In his Apostolic Letter for the Year of the Eucharist, Mane Nobiscum Domine, "Stay with us Lord," Our Holy Father Pope John Paul II writes that "the image of the disciples on the way to Emmaus can serve as a fitting guide for a year when the Church will be particularly engaged in living out the mystery of the Holy Eucharist" (MND 2). As we begin our journey through the Year of the Eucharist, let us consider for a moment the road we have traveled in recent years, and what lies ahead in the year to come as we open ourselves on a "deeply spiritual level" (MND 5) to the Eucharistic Mystery.

In the Pastoral Letter on ministry, As I Have Done for You, the priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, together with me, your Archbishop, wrote:

"The Church at this moment may be likened to the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13 ff). Like them, we continue to speak with one another about all that God has been doing in our midst. Like them, we are on the road, in via, amidst a journey, and, like them, many of our expectations have been unsettled. As our tightly-held expectations are disturbed, the gift of the Lord's presence, the power of the Spirit, is ours to receive, and the Lord is in our midst, no less than on the road to Emmaus --- as companion on the journey, as teacher, as guide and, especially, in the Blessing and Breaking of the Eucharistic Bread."

There is a resounding echo here. What the Holy Father urges us to do during the Year of Eucharist is, by God's grace, a gift and task that we have already taken up in our Archdiocese. And by God's grace we shall continue to walk together with the Lord in our midst, whose presence is known above all in the celebration of the Eucharist.

Our commitment to cultivate, nurture and sustain the centrality of the Eucharist in our journey of faith underpins the Pastoral Initiatives of our Archdiocesan Synod. Indeed the Synod's Fifth Pastoral Initiative may be understood as the centerpiece of all the other Initiatives. As we embark on the Year of the Eucharist, let us recall our commitment to the Eucharist and Sacramental Living, Becoming a holy people, rooted in prayer, living by the grace of the Eucharist and sacramental celebration. The Pastoral Initiative is described as follows:

"The Church's sacramental life becomes fruitful as the whole People of God integrate the sacramental celebrations of the Paschal Mystery with their efforts to transform the world in and through God's love. The Eucharist makes the gathered community, the assembly, what it is: We become what we receive; we receive the Body of Christ in the Eucharist to become the Body of Christ for the transformation of the world. "No Christian community can be built up unless it has its basis and center in the celebration of the most Holy Eucharist" (John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia 33 cf. Presbyterorum ordinis 6). We live by a transforming grace that allows us to recognize and embrace the sacredness of human life and living in its various dimensions. Our whole lives become a living expression of the Paschal Mystery --- the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ --- that we celebrate, primarily in the Eucharist."

Our participation in the Eucharist expresses our commitment to allow Jesus Christ to enter our lives, to nourish us with the Word, to sustain us with the sacrament of His Body and Blood, building us --- member for member --- into the Body of Christ. As the experience of the Risen Christ transformed the disciples, so our participation in the Paschal Mystery transforms us as well as the wider world. But this is only possible if we are steeped in the prayer that strengthens our commitment to a life of holiness.

The first Pastoral Priority to assure the successful implementation of this Pastoral Initiative is:

EACH PARISH IS TO GIVE PRIORITY TO THE SUNDAY CELEBRATION OF MASS AS THE PRIMARY OCCASION AND OPPORTUNITY FOR REVITALIZING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THE COMMUNITY AND, ACCORDINGLY, MAKE APPROPRIATE PROVISION FOR THE FULL, CONSCIOUS, AND ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF THE FAITHFUL.

In Mane Nobiscum Domine the Holy Father makes it abundantly clear that he is not calling for programs or other activities to mark the Year of the Eucharist. He is urging us, rather, to a deeper spirituality of the Eucharist, so that this Year "will in no way interfere with the pastoral programs of the individual Churches. Rather, it can shed light upon those programs, anchoring them, so to speak, in the very Mystery which nourishes the spiritual life of the faithful and the initiatives of each local Church. I am not asking individual Churches to alter their pastoral programs, but to emphasize the Eucharistic dimension which is part of the whole Christian life" (MND 5)

In recent years, we have made great strides in our movement forward to the Day of the Lord. The implementation of Gather Faithfully Together and our Synod Initiatives has brought great vitality to our Local Church. But there is much still to be done. The Holy Father writes: "Forty years after the Council, the Year of the Eucharist can serve as an important opportunity for Christian communities to evaluate their progress in this area" (MND 13).

Following the promulgation of Redemptionis Sacramentum concerning the correct implementation of liturgical norms in the Liturgy, I asked our Office for Worship to develop a self-evaluation instrument that would allow parishes to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their liturgical life. An active parish liturgy committee can be of great help in this self-evaluation.

What better way to take up the Holy Father's invitation to "emphasize the Eucharistic dimension which is part of the whole Christian life" than to engage in a thorough evaluation of our current liturgical practices so that we can better partake of "the very Mystery which nourishes the spiritual life" (MND 5).

Central to any evaluation of the Liturgy is the concern for the relationship between Eucharist and the Mission of the Church. In my capacity as president of our Archdiocesan Synod, I observed one quite remarkable development. There was a gradual movement, which I believe was a movement of the Holy Spirit, from concerns about the internal life of the Church to a much clearer sense of the Church's overall mission. So strong was this awareness of mission in our Synod process that our final Synod Documents convey this conviction: It is not so much that the Church has a mission; it is rather more that the Mission has a Church. What is this mission? None other than that of Jesus Christ the Word, and of the Holy Spirit, God's love dwelling in our hearts.

Jesus' mission is to announce the time of God's favor, the coming of the Reign of God. He entrusted this mission to the Church. This mission is so central to the word and work of Jesus that the Second Vatican Council emphasized that "mission" defines the Church. The Church in every dimension of its life and practice exists for mission: to proclaim in word and deed the Reign of God to people in every culture, time and place.

The Holy Father's Apostolic Letter on the Year of the Eucharist reminds us that the two disciples of Emmaus, upon recognizing the Lord, "set out immediately" (Luke 24: 33) in order to proclaim what they had seen and heard. The Eucharistic Mystery is "an urgent summons to testimony and evangelization" (MND 24). If we are to carry forward the mission of the Church, which is clearly articulated in the First Pastoral Initiative of our Archdiocesan Synod, Evangelization and "the New Evangelization," then we must be steeped in a spirituality which is Eucharistic through and through. What are the distinctive features of this Eucharistic spirituality? The Holy Father gives us some general guidelines. Such a spirituality, expressed and impressed in the celebration of the Eucharist, is one of: 1) gratitude; 2) dialogue; 3) solidarity; 4) service of the least.

Let us now take up the challenge and continue to move forward together, implementing our Pastoral Initiatives so that we might more effectively carry forward the mission of the Church, which is the mission of Christ and the Spirit. Central to our mission is the celebration of the Eucharistic Mystery, the sacrificial meal of communion and justice. By sharing in the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord we partake in the very life of God who is calling us now to live in deep gratitude, to engage in critical and constructive dialogue, to stand in solidarity with the wounded and the weak who are first in the Reign of God, and to be of service to the last, littlest, and least in Church and society.

Suggestions for Making
the Most of the Year
of the Eucharist

It is helpful to remember that "at the head of our calendar stands Sunday, still called by us the Lord's Day, the First Day of creation, the Day when Christ defeated death and the Spirit blew upon the disciples." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2174-2175, Gather Faithfully Together 19) Sunday liturgies are to be the center and the high point of parish life. In his excellent Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini, our Holy Father emphasized that "among the many activities of a parish, 'none is as vital or as community-forming as the Sunday celebration of the Lord's Day and his Eucharist.'" (DD35) What can we do to keep the Eucharistic celebration at the center of our lives?

Our focus should always remain on the Sunday Eucharist and on how the Lord's Day is observed in our parishes and homes, being attentive to those attitudes and activities that diminish or interfere with our observance of the Sabbath.

Parish communities would do well to consider how the liturgy is celebrated. Gather Faithfully Together: Guide for Sunday Mass gives helpful direction for all who come for the celebration of Sunday Mass.

---Members of the assembly come to worship having read the Scriptures beforehand, and eager to participate fully in the Eucharist.

---Ushers and ministers of hospitality truly welcome people and are helpful to all who come to the celebration.

---Lectors, deacons and priests are well-prepared and skilled at proclaiming the Word of God to the gathered assembly, whose members listen carefully as the Word is proclaimed.

---The homily is well prepared and helps bring the Word of God proclaimed into dialogue with the gift and task of Christian living today.

---Ministers of music serve the community by encouraging and enhancing the song of the assembly with musical selections appropriate to the day and the liturgical season.

---Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion exercise their ministry with great care and reverence.

---All who gather for the Eucharist at Sunday Mass are actively engaged in the celebration through singing, listening, responding, processing and observing times of silence.

The actions, prayers, petitions and homilies of the Sunday Eucharist are to move us to go forth to serve others, to build a world of communion and justice by attending to those who need our help in so many ways. Particularly at this time of year there are many opportunities to be of service to the poor and others in need. Do we take to heart the words that conclude the Mass: "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord?"

Additional reading online

These resources are available online: ---Mane Nobiscum Domine ("Stay with us Lord"), apostolic letter from Pope John Paul II: www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm, then click on Mane Nobiscum Domine. ---Dies Domini (On Keeping the Lord's Day Holy), apostolic letter from Pope John Paul II: www.usccb.org/comm/ archives/diesdomini.shtml . ---"As I Have Done for You: A Pastoral Letter on Ministry," by Cardinal Roger Mahony and the Priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles: http://cardinal.la-archdiocese.org/000420.htm. ---"Gathered and Sent," Archdiocesan Synod documents: www.lasynod.org/. ---"Gather Faithfully Together: Guide for Sunday Mass," by Cardinal Roger Mahony: www.la-archdiocese.org/Eucharist/ E970904.html.

The Year of the Eucharist is an opportune time to reevaluate sacramental celebrations such as Confirmation and First Holy Communion within the parish. These celebrations are parish events and should be modeled after the Sunday Eucharist.

The Year of the Eucharist provides ample opportunity to increase or develop our practice of Eucharistic Adoration. Quiet time before the Blessed Sacrament prepares us for the celebration of Christ's Mysteries in the Eucharistic Celebration. It also provides an opportunity to relish the grace of the sacrament long after the celebration of the Eucharist. In his Apostolic Letter on the Year of the Eucharist, our Holy Father Pope John Paul II writes: "Eucharistic adoration outside Mass should become a particular commitment for individual parish and religious communities." (Mane Nobiscum Domine 18)

Each season of the liturgical year --- Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time --- can be marked by a special opportunity for Eucharistic Adoration. The seasons of Advent and Lent are particularly appropriate times to bring the hopes and longings of the whole world and our own hearts before the Most Blessed Sacrament.

---At the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place every Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. --- as well as on feast days such as the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ --- throughout the Year of the Eucharist.

---Parishes throughout the Archdiocese would do well to make opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration available to parishioners on a regular basis.

In addition, parish communities might take a closer look at the place where the Eucharist is reserved. Is the tabernacle a worthy vessel for the Most Blessed Sacrament? Is the Sacrament kept in an inviting place of beauty that is conducive to quiet prayer?

Finally, in an effort to help all in our Archdiocese make the most of the Year of the Eucharist, a series of bulletin inserts on the Eucharist will be available in December through the Archdiocesan Office for Worship. These bulletin inserts will address different dimensions of the Eucharist. Further, an evaluation form for use by parish liturgy committees will be published in early 2005 in an effort to assure that the Liturgy is celebrated in such a way that it truly is the source and summit of our Catholic faith and practice.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is developing various resources for the Year of the Eucharist, including a Holy Hour for Vocations, available on the web site www.usccb.org. Our Archdiocesan Office for Worship is gathering and developing materials, inclusive of materials for coordinating a Holy Hour, which can be adapted in various ways for use in the parish. In addition there is a set of petitions that can be used at liturgies throughout the Year of the Eucharist. These are available at www.laliturgy.org. All of these materials are or will be available in English and Spanish.

As we begin in earnest to make the most of the Year of the Eucharist, let us ponder the words of Gather Faithfully Together:

"Nothing more clearly and wonderfully defines who we are as Catholics as does the celebration of the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Mass…. It is my prayer and hope that the full celebration of the Eucharist at each Sunday Mass across the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will inspire all of our Catholic people to understand ever more fully the precious gift that is ours in this mystery of faith. The full and proper celebration of the Eucharist becomes a powerful teacher for all of us, and the reverence, joy, participation, and silence of our celebrations deepens all of us in the life of Jesus Christ." (Gather Faithfully Together: Guide for Sunday Mass 187-188.)