TO REKINDLE OUR AMAZEMENT MOST REVERENED JOSEPH E. STRICKLAND BISHOP OF TYLER
n this issue of the Catholic East Texas
People are used to hearing words like “invite”
magazine, our primary focus is on the
and “encourage” from their priests and bishops,
Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the
and certainly we do always invite and encourage
Holy Eucharist. As I write this, we are
everyone to come and see the goodness of God. However, I think the word demand also has a place
journeying through Lent, anticipating the passion,
in our discourse in the Church. As Bishop, I demand
death, and resurrection of the Lord at the Triduum.
that we take the Real Presence more seriously
You will read it after Easter, when life has returned
than we ever have. This is vital for every one of us.
to “normal,” and for most Catholics things will not be very dramatic again until Christmas. Within
In this special section of the Catholic East Texas
a month of this issue being published, ordinary
are several excellent resources to teach us and
time begins again in the liturgical calendar,
strengthen us to know exactly what the Church
and we can all slip back into our routines.
teaches about the Real Presence, what we mean by
transubstantiation, how this teaching comes to us in Sacred Scripture, and how this teaching has been consistently proclaimed in the entire history of the Church. Please read each of these pieces. Together, they form a Handbook on the Real Presence that I want every Catholic in the Diocese to read.
Right? No. Absolutely not. We must wake up to the TRUTH that Jesus Christ comes to us, in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, at every single Mass. I am very concerned by what I see in the Catholic Church today. I have written before, in the Constitution
TO REKINDLE OUR AMAZEMENT
on Teaching, that I feel that a lack of belief in the
H
Real Presence is a primary problem we face in the
owever, it is not enough to read. We also must live in such a way as to strengthen
Church. We must ALL work to combat unbelief in our own lives, and to help others to come to
out faith in the Real Presence. When Pope
understanding of and belief in this great truth.
Saint John Paul II wrote his great letter on
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