On the Road with Our Eucharistic King

For the past two years, I have been on the road preaching about Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior, Our King, who is really and substantially present in the Most Holy Eucharist. I have been all around the Diocese of Pittsburgh and beyond, including some Eastern Rite Catholic parishes, witnessing to what the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council taught, “At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, #47) and the Eucharist “is the source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, #11). I have echoed the Council Fathers in teaching, “For in the Blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ Himself, our Pasch” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, #5). I have been reaffirming for everyone I meet the truth about the Holy Eucharist—that truly present in this amazing sacrament is Jesus Christ, Body Blood, Soul and Divinity. Bread and wine remain no longer. Rather, the substance becomes Jesus Christ Himself.
           
If this is true, and indeed, it is, then we must accept the Holy Eucharist as the very center and foundation of the Church’s life and our life. To reinforce this for us, in His love and mercy, God permits miraculous phenomena around the Blessed Sacrament.  The Church calls these Eucharistic miracles.

Ten years ago, I was visiting my priest friend in Poland. He took me to a village in Eastern Poland where a Eucharistic miracle had occurred only a few years before. The name of the village is Sokółka. During the distribution of Holy Communion at a Sunday Mass in October of 2006, a consecrated Host fell to the floor. The priest placed this Host in a vessel of water to have it dissolve. Instead of dissolving, the Host remained intact. A week later, a red streak in the center of the Host was discovered. The archbishop of the place had the red material analyzed by two independent medical research doctors. Each reported the same finding to the archbishop:  The red material found in the Host was human cardiac (heart) muscle tissue of a male who was close to an agonizing death, just as would be typical of a man suffering crucifixion. The results underscore what the Church has believed for two thousand years:  The consecrated Host is Jesus Himself.
           
Dear friends, I invite you to come on the road with our Eucharistic King when the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage passes through our diocese from June 12-19. Click here for the itinerary of the pilgrimage and register to take part in Masses, Holy Hours and processions. Come on the road and witness the great Eucharistic miracle of the real and true Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Reaffirm your faith in Him and receive the graces He will pour out for us during this amazing time.  Come to meet and adore Jesus Christ Our Eucharistic King.

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh