By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The National Eucharistic Congress is underway in Indianapolis this week and considerable faith, hope and love have been poured into the preparations that have made it all possible. Our Eucharistic Lord is working great wonders and inspiring many to recognize Him and love Him in the gift of His Body and Blood during this graced time in our nation’s Catholic history.

One obvious manifestation of the outpouring of God’s grace were the four national Eucharistic processions that converged earlier this week in Indianapolis. Recalling the words of St. Paul, many joyfully walked as pilgrims in adoration. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:4-5) It is a time of revival, renewal, and rejoicing to know the enduring and eternal gift that the crucified and risen Lord has bequeathed to the church in the Eucharist.

As we enjoy this issue of the Mississippi Catholic that features the celebrations of the sacraments from around the diocese, it is abundantly evident that the Mass, the great prayer of Thanksgiving is the heart and soul of our identity as Catholics. Recently, at each closing session of our Pastoral Reimagining, the Eucharist was the centerpiece to express our gratitude, as well as to call upon the Holy Spirit to inspire us in our commitment to be faithful to the Lord in pastoral reimagining. The holy sacrifice of the Mass is our true north on the way to eternal life, the fulfillment of the promise the Lord made to all disciples who ate his body and drank his blood. “I am the living bread that comes down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)

The Eucharist, the center of the church’s life, somehow seems to say it all. It says in a hundred different ways: this is who we are, and this is who God is … When we look at Eucharist in all its rich fullness, we can rekindle within ourselves eucharistic amazement and wonder at this great gift God has given to us in his Son Jesus. (Stephen J. Binz, Eucharist, page 2) The psalmist captures these gifts of awe and wonder. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name, good indeed is the Lord. His mercy endures forever, his faithfulness lasts through every generation.” (Psalm 100)

Central to recognizing the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is our hunger and thirst for God’s Word. Our Liturgical/Sacramental Catholic world cannot exist without the proclamation of the scriptures during each administration of the sacraments. Emergency baptisms or anointings would be the exceptions. The Emmaus story in St. Luke’s Gospel embodies what Pope Saint Paul II meant in his document Ecclesia de Eucaristia at the turn of the millennium. In other words, the church is born from the Eucharist and the road to Emmaus portrays the fullness of Eucharistic faith when the Word burned in the disciples’ hearts, and they recognized the risen Lord’s presence in the Breaking of the Bread. The inspired Word of God prepares us to see the glory of God in the Lord’s body and blood on the altar.

Central to an authentic celebration of the Eucharist is the understanding that at the end of Mass the service continues.

“Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”

“Thanks be to God.”

As the Lord distinctly taught, it is urgent to put into practice what we have heard in order to build our house on rock, the solid ground of faith in action. Seizing the moment with all who are in attendance at the Eucharistic Congress will be the invitation to be Eucharistic missionaries, or missionary disciples on fire with the joy of the Gospel. Afterall, we are the Body of Christ, the church, and we are to carry our holy communion with the Lord and one another into our lives and world as a leaven that witnesses to God’s Kingdom.

Indeed, the Lord is always near, and never more so than when the members of his body, the church, faithfully live the Good News.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
It was 125 years ago that Pope Leo XIII consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the dawn of the 20th century. Twenty-five years ago, at the dawn of the new millennium Pope John Paul II reconsecrated the world to the Sacred Heart imploring the church especially, but all people of faith and good will to see in the Sacred Heart of Jesus the essence of God who is love. Each year in our liturgical calendar the feast of the Sacred Heart is commemorated on the Friday after Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. How fitting is this sacred combination. From the pierced side (heart) of the crucified Savior flowed blood and water, the gift of eternal love and the wellspring of the sacramental life of the church, baptism and the Eucharist.

The spirituality of the Sacred Heart steadily took root and flowered from the time of the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM in the 1670s to the major movements of the 19th century. St. Cardinal John Henry Newman, a phenomenal theologian and apologist who embraced the Catholic faith at mid-life chose for his episcopal motto in 1879 “Cor ad Cor loquitur” heart speaks unto heart. At the center of his intellectual prowess and pastoral dedication was the beating Sacred Heart of the Lord solidly anchored in the scriptures. “I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what the hope is of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” (Ephesians 1:18)

A year earlier across the channel in France in 1878 Father Leo John Dehon received permission from the Vatican to establish the religious community of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in the same year on Feb. 20 that Pope Leo XIII began his long tenure that would last until 1903.

Do we see a pattern here? The Holy Spirit was hard at work to inspire believers from the center of the church to all points on the compass to embrace the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Love for Jesus Christ in his Sacred Heart is Eucharistic through and through as we hear the words of the Lord echoing through time at every Mass: “this is my body, this is my blood poured out.” (Mark 14: 22-24)
To be washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb (Revelations 7:14) is the fountain of Eucharistic Revival. Yet, love for the Sacred Heart and the Lord’s sacrifice cannot be contained within our churches, as sacred as they are. The charism of the Priests of the Sacred Heart is to transform the world we live in through acts of compassion, justice and mercy. This labor of love on behalf of God’s Kingdom has been alive and well in the north of our diocese for over 80 years through the dedication of the Sacred Heart Fathers (SCJs).

Likewise, Pope Leo XIII in his love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus yearned for greater justice for all workers during the Industrial Revolution when so many, including children, were being crushed beneath the wheel of industry. His landmark encyclical Rerum Novarum or “The Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor” is valued as the foundational document for the Social Teachings of the church in every generation since.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is well integrated into the liturgical and personal prayer of the church. We celebrate and cherish this symbol of God’s eternal love every First Friday of the month knowing that it is a love poured out every day of the year to enflame our worship and to inspire our actions on behalf of greater justice and peace in our world.

Jubilee Prayer: “I now consecrate my heart to your Sacred Heart, Jesus. You are the Son of God whom I love with all my heart. I offer you my body, soul, my mind, and my heart. Receive me, make me holy, make my heart like your heart, and guide me in the way of perfect love today and every day of my life. Amen.”

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be recreated, and you shall renew the face of the earth.”

Our lives are imbued in the mystery of God’s Holy Spirit whose graced presence is always at work. We can never fully comprehend the gift and the grandeur of God’s manifestation in our lives, an unfathomable mystery, but the Spirit gradually reveals what we need when we remain open in faith.

Of primary importance is our relationship with the Most Holy Trinity because the Holy Spirit enlightens our hearts and minds to know that Jesus is Lord, and God is our Father. (1Corinthians 12) God who is love has poured the gift of self into creation and salvation and in Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, shows us how to live and to love in all circumstances. But like the Blessed Mother and the saints, we must be willing partners.

The biblical narrative recounts the primordial and temporal work of the Spirit of God. In the beginning, the Holy Spirit hovered over the original chaos and darkness and created light and order. The Spirit of God spoke through the prophets and created meaning and hope in the nation of Israel preparing the way for the long-awaited Messiah. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” because Mary was alive in faith and in her openness allowed the Holy Spirit to act. (John 1:14) The Spirit of God accompanied the Lord Jesus in every step of his earthly ministry (Luke 10:21) and from the throes of death, raised him to eternal life. (Romans 8:11) At the Ascension the disciples were instructed to remain vigilant waiting to be clothed with “power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) The miracle of Pentecost with the great outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit and the birth of the church fulfilled all their yearnings.

There is a pattern to this lavish generosity of Divine Providence that we see in the outpouring of God’s Spirit in creation, the blood and water that poured forth from the crucified Lord and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. As Jesus declared in the Good Shepherd narrative, “I came so that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

Two-thousand years later Pope Francis has invited the church throughout the world in the Synod on Synodality to hear “what the Holy Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:22) in an ever-deepening experience of communion, participation, and mission. The Holy Father’s invitation is anchored in the unflinching belief that the Spirit of God is always at hand to renew the church with Pentecost fervor, evidence of the more abundant life that Jesus promised. In our diocesan Pastoral Reimagining from Pentecost 2023 through Pentecost 2024, building upon the earlier gatherings with Synodality, we have relied on the Holy Spirit to lead us in fruitful prayer and conversations in order to stir into flame the gift of God’s grace that we all received at Baptism.

Of course, during this time of Eucharist Revival the Holy Spirit is summoning the church to a renewed experience of worship as the Body of Christ who offers sacrifice and praise to God. Once gathered it is the Holy Spirit who opens our hearts and minds to hear God’s word with the capacity to put it into practice. It is the invocation of the Holy Spirit, “the power from on high” at the words of institution who transforms the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, it is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9) who awakens us to the promise of eternal life. In the indwelling of the Holy Spirit consider the seven gifts, the 12 fruits, the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love, and the four cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude. In this light we begin to understand the abundance of which Jesus spoke.

Where would we be if not for the abiding presence and action of the Holy Spirit? Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful so that we can worthily celebrate the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Body and Blood of the Lord in the days ahead.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
Before ascending from this world to his God and our God Jesus instructed his disciples to return to the Upper Room to await “to be clothed with power from on High.” (Luke 24: 49) To be outfitted with the Holy Spirit is a wonderful image of our intimacy with God and by wearing it well we remain in style to bear the message of salvation to every corner of the planet till the end of time.

The feast of the Ascension is the bridge between the Resurrection and Pentecost that completes God’s plan of salvation begun specifically in the Incarnation when “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Throughout the Gospel of John, it is uppermost in Jesus’ mind that he is to return to God the Father from where he came. “No one has ascended to heaven except the One who descended from heaven.” (John 3:13)

At the outset of the Last Supper before the washing of the disciples’ feet, his divine destiny was set in motion. “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in this world and loved them to the end.” (John 13:1)

On course, the link between the Cross, the resurrection and the ascension is established. “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)

The Lord’s resurrection appearances in the four Gospels are remarkable, and yet shrouded in mystery. These encounters reveal the risen Lord in his glorified body, capable of eating (Luke 24:43) and of being touched (John 20:27) and of conversing in varied settings, on the road, at the beach, in the garden, in barricaded rooms and on mountaintops.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church in the first of its four major sections (Can we name the other three sections?) reflects upon the Ascension in the context of the Creed. (CCC 659-667) The transition of the risen Lord in his glorified body after the resurrection to his exalted body with his Ascension to the right hand of the Father forever (CCC 660) clears the way for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in daily life and prepares a place for us in eternity.

“Only Christ could have opened this door for the human race, he who wished to go before us as our head so that we as members of his body may live with the burning hope of following him in His Kingdom.” (CCC 661)

St. Paul in his pastoral letter to Timothy elaborates upon our understanding of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit from on High. “For the Spirit God gives us is not one of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2Tim 1:7)

Power, directed by loving discipline has the capacity to transform lives and to carry out the Lord’s Great Commission to bear the Gospel to all the nations. This is the power of God that forms the Church as One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, that all receive at Baptism, that is invoked upon our numerous young people who have been confirmed, that transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord, and that we will call down upon Deacon Tristan Stovall and all who will be ordained in sacred orders.

As we heard in last Sunday’s first reading, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and his household, the first Gentile converts, truly a second Pentecost, came about through ardent prayer and joyful hope. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is at work in our homes and in our churches.

May we be vigilant in prayer and joyful in hope as we prepare to be clothed with power from on High this Pentecost for the promises of the Lord are fulfilled in every generation.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
“Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may grant you a season of refreshment.” (Acts of the Apostles 3:19-20)

During this Easter season there will be additional opportunities in each of our six deaneries to further the conversations in our undertaking of Pastoral Reimagining process. To apply the phrase from the Scriptures by St. Peter in the passage above, another way of expressing the goal of our process is to advance toward a season of refreshment and renewal under the gaze of One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.

Although the process was organized from the diocesan center, the handiwork has taken place on the local level with conversations for the sake of reimagining of what could be, building upon the diocesan and world-wide undertaking of Synodality in the Catholic Church.

It must be a grassroots process in order for the diocesan center to engage in authentic listening and conversation with all points on the compass. In other words, “whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Acts 3:22) The Lord himself expressed spiritual and pastoral potential “…they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” (Matthew 13:15)

Not surprisingly, healing and greater unity were a repeated theme during our diocesan synodal process, both for our church and society. Another expressed desire was for a more meaningful understanding and application of the Bible, the sacred word of God. All this is seen and heard on Divine Mercy Sunday from the scriptures, in the Eucharist, and in the recitation of the Chaplet.

In the classic resurrection appearance, the Lord was suddenly in the midst of his scattered and fearful apostles and immediately blessed them with peace, in fact, three times over two encounters. He proceeded to breathe upon them the power of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, theirs and all who would hear the Gospel and come to faith. With God’s grace in abundance, he sent them into the world so that “all may have life in his name.” (John 20:19-31) This is a Gospel account of healing and hope in the aftermath of the trauma of the violent crucifixion, and the division and conflict that come from such events. Many in our society and church are reeling from similar turmoil.

From Divine Mercy Sunday in the tradition of the beloved disciple John we heard in the second reading that this is the power, “that came through water and blood, Jesus Christ. The Spirit is the one that testifies, and the Spirit is truth.” (1John 5:6) Water and the blood, the blue and the red rays from the side of the crucified and resurrected One, Divine Mercy. The good fruit of all of this is heard and imagined from the first reading on Divine Mercy Sunday.

“The community of believers was of one heart and one mind … With great power the apostles bore witness to the power of the resurrection, and there was no needy person among them.” (1Acts 4:33-35)
This is the paradigm Christian community, strong in faith, hope and love, an ideal for sure, but also real on many levels. Although not formally expressed until the year 325 in the Nicene Creed, it is clear that One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic were unfolding at the beginning.

The process of Reimagining in our diocese is a hope that is ever ancient and ever new. “Late have I loved you, O Beauty every ancient, ever new…” (Saint Augustine, Confessions)

We want to see, hear, and understand the power of the Lord’s resurrection, his peace, his mercy, his call and mission for our lives, in our parishes, schools and ministries. Overall, the new life of Eastertide, a season of refreshment, by God’s grace, is producing the good fruit from the efforts of reimagining in our diocese. Let us continue to fight the good fight of faith, “the power that conquers the world.” (1John 5:4)

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.

Lent arrives at its final stage with Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. It is an intensive time of accompanying the Lord Jesus in his passion and suffering, through his death, to the glory of the resurrection.

The uniqueness of the Palm Sunday Mass is found in the entrance rite with palm in hand, the procession, and the proclamation of the passion narrative. This year, the passion from the Gospel of Mark will resound throughout the Catholic world, and in a profoundly stark cry of forsakenness the Lord speaks for all of humanity. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” (Mark 15:34) Between Palm Sunday and the Easter Vigil, the great majority of the faithful will be gathered at the outset of Holy Week to allow the Lord’s final hours and words to wash over them in the blood and water flowing from his side.

Chiara Lubich, the founder of the Focolare Movement expresses the great mystery of our forsaken Lord in this manner: “We contemplated in him the height of his love because it was the height of his suffering. What more could a God give us, that it seems that he forgets that he is God … Jesus converted the world with his words, with his example, with his preaching, but he transformed it when he provided the proof of his love, the Cross.”

Lubich and all who see the Lord with the eyes of faith are building upon the unshakeable foundation of St. Paul on the power of the Cross. “Indeed, the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God … Jews demand signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified. This is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God … For I resolved that while I was with you, I would know nothing except Jesus Christ, and him crucified … so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” (1Corinthians 1:18, 22-24; 2:2-5)

With his blood and with his cry, Jesus crucified and forsaken opened up all possibilities for this life including forgiveness, unity, justice, and peace, and eternal life to follow. It is true that all of humanity is in exile, but there are those whose forsakenness is extreme. During these most sacred days of faith, we are mindful of those in the Holy Land especially, but not exclusively, who are crucified and forsaken in war, destruction, death and displacement. These abandoned are more closely configured to our crucified Lord in their suffering.

Lubich offers this vision and hope: “Jesus forsaken is the most greatly pruned, whom neither heaven nor earth seemed to want … Because he had been uprooted from both earth and heaven, he brought into unity those who were cut off, those who were uprooted from God.”

Therefore, he and he alone is the way to reach beyond the barriers of hatred and violence toward the unity for which he prayed at the Last Supper, “that all may be one.” (John 17:22)

Again, from the wisdom of Lubich and the Focolare Movement we read: “This is everything, to love as he loved us, to the extent of his experiencing for our sake the sensation of being forsaken by his Father. Through Jesus, in fact, we gain by losing, we live by dying. The grain of wheat has to die in order to produce the ear of grain; we need to be pruned in order to bear good fruit. This is Jesus’ law, his paradox. The Holy Spirit is making us understand that in order to bring about Jesus’ prayer ‘may they all be one’ it is necessary to welcome Jesus forsaken in our disunity. Jesus forsaken is the road, the key, the secret.”

These are words of wisdom for us during Holy Week in the line of St. Paul. The Holy Spirit has inspired many in the Synodal and Reimagining processes in our diocese to address the need for greater healing and unity in our communities of faith.

The Holy Spirit is guiding us during Holy Week to look to Christ crucified and forsaken as the power and wisdom of God in whom all things are possible. The Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead and who dwells within us through faith and baptism, will inspire to proclaim Alleluia on Easter Sunday because he is risen. But before we arrive at the empty tomb let the crucified and forsaken Lord wash us clean in his blood.