by Dale Ahlquist
"Mary, Sign of Salvation" by Fr. Brian Daley, S.J.
October 2004
"Catholic Social Teaching and the Law" by Michael Scaperlanda
"The Catholic Church: Defender of Freedom?" by H.W. Crocker III
November 2004
"Prayer" by Bishop Thomas J. Welsh
"What is 'Church Authority'?" by Peter Kreeft
December 2004
"How Tradition Gave us the Bible" by Mark P. Shea
"God Speaks to Us: The Liturgy of the Word" by Rev. Peter Stravinskas
January 2005
The Year of the Eucharist
By the Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino
As we begin a new calendar year, the thought of New Year’s resolutions arises rather spontaneously. Resolutions ought to be doable rather than empty dreams. In the context of “Faith Essentials,” I might suggest one New Year’s resolution which would focus on always being grateful.
We are in the Year of the Eucharist, and we know well that “Eucharist” means thanksgiving. Thus the greatest act of worship, to which we join ourselves with Christ our High Priest, is an act of thanksgiving. If this is the greatest and most mystical worship of which human beings are capable, and it is, then we ought to resolve to be Eucharistic people. It is relatively easy to be grateful for gifts that we enjoy.
It is relatively easy to be grateful because we become accustomed to being on the receiving end of good gifts, and we may wind up taking them for granted. Recently when nerve injury temporarily weakened the movement of my left hand, I could not believe the degree to which I have taken proper motion in my left hand for granted for so many years. Never once can I can remember thanking God that my left hand was working properly. How many other things remain for which I have never given thanks to God?
While it is easy to thank God for good gifts, if we can avoid taking them for granted, it is very hard to thank God for what can be called His hidden gifts, that take the form of hurt or pain or sorrow or failure. It always amazed me that our Holy Father could publicly thank God for the sufferings, the weakness, the illnesses that have come his way, seeing in them Christ reaching out to draw him to greater intimacy. A really focused New Year’s resolution might be to look back at the troubles and difficulties of every single day each evening, and whether those troubles or difficulties be great or small, to name them and to give thanks for them. This really is an essential of our Catholic faith in that it is a powerful invitation to the Lord Jesus to take hold of our lives, promising Him that we will go with thanksgiving wherever He might take us, whether it feels wonderful or whether it hurts.
Those hidden gifts of the Lord, the big ones and the small ones, that come into our lives each day, taking the form of suffering or hurt or pain or failure, those hidden gifts veil Christ’s desire to share with us His glory, just as His cross veils the glory of His resurrection. Thanking God at the end of each day for all of His gifts, especially His hidden ones, will deepen our conviction that Jesus is real, He is risen from the dead, He changes us and makes a difference in our lives. What could be more essential to our faith! Praised be Jesus Christ!
Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino is bishop of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin.
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