June 11, 2020 - Cardinal O’Malley To Open the Year of the Eucharist on the Feast of Corpus Christi

On Sunday, June 14, the Feast of Corpus Christi, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, OFM Cap, will officially open the Year of the Eucharist with a special liturgy at 11:30 a.m. televised Live on CatholicTV and also steamed Live at CatholicTVLIVE.com from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The year-long celebration will conclude on the Feast of Corpus Christi, 2021.  

Initially planned to begin this past Holy Thursday, the launch was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the suspension of the celebration of public Masses.

“As Catholics, it is in the Eucharist that we learn our identity,” Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, OFM Cap wrote in his December 2019 letter announcing the Year of the Eucharist. “We discover who we are, why we are here, and what is our mission as disciples in Christ…. If we center ourselves in the Real Presence of Jesus, in His friendship, then everything else will make sense.” The Cardinal added, “At Mass … Jesus is there, waiting for us, inviting us to the table where He is making a gift of Himself to us so we may have the strength to make a gift of ourselves to others. That is what human fulfillment is about.”  

To read the Cardinal's letter click here. The text is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Vietnamese.

"In terms of timing, this might be providential for the start for this Year of the Eucharist,” said Fr. Paul Soper, Secretary for Evangelization and Discipleship for the Archdiocese of Boston. “Like so many Catholics throughout the country and the world, our parishioners have missed receiving the Eucharist these last two months of quarantine, and we hope that this absence has caused an even greater longing for the Eucharist, this heavenly food,” he said.

Liturgy of the Word and Rite of Blessings tonight, June 11, 2020

This evening, Thursday, June 11, Cardinal Seán will preside over a virtual Liturgy of the Word and Rite of Blessing for close to 400 “Year of the Eucharist Missionaries.” The service will be uploaded to the Year of the Eucharist webpage (link) after the event. The missionaries, who are from all over the Archdiocese and beyond, will be commissioned by the Cardinal to help usher in this special Eucharistic Year as they commit to pray more intentionally and participate in and promote the year-long series of celebrations and events. Deacon Matthew Porter from the Hingham Collaborative will assist the Rite and Richard Clark, director of music for the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, will provide music for the commissioning.

For more information on the Year of the Eucharist, please click here.