The Eucharistic Lord Jesus accompanied by 14 young Catholic adults will be passing through the Diocese of Pittsburgh June 12 to June 19, in just a few short weeks.

The Church has different dimensions based on the relationships existing in her. Theologians and popes have spoken of three primary dimensions of the Church based on three pivotal chosen persons: Our Lady, St. Peter, and St. John.

Our Lady came to Guadalupe when a culture of death reigned, when few people knew and believed in her Son as true God and true man. She came to be present to the people, to be close to them and to aid them. She remains there and does the same for people who come to her shrine. 

We should bring to Our Savior everything that needs to be healed within us. We should come before Him in the Blessed Sacrament, reserved in the tabernacle or exposed on our altars, and tell Him all that is in us that needs healing.

On the Cross, as Jesus completed His Sacrifice of mercy and love, the centurion came with his spear and pierced His side and His heart from which flowed blood and water.

In speaking of His Body as the Temple that will be raised up, Our Lord shows the incredible impact His Resurrection on our salvation in seeing the glory and the identity of three different bodies: our own body, the Body of Christ the Church, and His Eucharistic Body.

Trusting in God’s merciful plan always provides blessings to those who are faithful. Even when we cannot see what God’s plan is or how it could possibly work out, we are called to trust, and God will provide.

We see that Jesus’ Sacrifice on the Cross is the ultimate offering for sin by which evil is defeated and we are raised to new life, His own resurrected life. Without this Sacrifice, there would be no Resurrection. Without this Sacrifice, there would be no salvation for us.

At the very core of Lent is the Paschal Mystery – the Passion Death and Resurrection of Jesus. All we do during Lent is to help us enter more deeply into this Mystery. It is all about dying to our self and living in Christ. 

On the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, a band of men and women in our diocese will consecrate themselves to Jesus and Mary and put themselves at the disposal of this Divine Son and His Blessed Mother, for the renewal of the Church and the evangelization of the world.

Every time we come to Mass, the Lord in the Flesh is presented in the temple! During this time of Eucharistic Revival, our eyes, our ears and our hearts must be opened to His entrance, to His Eucharistic Presence at Mass!

My dear brothers and sisters, pray and fast for the end of abortion, for unborn children, for the support of expectant mothers, and for the strengthening and the revitalization of family life.

The Savior enters into fallen creation, sent by God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit, through this woman who was untouched by sin and who is perfectly docile to and united to God’s Will.

At this time of year when we look upon nativity scenes in our parish churches or at home, let us remember the tremendous love that St. Francis had for the Divine Infant of Bethlehem as he assembled the first Nativity scene.

To be Guadalupanos means to be sent on mission by Our Lady, just as St. Juan Diego was. She sent him to proclaim the truth of her Son, His Gospel, and His Church.

The Almighty and All-Holy One came to dwell in the sinless one, the Immaculate Virgin Mary. She is not simply a vehicle for Him to come. Rather, Our Lady is a woman who freely accepts the mission given to her by the Archangel Gabriel.

Advent is a perfect time to reach out to the poor, the lonely, the anxious and depressed, those who mourn, the sick, the shut-ins, the imprisoned, and those who suffer in any way. It is a time to pray for peace throughout the world and to support in charity those who are suffering because of war.

At Mass we have the opportunity to be united with the sacrifice of thanksgiving offered by Jesus to the Father. By this sacrifice celebrated as the Paschal Banquet of the Lamb, we are liberated from sin and saved from eternal death.

When we approach Him in prayer, in a certain manner, we are united with the entire Mystical Body of Christ the Church. With those who lived years before us, we have a real union, a relationship of grace. The many people who came to venerate the relic of St. Jude knew that by faith.

Our pilgrimage on earth is the preparation of coming to be in communion with God and one another in eternal bliss. It is to behold God face to face forever. That is what our life is all about.