Year of the Eucharist

HE CHURCH OF ENGLAND often quietly - and sometimes not so quietly - follows where Rome leads. The Pope called for the nineties to be 'a decade of evangelisation' and the Church of England called for 'a decade of evangelism'. Conventional wisdom is that the drive for evangelisation - in Europe at least - was a flop. I am not so sure. In my view the nineties were a kind of gigantic 'Fan the Flame'. We weren't converting the masses but we were learning to become more truly a missionary church. I see the fruits of that everywhere I go.

That said I have no hesitation in following the Pope's call for this year - beginning in October - to be a 'Year of the Eucharist'. This presents me with a particular challenge: 'With consecration, the bishop becomes fully a teacher, priest and guide of the Christian community, the Holy Father said. 'This is why Christ, the divine Teacher, must always be at the centre of his [the bishop's] ministry, present both through the Word of Scripture as well as in the sacrament of the Eucharist.'

What is true of the bishop is true no less of the parish priest. He too must be teacher, priest and guide. He too must have Christ, the divine Teacher, at the centre of his ministry. He too must see Christ the divine Teacher present in the Scripture as well as the Eucharist: the devout reading of the Office - and with it the longer readings of Scripture - and the celebration of the Eucharist, fully recollected.

What is true of the bishop and the parish priest is no less true of all the clergy and all the faithful. You also must find Christ the divine Teacher at the centre of your life and what better way to do that than to make daily prayer and regular attendance at mass your absolute priority? With those, of course, come the other commitments of the Ebbsfleet Rule of Life: self examination, giving of money and talent, citizenship and working for justice and peace.

Why make the Eucharist the focus for all this? The Eucharist is the place where Word and Sacrament are uniquely held in balance, Christ present in both. The Eucharist is the place for the offering of all that we are and all that we have to God. This is not in any way to provoke God into action. It is a small return for his gift to us of all that he is in the Person of Jesus Christ. 'Blessed are you Lord God of all creation'.

When he announced the Year of the Eucharist, the Pope then went on to say:

'I very much hope that the Year of the Eucharist, which will begin on 10th October with the opening of the International Eucharistic Congress, will constitute a providential occasion to understand more profoundly the central importance of the Eucharistic sacrament in the life and activity of each local Church'. The congress, by the way, will open in Guadalajara, Mexico, a country in particular need of evangelisation and witness. 'Bonds of fraternal charity are reinforced around the altar and the awareness is revived in all believers of belonging to the one people of God, of which the bishops are pastors,' the Pope added.

May God bless you all as you follow Jesus Christ, present in Word and Sacrament, and through us who receive him, present to all whom we meet.

+ Andrew Ebbsfleet

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet
Bishop's House, Dry Sandford, Abingdon, OXON OX13 6JP
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 390746

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