Canon Law and the Holy Eucharist

I don’t know anyone who is going to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Revival (July 17 through July 22).  If you are like me and have a ninety-eight-year-old mother you care for or a business you own and operate, getting there might just be a stretch too far.  There are a lot of ways virtually and personally to be there though.  Since  you are reading this blog I suggest that you may want to read the Law on the Holy Eucharist.  Canons 897 through 958 tell us the Church’s law around the Holy Eucharist.   It’s in the part of the Code that covers sacraments.  The Code is very specific in proclaiming that the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is the heart of our Church, the reason it came to be and the reason it still exists.  We have the Eucharist.  Some other faiths have ritualistic exercises commemorating the Last Supper, but we have the recreation of it in all our churches anywhere in the world. 

Canon 897:   The most August sacrament is the Most Holy Eucharist in which Christ the Lord himself is contained, offered, and received and by which the Church continually lives and grows.

            The priest as minister, we as participants, where it can be celebrated.  These are just a few of the details outlined for the Faithful in the canons. 

            It would be good to read the Code on the Holy Eucharist during the week of the Revival.  You have probably not read it before, or at least recently.  With the culmination of the year long Revival, now is the excellent time to do it.  Then, go to the Website of the National Eucharistic Revival and pick out a virtual event(s) during this five-day celebration of the Holy Eucharist.  It’s sad for those of us who cannot go there but reading the Law and tuning in virtually may be the next best way to be a part of it and learn a thing or two as well.