On Saturday, April 13, Christ Church Newman Center hosts the 16th annual Father Wil Illies Heart Speaks to Heart Memorial Lecture.
Karen Imholte, current chair of the Wil Illies Fund, explained that Father Illies was a priest at the Newman Center and served in area parishes.
(Submitted Photo)
“There were several people who were inspired by him, and these individuals fundraised to create a fund to host yearly lectures,” she said. “It is intended to be a thought-provoking progressive-minded presentation to push people’s intellect and understanding of the Gospel.”
This year, award-winning author and celebrated preacher, Capuchin Father Edward Foley presents, “The Justice of the Jesus Table: Eucharist Origins, Inclusion and Mission.”
“For a lot of people, their primary vision of Jesus is as healer,” Father Foley said. “He was not executed because he was a healer. They killed him because of the way he ate. He ate with tax collectors. He ate with street people, with women, with the unclean, with sinners.”
In this year of Eucharistic Revival in the United States, Foley encourages a reforming of eucharistic devotion.
“A lot of people think eucharistic adoration is about personal piety, but it is not. Adoration is about mission. It is about making missionary disciples,” Father Foley said. “We often miss this radical mission Jesus calls us toward. When we go to Mass and the bread is changed, the question is, are we? It’s not just about receiving the body, it’s about being the body.”
Father Foley invites all to practice what the Jesus table did — bringing people from all walks of life together.
If you go:
Saturday, April 13
7 p.m.
Christ Church Newman Center Terrace
396 1st Ave. S.,
St. Cloud
If you are unable to attend in person, you can access Father Foley’s presentation via livestreaming at www.scsucatholic.org A recording will be available at the same site the following week.