is it really the center of our life, around which everything
revolves? Does the Eucharist give life to everything we do, day in, day
out?"
Bishop
Jugis said we should be eager to receive Christ in
the Eucharist – eager to receive Him into our lives and eager to express our
love for Him in all that we do.
"Are
we eager to know our Christian faith? Are we eager to go to Sunday Mass?"
he asked. The early Christians were, and we should model our lives on theirs,
he said.
Bishop
Jugis said that our love for Christ in the Eucharist
should be mirrored in our love for each other and for our parish communities,
just as the first Christians loved being together and caring for each other's
needs.
"I
want to thank you for your devotion to your parishes," he said.
"Thank you for showing the world by your attendance at Mass that you are
devoted to being together" and demonstrating that Sunday is the Lord's day, a reference to the theme of keynote speaker Cardinal
Francis Arinze, who spoke Friday about the importance
of keeping Sunday holy.
Bishop
Jugis pointed out that the Apostles ordained seven
deacons to minister to the needs of widows and the poor during the early days
of the Church – the level of charity of the early Christians was so great that
it took seven men all day every day to distribute it. This was "an
avalanche" of love, an outpouring of love and eagerness to serve others
that the community in Jerusalem possessed. Today, the faithful need to
recapture that same sense of enthusiasm and abundance of love for one another,
he said.
Too,
the faithful's communal "Amen!" at the end
of the consecration at Mass is an expression of our eagerness to receive Christ
into our lives, Bishop Jugis said.
It signifies our recognition of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist,
and it gives us the opportunity to worship and adore Him. He said that our
enthusiastic response of faith during that moment is as if we are saying,
"My Savior comes to me!"
He
concluded, "May His love lift you up! Jesus eagerly desires to give
Himself to you! With joy let us receive Him!"
—
Patricia Guilfoyle, editor. Photos
by SueAnn Howell and Patricia Guilfoyle.