Fr. John Zuhlsdorf: A New Year. Remembering Past Injuries. Clinging to Past Sins. The Purification of Memory
January 9, 2023Fouder’s Quote
January 10, 2023
Four simple changes to how we receive Communion will do far more to create a Eucharistic revival than any multi-million dollar program.
By Fr. John A. Perricone, Crisis Magazine, Jan. 9, 2023
Fr. John A. Perricone, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor of philosophy at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. His articles have appeared in St. John’s Law Review, The Latin Mass, New Oxford Review and The Journal of Catholic Legal Studies.
Ominous. It is the only word which can adequately describe the 2020 Pew Research Study. It polled Catholics on their belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Almost 70 percent polled said no. Chilling, but not surprising. Even a casual glance at parishioners receiving Holy Communion in most Catholic parishes reveals a nonchalance that is telling.
One need not be a trained phenomenologist to appreciate the importance of symbolic acts in man’s self-disclosure. Insouciance in the presence of the Holy Eucharist is a damning sign—not only of the total absence of rudimentary piety, but of a withered belief in the doctrine itself. One flows from the other as certainly as day follows night. If a Catholic shows as much attention to the Holy Eucharist as he does to collecting his order at Starbucks, something is awry. …
