Friday, April 01, 2005

Abp. Burke:The Holy Eucharist and the Growth of the Church

...The importance of the Holy Eucharist for the life of the Church, from her very beginnings, cannot be emphasized enough.
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There is in us, at one and the same time, the deepest desire of communion with one another and the tendency to division which is born from what our Holy Father calls the "seeds of disunity." The "seeds of disunity" come from the stain of original sin and our actual sins (no. 24b).
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The Holy Eucharist fulfills our desire for unity with one another in a way beyond all our imagining; Holy Communion makes us one with each other in the divine Son of God. Our unity with one another has its origin in God. It cannot be destroyed by any human force and has its eternal fulfillment in the life which is to come. At the same time, the Holy Eucharist strengthens us, so that we may purify ourselves of the seeds of disunity.
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Through the Holy Eucharist, first of all by participation in the Sacrifice of the Mass and then by eucharistic worship outside of Mass, we contemplate the Face of Christ as directly and as fully as is possible for us on this earth. From our contemplation of the Face of Christ, we draw the grace to live in Christ each day.
More here.

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