In the Eucharist, Jesus empowers families against storms of life, Archbishop tells gathering

Onlookers at Rene Memorial Park paused their summer fun to watch more than 300 Catholics process with the Eucharist through the neighbourhood around St. Francis de Sales Church in Burnaby.

The procession was part of the archdiocese’s first Family Eucharistic Summit, a full-day family event centred on the Blessed Sacrament with Eucharistic adoration, hands-on learning about the bread and wine used during the Mass, and talks and activities.

“We really wanted all the families to learn about and understand the real presence of the Eucharist in a very experiential way,” said event organizer Michele Smillie.

Some Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist came from Oregon to offer a workshop making the hosts that would be used in Mass later in the day.

With help from her audience, Sister Mary Kolbe mixed the water and flour and poured the mixture onto a custom cooking press with engraved symbols for the host. The hosts were then punched from the thin bread.

In addition to the host making, retired Catholic teacher Jim Canil led classes about wine, complete with bottle corking and a description of the fermentation process.

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, an educational program to help children relate to the Mass and their faith, was offered in the school gym. At various stations children could engage with parts of the Mass, such as the consecration, preparation of the liturgical vessels, and the nature of the bread and wine.

For parents, Father Mark McGuckin offered a talk on the impact the Eucharist can have in someone’s life, sharing the story of an Evangelical man who became Catholic after stumbling into the perpetual adoration chapel at St. Paul’s Church in Richmond.

The man had grown up Protestant and had been driving past St. Paul’s, where Father McGuckin was assistant pastor. As the man passed by, he felt drawn to the adoration chapel attached to the church. 

“These moments, there is no natural explanation for them,” said Father McGuckin. “He was drawn to go in.”

Unable to explain his attraction to the Blessed Sacrament, the man continued to visit the chapel so regularly that one of the volunteers eventually asked him if he would like to sign up for a time slot to stay with Jesus. 

The man said, “Sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about,” asking what the Eucharist was.

He’s Catholic now. 

It’s difficult to understand God’s grace, said Father McGuckin. “Some days it’s the valley of tears, but some days it’s the transfiguration.”

In his homily for the closing Mass, Archbishop J. Michael Miller told the gathering, “The family that shares meals together where Jesus is welcomed … will be empowered to stand up against the storms of life that threaten us. The Eucharistic Jesus is its strength.”

After thanking the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s Office of Ministries and Outreach, he said, “today has given families the opportunity to savour the wonder and awe of Jesus’ real presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament.”

Receiving the Eucharist “reinforces a family’s desire to be united with one another” and to commit itself  “to foster justice and mercy in society,” he said. “The grace received in the Eucharist helps families to become vital cell[s] for transforming the world.”

Families that are rooted in love of the Eucharist and who are “amazed” at the beauty and wonder of Jesus’ presence in the Blessed Sacrament “cannot help but become domestic churches where holiness flourishes in each member,” he said.

Catholic tradition gives “a special place to meals,” said the archbishop. “The Lord Jesus gladly taught at the table, and sometimes portrayed the Kingdom of God as a festive banquet. He also chose mealtime to institute the Eucharist: the gift of his body and blood as the food and drink which nourishes us on our journey to the Father’s house.”

Healthy families gather together around the table, said the archbishop. “If something has gone wrong … this becomes evident at the table. A family that hardly ever eats together … the atmosphere is more like a boarding house than a family.”

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