Communion

The U.S. bishops’ draft document on the Eucharist contains many moving quotes and passages that all of us could benefit from contemplating every time we go to Mass.

Pope Francis and U.S. President Joe Biden had an unusually long meeting at the Vatican Oct. 29, talking about the climate crisis and poverty, but not about abortion, the president said.

As Sister Anne sees it, discussion about the Real Presence is a way for God to work because it shows how “Catholics need to be awakened to the understanding —more than head knowledge” of what they are receiving in the Eucharist.

When the U.S. bishops meet this fall for their annual assembly, they will revisit the discussion they began in mid-June about the Eucharist and will be presented with a drafted document on the “meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the church.”

“Who are we becoming? Let us receive the gift of God himself. Let us become what we receive.”

“I recently attended the U.S. bishops’ Spring Plenary Assembly during which we voted to move ahead with the drafting of a teaching document about the Eucharist. Unfortunately, much of the media coverage about this decision by the bishops misconstrues what we actually voted for and the nature of the document itself.”

A proposed document to examine the “meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the church” received a thorough discussion June 17 during the second day of U.S. bishops’ spring general assembly.

After receiving an unprecedented letter from 67 bishops appealing for a delay in a discussion during the bishops’ upcoming spring general assembly on whether to prepare a teaching document on the reception of Communion, the USCCB’s president explained in a memo the procedure followed in bringing the question to a vote during the June 16-18 virtual meeting.