The Eucharist: an act of cosmic love

February 13, 2020

236. It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave himself as food for his creatures. The Lord, in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter. He comes not from above, but from within, he comes that we might find him in this world of ours. In the Eucharist, fullness is already achieved; it is the living center of the universe, the overflowing core of love and of inexhaustible life. Joined to the incarnate Son, present in the Eucharist, the whole cosmos gives thanks to God. Indeed the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love: “Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world.” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia)

The Eucharist joins heaven and earth; it embraces and penetrates all creation. The world which came forth from God’s hands returns to him in blessed and undivided adoration: in the bread of the Eucharist, “creation is projected towards divinization, towards the holy wedding feast, towards unification with the Creator himself.” (Homily for the Mass of Corpus Domini, 15 June 2006)

Thus, the Eucharist is also a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment, directing us to be stewards of all creation.

Source : Laudato Si'

Msgr. James F. Fetscher

St. Sebastian Church

Dear Family,

ABCD Update!

You are great! As I write (on Feb. 11th) we are at 67% of our goal. That means $33,388 to go. I know we can.

For those of you who are visitors or new to the parish, ABCD (ArchBishop’s Charities and Development) is the appeal the Archdiocese makes each year to help fund outreach work that extends beyond parishes. They are the joint responsibilities of all the parishes. It’s a fixed part of the budget.

So, if we are not able to meet our goal, we will have to fund the difference from our regular parish revenues. In return for that condition, the Archdiocese will also return to the parish any excess over our goal. Can I call that “we got your back” holiness?” Never mind. I won’t push it.

Last year, 151 households took part. So far, I have heard from 95 households. Some of the outlying precincts haven’t come in yet. More to the point, dear sisters and brothers, write your pledges/checks!

Jubilee Book Pictures!

As we announced, in answer to many requests, we are going to publish a new photo directory as another commemoration of our Diamond Jubilee Year. It’s been ten years, so we are ready for an update, not that any of you have changed in ten years. However, some of the brothers and sisters have gone to the Lord, and there are new people in the community who we want to know better.

Today is the sign-up day, and the pictures will be taken on Wednesday through Saturday, March 4th through March 7th.

Mardi Gras Dinner!

Today you can purchase your dinner tickets for the Mardi Gras Dinner, this coming Saturday, Feb. 22. Guys: not too late for a great Valentine’s gift. You couldn’t do better than this one.

Maybe in this column I can get away from all the (worthwhile) things I’m hawking in the first column.

One of the challenges is that this is a parish where we try to cram 12 months’ worth of parish life into less than six. You meet yourself coming around the bend more than once in a while.

Still, I think there are a lot of parishes that would be envious of all that goes on here in our tiny corner of the universe.

In the last analysis, my question is always whether what we do is letting us – and others – see the face of Jesus more clearly.

Last Sunday’s Gospel made it very clear that we can’t use some sort of strained sense of false humility for not letting our light shine. It’s not our light! It’s the God given gift that enlightens and enlivens us for the sole purpose of being God’s gift to an ‘other.’

There is also the very good possibility, that with a little courage, we might actually let someone else’s light shine in one or two of our own dark corners. Tell me you don’t have one or two of those and I’ll ask you to either check the length of your nose, or maybe spend a little more time looking.

Today’s Gospel gets into the section of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew (chapters 5 through 7) that I call “The Emeril Lagasse” section, the “kick it up a notch” section. "You’ve heard it said…BUT I say to you…”

Here’s one thing about that first column: it means people coming together, and that‘s the only way the stuff in this second column is going to work. That’s why we are called ‘church,’ the gathering, the coming together. See you in Church!

In Jesus,
Msgr. Jim Fetscher
Pastor