The Eucharist can be seen “as a sacrament of healing,” said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge as he celebrated Mass and led a procession for the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) June 19 at St. Joseph Church in Alexandria.
Bishop Burbidge reflected on statements about the Eucharist by three popes — Pope John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Pope John Paul II, now a saint, said that when we receive the Eucharist, we should pray for the gift of “Eucharistic wonder and awe.” But Bishop Burbidge noted that “like any gift, we sometimes can take it for granted,” and urged those present to “pray for ourselves and one another that we never receive the Eucharist passively or casually.”
He also quoted Pope Benedict XVI, who said the Eucharist “is to be firmly believed and intensely lived.” He said the catechism tells us that Jesus is “truly, really and substantially contained,” in the Eucharist. “When we receive the Eucharist, we receive Jesus, and he receives us,” he said.
“We say the Eucharist is the source of our unity, our communion with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, and that nothing should divide us. But Juneteenth reminds us, sadly, that in our history that has not always been the case.”
The Juneteenth holiday commemorates the day in 1865 when slavery effectively ended in the United States, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
“We know today that due to the sin of racism, there continue to be divisions, even within our church, and certainly within our nation,” he said. “Let us pray today that all such obstacles will be eradicated and the prayer of Jesus will be fulfilled and we all will be one.”
Finally, Bishop Burbidge quoted Pope Francis, who speaks of the Eucharist as a sacrament of healing. When we look at our nation and feel that nothing can change, he said the Eucharist can be a “source of new life, radical change and the greatest of all miracles.” He added that “sometimes we will be the instruments of that change.”
Before the Eucharistic procession around the church, Bishop Burbidge said the procession reminds us that “it is Jesus who leads and we who follow,” and that it is “our sacred duty to carry Jesus out into the world. It is only the Lord who will bring to this world the peace and unity we all desire.”
Bishop Burbidge also said a special Father’s Day blessing for all the dads present.
The Arlington diocese has been highlighting events with a catechetical focus on the Eucharist during the first year of a three-year preparatory celebration of its Golden Jubilee, which will continue through the official 50th anniversary in 2024.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also just launched a National Eucharistic Revival, which began June 16 and culminates with a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in 2024. Bishops are promoting parish, diocesan and regional events to increase Catholics’ understanding of the Real Presence in the Eucharist.
