‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven’

by Father Mark McCormick
Director of Vocations

This year the Office for Vocations is borrowing its theme from the National Eucharistic Revival: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” Jn 6:51.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens, chair of the Eucharistic Revival initiative for the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops, says that the overarching goal is aimed at “renewing the church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist.” The revival is designed to impact every level of the church, including vocations to the priesthood.

I have heard it said several times over the years that without the priest, there is no Eucharist, and without the Eucharist, there is no church. Pope Benedict XVI said something similar but put it more bluntly in his midday Angelus address on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 26, 2011: “Catholics believe that the bread and wine offered by Christ at the Last Supper literally became his body and blood — and that this same miracle is repeated by priests at every Mass since … without the Eucharist, the church simply does not exist.”

In the face of Roman persecution, the fourth-century Abitene martyrs from North Africa chose to die rather than deprive themselves of Sunday Mass. They proclaimed, Sine Dominico non possumus (Without the Sunday Eucharist, we cannot live). We need the priesthood to live!

The foundational document on Eucharistic Revival, “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church,” names several saints, two of whom drew my attention: St. John Vianney and St. Teresa of Calcutta. Both had a deep, intimate and personal relationship with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. This relationship guided them in everything they said and did. Both centered their lives around the Eucharist and had a strong devotion to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which strengthened and fueled their fire to live and serve heroically.

St. John Vianney said, “We do not have to talk very much to pray well, we know that God is there in His Holy Tabernacle. Let us open our hearts to Him, let us rejoice in His Sacred Presence. This is the best prayer.”

St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “Jesus has made himself the Bread of Life to give us life. Night and day, he is there. If you really want to grow in love, come back to the Eucharist, come back to that adoration.”

As you can see, this year’s seminarian poster incorporated the beautiful and awe-inspiring eucharistic procession we had as a diocese on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) on June 19, in which more than 600 people participated throughout the diocese. It was a glorious day!

This year, my hope and prayer are that every parish — and even every household — will have at least one poster hanging up to remind them throughout the Eucharistic Revival of the urgent need to be fed weekly, if not daily, by the Real Presence of Jesus in Eucharist and to spend some time before Jesus in the tabernacle. As the Abitene martyrs said so boldly and without hesitation, “Without the Sunday Eucharist, we cannot live.”

May this year’s seminarian poster remind you that the Eucharist is truly the source and summit of our lives for everything we say and do. May this year’s seminarian poster remind you to pray for our priests and for our seminarians who one day will be celebrants of the Eucharist for us.

As you consider the place of the Eucharist in your life, consider this reflection by Deacon John Garabedian, a seminarian from the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts: “When I was working professionally, I started to go to daily Mass and would also occasionally spend time in adoration during my lunch breaks. It was these moments in intimate, silent prayer with the Lord where I would try to listen to his still, small voice in my heart and express my desires and concerns to him. The priesthood became more evident over time, and my anxieties about the future slowly subsided.

“Around that time, as my discernment was becoming increasingly clear, I attended a Steubenville East Conference. During the Saturday Night Eucharistic Procession, I felt God say to me in my heart, ‘Be my priest,’ which gave me increased consolation and encouragement shortly before applying to the seminary.”

There is great power in receiving the Eucharist and in sitting or kneeling before Jesus in adoration to hear his voice. May there be many more young men in our diocese like Deacon John Garabedian who hear the voice of Christ, who says, “Be my priest.”