Sent to Serve

Moving is something that can usually be a very stressful event. Whether it is moving from one job to another to better provide for a family, moving houses after a wedding or after having a child, moving from one city to another one, or even moving from Washington, D.C., to Houma-Thibodaux! The process of organizing and packing and loading and unpacking and reorganizing takes time and patience – usually much more than we might expect at first, as I am sure many of you know. Over the course of these last couple of months, I am really feeling at home as I get myself settled into new places, new rhythms, and new roles here in this diocese. It has been a gift to meet so many people and to be received so warmly as I find my new home here.

In the house where I live now, there is a room for a small chapel. Ever since I first got here, I have longed for the day when that chapel would be complete and Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist would be present there. Ever since I was a small child, and especially as a priest and as a bishop, the Eucharist has been such an important gift to me that has sustained me in my faith. Just knowing that He was really present was a source of peace and perseverance for me because no matter where I found myself spiritually or physically, I could count on the truth that He was there. No matter where I lived – whether in Bogota or in Washington or in Houma-Thibodaux – the one presence that never changed, that was always with me, even in my most difficult moments, was the presence of Jesus in the holy Eucharist.
In this month of June, we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It is an opportunity for all of us, I think, to reflect and to give thanks for the gift of Jesus’ presence dwelling with us so closely. Just like I experienced the constancy of his presence no matter where I was, so he desires all of us to know that wherever we happen to find ourselves, whatever season of life we happen to be in, we can count on His presence with us without fail. Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus made a promise to his apostles: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The Eucharist is perhaps the most powerful way that Jesus keeps this promise to each of us. At the Last Supper, he turned the bread and wine into his Body and Blood and told the apostles, “Do this in memory of me.” Since that day, every time we gather together at Mass, we are in that room with Jesus, and the bread and wine become his Body and Blood. It is from the Mass that the blessings of the Eucharist flow out.

Because we encounter the Eucharist so often, there is a danger that we can become so familiar with this gift that it loses its full sacred meaning. We can fall to the trap of just “going through the motions” of genuflecting or bowing when we enter and leave the church, kneeling at Mass when everyone else does, and receiving Him in holy Communion and continuing on with our Sunday. I’d like to invite all of us this month to renew our motivation and desire for why we do these things. When we are in the presence of the Eucharist in church and at Mass, we are standing before the face of Jesus Christ, looking upon each of us with such great
love. We come into the presence of the one who suffered so much for us and was willing to die for us. The Eucharist is not just a “thing” or an “it” but a “He,” a living person who is loving us at every moment and is giving everything for our salvation.

I’d like to invite you, during this month when we celebrate the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist, to spend some extra time in his presence. Whether it is at Mass, or praying before the tabernacle, or visiting an adoration chapel, the closer we draw to Jesus in the Eucharist, the more we will also see him in the other moments of our lives. It doesn’t require us to do anything extravagant. I have heard being in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament compared to being in the sun: Simply being in the sun impacts us as we feel its rays. In just the same way, being in the presence of the Son impacts us spiritually and changes our hearts to become more like His. In the Eucharist, Jesus shows us what true love means – to sacrifice for the sake of another. As we spend time with Him, we are moved to focus less on ourselves and more on loving the other because they are other.

May each of us deepen our love for Jesus and encounter him more faithfully, especially in the gift of the Eucharist. May God bless you and your families as we begin these summer months!