Dear Parishioners,
   Next weekend is Corpus Christi, The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. It is a special Feast in which we honor and adore the real presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist. At 10:00 am at St. Joseph’s at Jump Off Joe, next Sunday, we will be having our annual Procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the altars around the church. This is a long-standing tradition at St. Joseph for at least over 100 years, and Corpus Christi Processions have been a tradition in the Catholic Church since at least the 13th century. 

We need to keep up this Eucharistic tradition at St. Joseph’s here in our area because devotion to and belief in the Real Presence of Christ has declined dramatically in our Country over the last several decades. The latest study shows that less than a third of Catholics actually believe in the Church’s teaching of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Bishops of the US (USCCB) have noted, with some alarm, this trend and have entered into a three-year plan called “Eucharist Revival” to help catechize and increase faith and devotion in the Eucharist. This plan includes initiatives on the national, diocesan, and parish level.

Our Diocese will be will be sponsoring an event in the fall and we will be taking some initiatives here on the parish level. Next week I will be sharing more about the Diocese event and how we will participate and some of the initiatives we will be taking here locally. All of this will be to enhance our personal faith and devotion to the Eucharist in our South Stevens County parishes.

Will you make a commitment to participate in the Eucharistic Revival? As Vatican II stated the Eucharist is the source and summit of our worship and Catholic Faith. Our Eucharist belief is what makes us unique and different from other churches. The Catholic Church is the only Church that has the Mass and the Eucharist. I invite everyone to participate some way in the Eucharist Revival and do our part to keep the Eucharist faith alive in our time and pass it on to the next generation.