Today the Church dedicates an entire Sunday to celebrating the tremendous gift we have received in the Eucharist. Vatican II teaches us that, “Taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life, they offer the Divine Victim to God, and offer themselves along with It” (Lumen Gentium #11). Here at the altar, at every Mass, by the Holy Spirit and through the authority given to the priest at his ordination, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Being baptized into His Body, the Church, it makes absolute sense that we would be nourished by the Same, just as our bodies nourish their own members.
Why a priesthood through which this gift is ministered? To remind us not only of the truth that this gift was given its power through a sacrifice made for all our sins—Jesus the Lamb of God offering Himself as Jesus our High Priest—but also that the priesthood of the baptized might have, in the ordained clergy, an example of faith, of how to love and serve one another in the pattern established by Jesus. In other words, when a priest repeats those words of Jesus over the bread and wine, he is as much “doing this in memory of” Jesus but also declaring to the people present, “This is my body…this is my blood,” that by the power of this gift he, as a priest, may feed and tend the sheep of Christ’s flock with his whole self, just as Jesus did. A priest hopes to lay down his own life for those he serves, in imitation of Jesus, Who through His priests and their ministry “…unceasingly builds up and leads His Church” (Catechism #1547).
So it is that I thank God, and all of the people of this parish, who have blessed me with four years of being able to serve you in this way. In early August I will depart Cincinnati for a few weeks to visit family and friends before I begin my tertianship in Sri Lanka. During that time I will be praying, reflecting upon my life as a Jesuit, revisiting the founding documents of our Order, undergoing the Spiritual Exercises, serving and ministering among the poor, among other experiences and such by which I will reflect on my vocation and prepare for Final Vows. After this I will receive a new assignment, though I do not know where that will be at this time.
Thank you all for welcoming me into this community, for your prayers and support! You will always be in my prayers, as I hope I will remain in yours.