THE EUCHARIST: EMPOWERING FAMILY LIFE
by Fr. Jim Whalen, National Director, Priests for Life Canada
The Holy Eucharist is the source of all
vocations in the Church for Christian witness, and for
Evangelization. The smallest unit in the Church and society is the
Sanctuary of family life: the Domestic Church. The Eucharist sends
families on a mission, to proclaim both in word and deed, to share
their faith.
The Eucharist has the greatest power possible to move the family to
love and serve the Lord, to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to
all encountered. This means service to the poor; respect and defence
of human life at all stages; promotion of human rights; and the
building of a civilization of love, justice, and peace.
Pope John Paul II explains that, “The Eucharist is the very source
of Christian marriage. The Eucharistic Sacrifice, in fact,
represents Christ’s covenant of love with the Church, sealed with
His blood on the Cross. In this sacrifice of the New and Eternal
Covenant, Christian spouses encounter the source from which their
own marriage covenant flows, is interiorly structured, and
continuously renewed” (Familiaris Consortio, #57)1. The Eucharist
must be recognized by Catholic families as a source of charity and
the basis of the communion and mission of family life.
When family members are prepared to
participate in Mass and receive Jesus in Communion, they are being
formed into holy temples - sanctuaries of God. The Christian family
is healed in terms of wounded relationships and emotions, be they
spiritual, moral, or psychological. The Eucharist as a sacrament of
love fosters forgiveness and reconciliation. The Eucharist as a
Sacrament of Presence will encourage families to reach out to others
and to share this Jesus whom they have received. This can take place
in various Catholic action movements or organizations. Family
commitment to life is a necessary consequence of our union with our
Eucharistic Lord. The Eucharist teaches us to be sensitive to all
human suffering whether it is that of an unborn child, a handicapped
person, or the chronically ill. It encourages families to seek ways
to deal with injustices and redress them. At times, it means working
in communion with and imitating the saints. It means showing in our
lives, by personal example, the truths we profess and the priorities
and principles we adhere to. It means being engaged in a more
extensive apostolate as part of the whole Church. “Anyone who does
the will of the Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and
mother” (Mt 12:50). It is from the Eucharist that families receive
the power and strength to actively live the daily challenge, the
daily sacrifice to follow Christ, realizing their role as
consecrated members belonging to the family of God - the Church.
The Eucharist forms families and models them
after the Holy Family, equipped to offer the whole of family life as
a spiritual gift to God, as an evangelizing family. Pope Paul VI
expresses this clearly: “…. the family, like the Church, ought to be
a place where the Gospel is transmitted and from which the Gospel
radiates. In a family which is conscious of this mission, all the
members evangelize and are evangelized. The parents not only
communicate the Gospel to their children, but from their children
they can themselves receive the same Gospel as deeply lived by them.
And such a family becomes the evangelizer of many other families,
and of the neighbourhood of which it forms part” (Evangelii
Nuntiandi, #71)2.
Any evangelizing activity of a family should
begin within family life. Nothing should replace or come in the way
of the parents as the primary and most important transmitters of the
faith to their children. Neither the school nor the Church, neither
the media nor peer groups, should usurp this special role of the
parents. They should be at best a support for the parents’ rights
and authentic family life structure. Pope John Paul II explains: “….
in places where anti-religious legislation endeavors even to prevent
education in the faith, and in places where widespread unbelief or
invasive secularism makes real religious growth practically
impossible, “the church of the home” remains the one place where
children and young people can receive an authentic catechesis” (Catechesi
Tradendae, #68)3.
Young people, on their part, should seek to edify their parents by
striving to live their faith fully, centering their family life
around the Eucharist; by respecting and honouring their parents; by
prompt obedience; by a life of service to God, their family, their
neighbours, and their Church; by special attention to the poor, the
unborn, the handicapped, the elderly, and the sick. Through
Christian witness of a strong family life that is nourished and
empowered by “daily bread” - the Eucharist, other families that have
lapsed in their faith may be convinced that they too can grow in the
practice of their faith and family life, centered on devotion to the
Real Presence of Christ. +
1. See the document Evangelii Nuntiandi
online.
2. See the document Familiaris Consortio online.
3. See the document Catechesi Tradendae online.
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PRAYER
FOR LIFE
May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be
adored and loved in the true Holy Eucharist at every Mass throughout
the world until the end of time.
May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be
adored and loved in the true Holy Eucharist in every tabernacle
throughout the world until the end of time.
May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be
adored and loved in the true Holy Eucharist by the heart of every
Christian throughout the world until the end of time.
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THE
DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE
from The Definition of Marriage from the Oxford
Dictionary Online
Canadian Parliament is considering changing the
definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. Many
Catholics don't understand why it matters.
Please click here for information by the bishops of Canada
on why it matters.
Please pray that Canadian Parliament will uphold the
traditional definition of marriage as a union between one
man and one woman.
“PRO-MARRIAGE ACTION”
:
Support your parish in promoting the traditional
definition of marriage.
Ask your Member of Parliament to vote “NO” to any change
in the definition of marriage. Postage is free.
Your Member of Parliament
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H
Voice your opinion online
at:
Defend Marriage Canada
Please note: It is expected that legislation regarding
Marriage may take place in June, 2005. It is possible that
this will take place sooner.
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WHAT SOME CHURCH
LEADERS HAVE SAID
ABOUT THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE
“Any attempts to change the meaning of the
word “spouse” contradicts right reason: legal guarantees, analogous
to those granted to marriage, cannot be applied to unions between
persons of the same sex without creating a false understanding of
the nature of marriage”.
Address of Pope John Paul II to H.E. Mr.
Donald Smith, Ambassador of Canada to the Holy See.
“It is essential that each of us, as Roman
Catholics and citizens of this country, ensure that our own Members
know our position: that marriage is the union of one man and one
woman. The term ‘marriage’ should be retained only for unions of one
man and one woman”.
Archbishop Marcel Gervais, Archbishop of
Ottawa
“For Christians, the nature of marriage as a
covenant between a man and a woman is written in the words of divine
revelation. For all people, even those without faith, it is also
written in the law of nature and in the very language of the human
body”.
Archbishop T. Collins, Archbishop of Edmonton
“...After all, the change that is being
proposed affects the most fundamental institution and the primary
value of society: marriage and family, which have existed throughout
human history and predate the state and the laws themselves”.
Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Archbishop of Quebec
and Primate of Canada
“The search for stability and exclusivity in a
homosexual relationship is not the driving force. The principal
objective in seeking same-sex "marriage"is not really even about
equality rights. The goal is to acquire a powerful psychological
weapon to change society's rejection of homosexual activity and
lifestyle into gradual, even if reluctant, acceptance”.
F. B. Henry, Bishop of Calgary
“The Catholic Bishops of Canada are united in
their belief that marriage is the unique, essential, and fundamental
relationship of a man and a woman, and thus are opposed to the
proposed redefinition of marriage as the lawful union of any two
persons”.
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
“The conjugal partnership of a man and a woman
is the beginning and basis of human society and the family is the
first and vital cell of society. Tampering with marriage and the
family poses significant social risks”.
Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, Archbishop of
Toronto
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HOLY FATHER INTRODUCES A SPECIAL
PLENARY INDULGENCE TO MARK
THE YEAR OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST.
New Plenary Indulgence to Mark Year of the Eucharist
Established
to Help Faithful Grow in “Mystery of Faith”
VATICAN
CITY, Jan. 14, 2005 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II has approved a
special plenary indulgence to mark the Year of the Eucharist.
According to a decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary (a Tribunal of
the Roman Curia, Vatican), during the Year of the Eucharist a
plenary indulgence may be gained by participating in acts of worship
and veneration of the Most Holy Sacrament, as well as by praying
vespers and compline of the Divine Office before the tabernacle. The
decree, dated Dec. 25 and published by the Vatican press office, is
signed by Cardinal James Francis Stafford, Major Penitentiary, and
Father John Francis Girotti, Regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary.
The decree reminds the faithful that to obtain a plenary indulgence
it is necessary to observe the “usual conditions”: “sacramental
confession, Eucharistic communion, and prayer in keeping with the
intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, with the soul completely removed
from attachment to any form of sin”.
In the Year of the Eucharist, which began October 2004 and will end
October 2005, when the world Synod of Bishops will be held on the
Eucharist -- the plenary indulgence may be obtained in two ways:
1. In the first place, according to the decree, “each time the
faithful participate attentively and piously in a sacred function or
a devotional exercise undertaken in honour of the Blessed Sacrament,
solemnly exposed or conserved in the tabernacle”.
2. In the second place, it is granted “to the clergy, to members of
institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, and
to other faithful who are by law obliged to recite the Liturgy of
the Hours, as well as to those who customarily recite the Divine
Office out of pure devotion, each and every time they recite -- at
the end of the day, in company or private -- vespers and night
prayers before the Lord present in the tabernacle”.
The decree also provides the granting of the plenary indulgence to
those persons who, due to illness or other just cause, cannot
participate in an act of worship of the sacrament of the Eucharist
in a church or oratory. These persons will obtain the plenary
indulgence “if they make the visit spiritually and with the heart’s
desire, with a spirit of faith in the real presence of Jesus Christ
in the Sacrament of the Altar, and pray the Our Father and Creed,
adding a pious invocation to Jesus in the Sacrament (for example,
“May the Most Holy Sacrament be blessed and praised forever”). If
they are unable to do even this, they will receive a plenary
indulgence if they unite themselves with interior desire to those
who practice the normal conditions laid down for Indulgences, and
offer the merciful God the illnesses and discomforts of their lives,
with the intention of observing the three usual conditions as soon
as possible”, the decree states.
The decree calls on priests, especially pastors, to inform the
faithful on these dispositions, to prepare “with generous and ready
spirit” to hear confessions and, in days that are determined
according to the convenience of the faithful, to lead them “in
solemn public recitation of prayers to Jesus in the Sacrament”.
For details see:
1. Zenit, January 14, 2005, Code: ZE05011403: www.zenit.org
2. Decree on Indulgences during the “Year of the Eucharist” (25
December 2004) , Vatican, December 25, 2004 online.
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NOT BUSY THIS
COMING SUMMER?
-
Call your local
community pro-life group and volunteer your time.
-
Fast one day a week in
honour of an unborn child.
-
Attend Mass as often as
possible through the week.
-
Pray the Rosary daily
for pro-life intentions (contact Priests for Life Canada
for a free prayer booklet on praying the Rosary, or join
the International Perpetual Rosary for Life at
www.webhart.net/vandee/rosary.htm.
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Priests for Life Canada
Box 43
Cumberland, Ontario K4C 1E5
Tel: (613) 732-3950 Fax: (613) 732-9196
e-mail:
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http://www.webhart.net/vandee/students.shtml
Available for bulk distribution @ 5 cents per copy plus shipping
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Catholic Life and Family
a semi-annual publication by
Priests for Life Canada
Box 43, Cumberland, Ontario K4C 1E5
Tel: (613) 732-3950 Fax: (613) 732-9196
e-mail: priests@priest.com
www.webhart.net/vandee/priests.shtml
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Members of the Board
National Director
Rev. Fr. Jim Whalen
Box 99, Cumberland, ON K4C 1E5
Tel/Fax: (613) 833-3264
Rev. Fr. Danny Wilson, Chairman
Rev. Fr. Paul Burchat, Past-Chairman
Rev. Fr. Joseph Hattie, OMI
Rev. Fr. Gerard Monaghan
Rev. Fr. John Burchat
Rev. Fr. Lindsay Harrison
Rev. Fr. Brian Boucher
Rev. Deacon Bernard MacDonald, Secretary
Rev. Deacon John Poirier
Bernadette Johnson
Michael Vande Wiel
(Acting Managing Director/Treasurer)
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