On the eve of His passion and death, Jesus took ordinary bread and wine, blessed them, and gave them to His friends as His Body and Blood commanding, “Do this in memory of me.” The next day He offered Himself – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity – to God the Father for our salvation. Jesus’ offering of Himself in the external form of bread and wine is the same offering He made to the Father on the Cross. The two actions are one single event: the center of salvation history.

The disciples took Jesus’ command to heart and carried out the same actions in His memory. From the earliest days of the Church, Christians have entered into the mystery of the Lord’s saving passion, death, resurrection and ascension each time the Eucharist is celebrated. The Church reminded us of the importance of sharing in the Eucharist at the Second Vatican Council, teaching that “all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14).

Such participation is not simply external. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, “The active participation called for by the Council must be understood in more substantial terms, on the basis of a greater awareness of the mystery being celebrated and its relationship to daily life” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 52). He went on to state that the Council itself taught, “Offering the immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest but also together with him, they should learn to make an offering of themselves” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 48).

We often pray at Mass, “May he make of us an eternal offering to you” (Eucharistic Prayer III), asking that the Holy Spirit transform our lives into a sacrifice to the Father. We give everything back to God: all we say, think and do; all for which we are grateful; all we suffer; in short, all that we are. We ask that our lives – through, with and in Christ – may be for the good of all the world.

When we spiritually place our lives on the altar and prayerfully unite ourselves to the offering of Jesus to His Father, our participation in Mass bears more fruit. The Word of God which He speaks to us through the readings has a greater effect on our lives, and the reception of our Lord in Holy Communion more deeply conforms our lives to His and to His Mystical Body, the Church. Our participation at Mass becomes a life-changing encounter with the Lord.

Pope Francis recently offered a beautiful reflection on the gift of such an encounter. “For us a vague memory of the Last Supper would do no good. We need to be present at that Supper, to be able to hear His voice, to eat His Body and to drink His Blood. We need Him. … The salvific power of the sacrifice of Jesus, His every word, His every gesture, glance and feeling reaches us through the celebration of the sacraments. I am Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the man possessed by demons at Capernaum, the paralytic in the house of Peter, the sinful woman pardoned, the woman afflicted by hemorrhages, the daughter of Jairus, the blind man of Jericho, Zacchaeus, Lazarus, the thief and Peter both pardoned. The Lord Jesus who dies no more, who lives forever with the signs of His Passion continues to pardon us, to heal us, to save us with the power of the sacraments” (Desiderio Desideravi, 11).

May the Lord help each of us to enter more fully into this inexhaustible gift of the Eucharist every time we go to Mass!

January 24, 2023

Feast of St. Francis de Sales,

patron of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

The implementation of Beacons of Light marks a new chapter in the life of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It is now just over six months since our 208 parishes were organized into 57 Families of Parishes, in several instances under new pastoral leadership. These changes, while necessary and infused with great hope, understandably have been a source of concern and anxiety for many of you, as well as for your priests. Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for your patience and fortitude during this time of transition. Your steadfast commitment to the work of the Church and your parish community is a great testament to the depth of your Catholic faith.

In any undertaking as complex as Beacons of Light, it can be easy to “lose the forest for the trees.” For that reason, it is important to pause from time to time and remind ourselves why we are doing this and what we hope to accomplish.

It all begins with the Great Commission given by Jesus to the apostles: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19-20). The Catholic Church is Christ’s sacramental presence on earth, imbued with the Holy Spirit, given to us as a means for our salvation. All the resources of the Church – human, physical, financial – must be structured, as appropriate for the particular time and place, to proclaiming the Good News of salvation and making disciples.

This is the purpose of Beacons of Light, to enable the vital proclamation of the Gospel for the third century of our own archdiocese. The infrastructure and schedules that were essential to the work of the local Church in decades past may no longer best serve the mission today. Therefore, under the leadership of the pastor, each Family of Parishes will engage in intentional pastoral planning, rooted in sincere prayer and open collaboration, to discern the best configuration of its collective resources to pursue the evangelizing mission of the Church. This is not a project for the priest and parish leaders only, but for the entire parish community, and it will not come to fruition overnight. Patience and fortitude will be essential.

Our hope for this transformative undertaking is that our parishes truly become “beacons of light” – strong, joyful communities of evangelization and service centered on the Eucharist, together growing in faith and radiating the love of Christ to the world. We need to keep this vision in mind to avoid simply getting mired in the details. Every decision within a Family of Parishes should be made with the intent of moving the parish community closer to our desired outcome.

St. Francis de Sales, patron of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, once wrote, “Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” As we move forward, let us keep these comforting words top-of-mind, praying for, and confident of, the continued blessings of our loving God who has promised to never leave us.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr

Archbishop of Cincinnati

A PDF version of this letter is available: Letter to the Faithful 1-24-23

A PDF version of this letter in SPANISH is available here: Letter to the Faithful +DMS 1.24.23 SPANISH

Throughout January, we celebrate the liturgical memorials of many saints who dedicated themselves to learning and to education. Religious sisters, such as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Angela Merici, formed communities of women committed to the education of youth and families. Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen are celebrated as Doctors of the Church, and their theological studies and writings still help us to better understand the mystery of who God is and who He created us to be. At the end of the month, we will praise God for the life and work of St. Thomas Aquinas who, as both a scholar and professor, is honored for his invaluable contributions to not only the study of theology, but also for his promotion of the coherence between faith and reason.

Each of these women and men understood that the created world reveals God’s goodness to us. As we learn about the world, we uncover the order in which God established it from the first moments of creation. And God established that order with our best interests in mind. God created all things for our benefit, both to foster our flourishing in this life and to lead us to be with Him forever in the next. This combination of appreciating the physical world around us while learning deeper, transcendent truths about God and the spiritual realm is a hallmark of Catholic education.

For centuries Catholic schools and universities have sought to ground human knowledge in the foundation of divine truths. We cannot fully appreciate the beauty of the world around us if we don’t keep in mind that God has both placed us in it and entrusted us with caring for it. In wondering at the created order, we can learn the magnitude of God’s love for us and the richness of our nature as human beings created in His image and likeness. In this sense, Catholic education acknowledges and fosters the development of every aspect of the person: physical, spiritual, emotional and relational.

Such integral development of the whole human being is the work carried out tirelessly by the thousands of teachers, faculty and staff members of the 113 Catholic grade schools and high schools in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. All told, more than 40,000 students are formed in these fine schools each year. That work could not be accomplished without the additional support of thousands of parish and school volunteers who serve as coaches, aides or assistants with after school care and other programs. To all of you, I express my sincere gratitude. The commitment you show to our young people opens to them opportunities for a full and successful life in this world and, more importantly, for eternity.

Finally, I acknowledge the parents of our students. You have shown you believe in the value of a Catholic education and make many sacrifices to send your children to Catholic schools. The work to educate your children begins in the home, and the foundations you lay there are built upon by the faculty and staff members to whom you entrust your children each day.

Together we all contribute to the education of our young people, so that they can discover the richness of God’s creation and the plan He has for them within it. God has a definite purpose for each of our lives; let us thank Him for the gift of an education by which each student can discern that purpose and to acquire the skills necessary to fulfill it. In doing so, we discover the fullness of life which Christ came to bestow upon us (cf. Jn. 10:10).

Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr has released the following statement upon the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

“Please join me in praying for the soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who was a vicar of Peter and faithful shepherd of Christ’s Church.

“Pope Benedict is widely known as one of the greatest theologians of the 20^th century, but this distinction should not overshadow his genuine personal interactions and humble nature. Those of us who interacted with him can attest to his ready sense of humor and consistently kind nature.

“During my years as general secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in the early 1990s, I would frequently travel to Rome, and oftentimes I would see then-Cardinal Ratzinger making his daily treks across St. Peter’s Square from his apartment to his office. He would mingle with the people in the square while garbed in a simple black cassock. There was no indication that he was a cardinal. Often, he was asked by groups to serve as its photographer. This he did willingly and with a generous smile. As far as the group members were concerned, they had just been assisted by one of the local priests – and Cardinal Ratzinger seemed content to leave them with that understanding. I often wonder today if any of those tourists know their photographer moved on to become Pope Benedict XVI.”

Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr will celebrate Mass for the peaceful repose of the soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains in Cincinnati on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at 5:15 p.m.

Upon the death of Pope John Paul II, on April 18, 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 264^th successor of Saint Peter and chose the name Benedict XVI. He was 78 when elected pope. He quickly realized that the best way to reach the people of God was to go to them and, despite his age,  traveled the world frequently to meet the faithful. On Feb. 13, 2013, Pope Benedict announced his resignation, becoming the first pope in almost 600 years to resign from the papacy.

Further information about Pope Benedict XVI can be found here: https://www.usccb.org/popes/pope-benedict-xvi