Today we celebrate Septuagesima Sunday which begins the pre-Lenten season. In this busy society that we live within it is easy for us to rush through our liturgical seasons without taking a proper glance at what is taking place around us. In this manner it is easy to find ourselves at Christmas or Easter without knowing how we got there. This pre-Lenten season that we are within is to help give us aid in our journey, so that we will be able to realize how we arrived at the season of Easter. I hope that all of us here will take these next three weeks to analyze their life and to truly begin to pray about how you hope to arrive at Easter Sunday in the proper state of mind to receive our Resurrected Saviour in His totality. The season of Lent is not about giving up a favorite candy, just because, but instead is about growing closer to our Lord through the abandonment of our sin. If we properly prepare ourselves during this season we will not rush through Lent, but instead we will allow ourselves to grow closer to Christ in this great season.
If we truly desire to grow closer to our Lord during this pre-Lenten season we must ask ourselves how we live the Eucharist. To receive Christ in the state of grace is to truly be able to respond to the Eucharist with our lives. On the other hand, if we receive the Eucharist in the state of mortal sin we will be unable to live the Eucharist. Living the Eucharist is something that is alive; while communion under the state of the mortal sin brings about death. We all know that we cannot feed a dead body because it would be of no benefit, and so it is with the person who receives our Lord in the state of mortal sin. Time and time again polls show a drastic shift of confusion where Catholics deny the reality of sin, the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and other tenants of the faith. If we find that sin has become a stumbling block in our path of attempting to live the Eucharist; we must confess it and find ways to purge it from our life. With Christ the hope of conquering our sin always exists, but first we must trust in Him to allow this to take place.
The 2014 bishop's appeal is rightly entitled "Living the Eucharist" which sums up the wideness of charity that should come when we receive our Lord into our lives. This appeal also reminds us of the reality that we are more then this little parish, but instead are only a small piece that exists inside of the unity that is found within the Church as realized through the Holy Eucharist. Each of these six areas where funds will be allotted will help to build up the Kingdom of God not only here in Johnson City, but throughout the Knoxville diocese. Funds will be given for clergy and seminarian education which as we all know will at some point in time effect this Church community. It is through the hands of our priests that we receive Christ present in the Holy Eucharist into our lives. Without priests we would not have the Eucharist. Secondly, funds will go to support Catholic Charities which serves those in need through many services that are offered; even some who might belong to this parish community. To receive Christ into our lives demands as Pope Francis has reminded us time and time again to take care of the less fortunate in this world. These funds also help to give aid to programs such as RCIA, Catholic schools (which all of us should know the importance of), and religious education. May we especially remember to pray for those in RCIA because the season of Easter is coming quickly and thus they will receive Jesus Christ present in the Most Holy Eucharist into their lives for the first time. Youth, young adult, and campus ministry will also be aided through this appeal which will make sure that the Eucharist is able to remain central in the lives of our many young people especially those who are in college. Health services ministry is a new category added this year to the appeal which will again show our need to respond with spiritual care and healing to those who are in need. Finally, this appeal will aid efforts of justice and peace which ensures that we continue to bring the voice of the Eucharist into the world to become the voice of the many moral issues that plague society.
May each of us here truly desire to live the Eucharist. May we realize that each day we have the ability to respond to this call or to turn ourselves a way from it. With the two and a half weeks that lie ahead may we use this time wisely to prepare ourselves for the great season of Lent which will open our hearts up to the mystery of Christ more and more. We are all equal to those whom we encounter in our Gospel, and thankfully so. No matter if we have followed the path of Christ since the age of reason until this moment or instead have encountered a true sense of conversion on our deathbed; we have been forgiven and have been promised the Kingdom of Heaven. With our daily response to living the Eucharist this should be our response. Each time that we receive our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar we should be casting away our relationship to sin and allowing ourselves to truly begin to live the Eucharist. This pre-Lenten season exists to help prepare us to run this race for our eternal salvation.
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