Friday, July 28, 2023
Dear Sister and Brothers in Christ,
Welcome to our seventh week on the Road to Emmaus. Together we have embarked upon a year-long pilgrimage through the Mass. Last week we learned about the divine origin and purpose of the Sunday Eucharist. It is the act of thanksgiving par excellence. An offering to God the Father from God the Son to which we can also unite our own expressions of gratitude for all that we owe the Almighty – which is everything, including our very existence.
As an act of thanksgiving, we then reflected in gratitude upon Saint John's account of the Passion as recorded in Chapter 19 of his Gospel. In those bloody passages we read how Christ went to Calvary for you, for me, for us. It’s an overwhelming reality. As is the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which is, after all, the unbloody re-presentation of the same Sacrifice of Calvary made present upon our altars through the actions of Christ’s holy priests.
And so, to this week’s challenge which is aimed at further stoking the embers of Eucharistic thanksgiving in our hearts. Here it is: With a spirit of gratitude for all of God’s gifts, dress for Sunday Mass in such a way to honor the Lord who has given each of us so much. How we dress is an important but delicate matter. Hence, to unpack the purpose and practicalities of this challenge, here’s a short film featuring Richard Budd. Richard is the Director of Marriage and Family Life Ministry for the Diocese of Lansing. More significantly, he’s also a married father of five young children.
+ Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing