Hispanic Catholics embrace pastoral letter

Hispanic Catholics embrace pastoral letter

LORENA ROJAS SAN FRANCISCO

The day after he released his first pastoral letter on abortion, the holy Eucharist and the responsibility of Catholics in public life, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone celebrated Mass at St. Peter Church, one of the three “Mission parishes” in San Francisco’s Mission District.

On May 1, Archbishop Cordileone published the document titled: “Before I Formed You in the Womb I Knew You: A Pastoral Letter on the Human Dignity of the Unborn, Holy Communion, and Catholics in Public Life.”

In his homily, Archbishop Cordileone preached about the sanctity of the Eucharist, the “bread of life,” and compared it to the human dignity of the unborn.

He lamented that “fewer and fewer Catholics believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist,” and for this reason do not “behave in a way that is consistent with this teaching.”

Parishioners reacted to the homily and to the content of the pastoral letter.

Damaris Berrios and her husband Augusto C.

Noguera direct a ministry dedicated to marriage at St. Peter. She told San Francisco Catolico that the pastoral letter is a resource of great help to families and she will include it in her ministry.

“We believe that this pastoral letter is a remedy to heal the wounds in families, because many families today are carrying the pain and wounds of the traumas that abortion leaves behind,” Berrios said.

She said that the document is also an exhortation to recover the love of the holy Eucharist.

Noguera said the pastoral letter is a call to care for the work of God. “We have to defend it (life), that is the challenge that we have today as citizens and as Catholics, to work for the reign of goodness, for the reign of peace, and above all for the reign of life,” he said.

Noguera exhorted Catholics to defend the dignity of human life. “About this we have to work as Catholics and give testimony each day in our lives and in the places where we live and work.”

In his pastoral letter “Before I Formed You in the Womb I Knew You,” Archbishop Cordileone

delves into the dignity of the human life of the unborn, addressing the topic from four perspectives: the gravity of the evil of abortion, cooperation in moral evil, the meaning of choosing to receive the holy Eucharist, and the responsibilities of Catholics in public life.

The archbishop emphasized in his homily the bravery of early church martyrs who gave their lives to defend the sanctity of the Eucharist. Italian martyr Simeon Cardon and other religious of his congregation were killed in 1799 when they went to recover the consecrated hosts profaned by French soldiers during the Napoleonic wars.

If we do not act in accordance with what we say that we believe, said the archbishop, “We begin to think that it must not really be true, then our faith weakens and we move away from God.”

Noting the Gospel passage that says, “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples,” the archbishop explained

that those fruits “begin in the church, in the Mass, and in the attitude toward the holy Eucharist.”

“This is the sacrament of our communion with him, but to commune with integrity, this act has to express a personal communion with Christ, otherwise the communion would be a lie,” explained the archbishop.

Parishioner Rosario Haro agreed. “We, by coming to Mass and receiving Communion, are saying that we are Catholics, that we believe in the church, and that we believe that these

moral laws help us to be better.”

Deacon Mynor Montepeque of Corpus Christi Church in San Francisco said the letter explains “basically to live the Catholic faith.”

Deacon Montepeque talked about the implied agreement in receiving the gift of the holy Eucharist.

“When we participate in it we are in communion with the church,” he said. “This signifies that we believe in everything that the church teaches us.”