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By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer
ATLANTA—The wave of reverence began in the back of the
Cathedral of Christ the King as, row by row, people knelt to honor Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament.
Archbishop John F. Donoghue processed down the center aisle
holding aloft the monstrance containing the Eucharist. Children in first
Communion attire, married couples, single people, priests and women Religious,
all representing various states of life in the Catholic Church, joined the
procession. The Knights of Columbus stood with swords drawn as the archbishop
approached the sanctuary and placed the monstrance on the altar.
The June 25th celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi marked
the fourth anniversary of the Eucharistic Renewal in the archdiocese, as well
as the beginning of a new mission called for by the archbishop—a mission
to bring Catholics who have drifted away back home to the church.
With the Blessed Sacrament on the altar, the congregation knelt
and sang “Holy God We Praise Thy Name.” The smell of incense wafted
throughout the Cathedral, while the dark clouded sky outside was in contrast to
the light of Christ and the faith of those inside.
During adoration, the Liturgy of the Word was celebrated,
beginning with a Scripture reading and psalm response, followed by a talk given
by Father Jack Durkin, parochial vicar at St. John Neumann Church in Lilburn.
Father Durkin, ordained last year, spoke of the unworthiness many
feel in receiving Jesus in the Eucharist.
“Not one of us is worthy,” he said. “But the worthy
son, Jesus, makes us, his sons, worthy to receive him.”
“By receiving the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus,
we are converted,” he continued. “We are converted to convert.”
Father Durkin said that faithful followers of Christ must have a
“missionary spirit.”
“We are our brother’s keeper,” he said. “As
keepers in the Keeper, the Good Shepherd, we keep our brothers in our hearts.
Who are our brothers? Everyone is our brother. Our missionary call derives from
our call to holiness.”
As Christians, our lives are lifted up by laying down our lives,
Father Durkin said, as Christ was lifted up by laying down his life on the
cross for us.
“Love does two things—if you’re a lover,
you’re either a pursuer or a waiter,” he said. “As Christians,
we pursue, then we wait in prayer, fasting and almsgiving ... The church
proposes, she never imposes.”
In inviting back Catholic brothers and sisters who have stopped
coming to the sacraments, Father Durkin believes it is important to remember
the mission is one of love.
“Many people do not come to Christ because they are
fearful,” he said. “Those who bring Christ to others must be very
careful. They have to see the gentle hands of Jesus in us.”
“We must be as clever as serpents and as innocent as
doves,” he said. “We must be clever in inviting our brothers and
sisters back, but, at the same time, we must be innocent, holy.”
Father Durkin left the congregation with encouragement for their
mission.
“God reigns,” he said. “He not only reigns, but he
pours. We may be in a drought, but it is a new springtime. Let us be
harvesters, for the harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few.”
After the Gospel was proclaimed, Father Brian Higgins, parochial
vicar at the Cathedral, gave the homily. He spoke on John’s Gospel in
which Jesus fed a crowd of 5,000 with bread and then promised to nourish them
with his own body and blood.
“At first these disciples of Jesus thought he was speaking
metaphorically, but Jesus simply emphasized and repeated his teachings more
strongly,” he said. “And when they murmured amongst themselves in
utter disbelief on what they were hearing, Jesus did not soften his words or
try to correct some misunderstandings, for he meant what he said and they knew
it. ‘My flesh is real food and my blood is true drink.’”
Father Higgins spoke of his own experience truly finding Christ in
the Eucharist. While growing up, he said, he had well-meaning religion
teachers, but they lacked knowledge and understanding of the faith. “I had
teachers who taught me that the Eucharist was simply a sign or symbol of
loving, caring and sharing.”
Father Higgins said that when he was younger he thought being nice
to everyone and following his conscience were most important. However, a
brother priest explained the necessity of preaching the Gospel, as Christ did,
without softening the words.
“For the Eucharist is not about feelings and emotions. The
Eucharist is not about letting your conscience be your guide or ‘Jiminy
Cricket,’” he said. “The Eucharist is about sacrifice,
self-giving, penance and prayer. The Eucharist is about salvation,
justification and redemption. And praise be God the Father, the Eucharist is
Jesus Christ, body, soul and divinity.”
Commenting on a poll that found only 30 percent of Catholics
believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Father
Higgins said that unfortunately the statistic is not shocking.
“For a faith that says it truly believes in the Real Presence
in the Eucharist, I believe, would not exhibit the same lack of unity or
fraternal charity that we have all witnessed or exhibited in the church
today,” he said. “The arguments between the liberal Catholics and
conservative Catholics must stop, they must come to an end. Whether you favor
hand holding or kneeling on glass, speaking in Latin or speaking in tongues, it
is all for naught if it does not lead you, if it does not lead all of us to
Jesus Christ.”
“Jesus Christ gives us his body and blood in the Eucharist so
we may all be one, that we may all be one in the Body of Christ,” he
continued. “We must put aside our differences and come together and work
for the salvation of souls—especially our own.”
Father Higgins encouraged those in attendance to bring others back
to the church.
“Today there are many here who yearn to help guide those
fallen away Catholics back into the fold—and my prayer to you is this: Be
John the Baptist for them, for those who have fallen away, by not only
proclaiming Christ, but by also showing them the way, through
self-purification, penance and prayer,” he said. “Dedicate yourself
to the practice of attending daily Mass, pray before the Blessed Sacrament and
through our greatest intercessor, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the rosary.”
As musicians from the Cathedral’s modern liturgical group led
the congregation in singing “Be Still, for the Presence of the Lord,”
those in attendance knelt in adoration. General intercessions asked for
God’s grace in bringing back those who no longer come to church, with the
sung response, “Calling softly and tenderly, Jesus our Lord! Come home,
come home.”
Following Benediction, the archbishop addressed participants,
introducing the new outreach for the archdiocese, entitled “Come To
Me,” that looks toward bringing Catholics back to the church in response
to the pope’s call for a “new springtime of evangelization.”
“Following in the Holy Father’s footsteps today, the
feast of Corpus Christi, I ask the help of each and every one of you in
knocking on the doors of the hearts of those many people who have closed or
even locked the doors of their relationship with Jesus Christ,” the
archbishop said.
“Come To Me” is a project “intended to reach out to
and draw from behind their barriers, those who are separated from the fullness
and beauty of the Catholic faith,” he said.
It will employ small faith-sharing groups in parishes and it will
include new initiatives, such as “Catholics Returning Home,” a
six-week outreach before Christmas and Easter.
“We, like the Good Shepherd, have to be willing to seek out
and call to our family members, our neighbors and our co-workers who have
strayed from the flock,” he said. “And once we have found them we
need to embrace, nourish and walk with them as they rediscover the way
home.”
Archbishop Donoghue said that this effort would require a
long-term commitment and humility, perhaps asking forgiveness for actions that
led Catholics away from the faith community.
“We need to be there to support them when they are unsteady
or unsure. We will be called to minister to them when they lack the strength
and conviction to sustain themselves,” he said. “We must listen as
they cry out in frustration and embrace them when they feel unworthy of
love.”
“We must listen to them without being judgmental and share
our own very personal stories of where we began, how we have struggled and
where we are,” he continued. “They will have to see the face of
Christ and hear his voice in each of us. That is a tall order. This is what it
means to be a disciple for Christ. This is what it means to evangelize.”
The archbishop encouraged the archdiocese to set aside Fridays for
fasting and prayer for the evangelization effort. He also urged people to
attend Mass frequently, pray before the Blessed Sacrament for the outreach
effort and immerse themselves in the New Testament, particularly the Acts of
the Apostles.
“May our Lord Jesus Christ work with and through us as we
attempt to open those doors that were slammed, locked or gradually closed by so
many of our brothers and sisters,” he prayed. “Please join me as I
pray that each of us may become a true and effective channel of Christ’s
peace as we begin our project to bring the vitality of Christ back to those
dormant members of his mystical body.”
Many who heard the archbishop’s call to evangelize were
inspired. Rebecca Theisen, a parishioner of the Church of St. Ann in Marietta,
said that she is inspired to bring others back, but must first strengthen her
own relationship with God.
“(The archbishop) really challenged me in my own faith and
made me realize how far I have to go,” she said. “To hear the words
makes it more real. It kind of slapped me in the face.”
But Theisen is encouraged by the gentle call of Jesus.
“There is no use in living an empty life,” she said.
“You can run away and run away and run away, but you will always be empty.
You will always be longing for something. It’s so cool how God is always
calling you. He’s always bringing you back.”
Daniel Hobson, a parishioner of the Cathedral of Christ the King,
was also inspired by the Corpus Christi celebration.
“It made me a little more bold in talking about my
faith,” he said. “It reminded me to look at the treasure I have. Why
am I not joyful? Why am I so afraid of sharing Jesus when I shouldn’t be?
My faith teaches me not to be.”
Hobson, who serves as a guardian in Christ the King’s
perpetual adoration chapel, also is grateful for the chance to sit in
Christ’s presence.
“Mass is the ultimate, and adoration can’t take the
place of Mass, but we don’t always spend enough quality time with God and
we don’t allow ourselves to be touched,” he said. “In adoration,
we begin to open up more and more.” |
