At Holy Hour people encourged to invite others to Jesus

By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

WORCESTER – If someone told you Jesus was going to make an appearance at a church across town, would you go? Would you change your plans, jump in your car or even walk miles to be with him?
Richard Trubiano posed these questions at a Holy Hour that drew about 30 people to Our Lady of Loreto Church on March 28. He is faith chairman of the Knights of Columbus Our Lady of Mount Carmel Council 13575, which hosted the Holy Hour. Mr. Trubiano organizes spiritual events for the Knights. The evening included his reflection, exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, prayers and songs. There were also videos and comments from the pastor.
When you give someone a special gift, you want him or her to express thanks, said Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish at Our Lady of Loreto Church. But when it comes to Jesus, present in the Eucharist, “so many of our Catholics say, ‘No thanks’ – until something happens.”
When terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, many people called St. George Parish in Worcester, where Msgr. Pedone was then serving, and asked for a Mass. He said the two daily Masses were over by then, so a third Mass was celebrated that day.
“The church was packed, and for the next several weeks it was packed,” he said. But “people are fickle; we soon forget.”
He told those at the Holy Hour, “We’re all evangelists because of our baptism,” and encouraged them to invite others to “come and see” what God offers them at church. Noting that Jesus gives us himself in his body and blood, he urged them to never take that gift for granted. He said he was deeply moved by the faith of a Methodist woman who “began to fall in love with the Eucharist” and told him cradle Catholics don’t know what a gift they have.
Mr. Trubiano made a similar point with a statistic: A Pew Research Center survey found that only 31 percent of Catholics believe the consecrated bread and wine are Christ’s body and blood; most believe these are symbols.
If Catholics believed Jesus is present in the Eucharist, there would be significant attendance at Holy Hours and Mass, Mr. Trubiano said. He said he attends Mass primarily because he receives Jesus into himself and offers himself to Jesus, to be healed.
Although Catholics experience the Lord at Mass through Scripture, prayers, music and the homily, as tactile people they need to see and touch, Mr. Trubiano said. They do that when receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, thus uniting themselves with him. Sin cannot exist in Christ, so it is important to receive the Eucharist in a state of grace, he said; otherwise, people risk spiritual harm.
How Jesus is made present through the consecration is a mystery that cannot be fully grasped, but that doesn’t excuse Catholics from trying to learn more about it, Mr. Trubiano said.
“Belief in the Real Presence stems ultimately from Scripture,” he said, noting Jesus’ words in John 6 and at the Last Supper (Mt 26, Mk 14 and Lk 22) and St. Paul writing about the Last Supper (I Cor 11).
Some people may think of Real Presence as a symbol, or that Jesus is there alongside the bread and wine, but that is not what the Church teaches, Mr. Trubiano said. A miraculous change occurs when the words of consecration in the eucharistic prayer are prayed and the Holy Spirit is called down – the bread and wine change into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. The bread and wine no longer exist; only Jesus is present. Even though what we see looks and tastes like bread and wine, Jesus is present, whole and entire, in each crumb and drop.
Mr. Trubiano said that St. Faustina Kowalska said that if the angels were capable of envy, they would envy human beings for being able to receive holy Communion and experience suffering.
“We think they (angels) are so powerful, yet they lack what we have” – the privilege of receiving Jesus in the Eucharist – Mr. Trubiano said. And they wish they could suffer so they could offer that to Jesus, he added.
He said Catholics need to pray for priests; without them, there would be no Eucharist to receive.
After the Blessed Sacrament was reposed at the Holy Hour, Richard Annunziata, the Knights’ programs chairman, showed two videos dealing with the Eucharist.
In a Knights of Columbus video, Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly says the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life and of the Knights’ life. Christ in the Eucharist is the source of charity, author of unity and builder of fraternity – three pillars of the Knights.
The organization is a major sponsor of the U.S. Catholic Church’s three-year National Eucharistic Revival, the Supreme Knight said. Working with bishops and priests, the Knights will strive to renew belief in the Eucharist, which the Church’s future depends on, he said.
Another film, “The Veil Removed,” visualizes what happens at Mass through Christ’s gift of himself, in the presence of human beings and angels. (The video can be seen at theveilremoved.com.)