My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

In conjunction with our celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi last Sunday, I officially promulgated my first pastoral letter to the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois called Ars celebrandi et adorandi, (On the Art of Celebrating the Eucharistic Liturgy Properly and Adoring the Lord in the Eucharist Devoutly). Copies were mailed to everyone on the mailing list of our Catholic Times diocesan newspaper and are available online at our diocesan website (www.dio.org). I pray that this pastoral letter will be widely read and faithfully implemented, so that our celebrations of the liturgy may “be imbued with reverence, adoration and the glorification of God” and in this way recognize the Eucharist as, in the words of the Second Vatican Council, “the source and summit of all the Christian life.”

Growth in the church is fostered through beauty in the liturgy. The command of our Lord to increase the number of his followers everywhere is clear when he said, “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). The beauty of our church edifices, magnificent works of religious art and the graceful celebration of the liturgy, accompanied by harmonious music, inspiring homilies and the active participation of the faithful, are the foundational elements that attract people to the liturgy.

In my pastoral letter I call attention to prayerful adoration of the Eucharist reserved in a tabernacle in a part of the church that is truly noble, prominent, conspicuous, worthily decorated, and suitable for prayer. Regularly scheduled times for exposition of the Most Holy Eucharist are highly commended as ways to stimulate the faithful to spiritual union with Christ, which culminates in sacramental communion. By reverently bending the knee in genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament, we not only pay proper respect to the Lord, but we also remind ourselves in whose presence we are.

I highly encourage and give permission for pastors to conduct processions with the Blessed Sacrament through the public streets, especially on the solemnity of the Body and the Blood of Christ, as a witness to our faith in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist and as an expression of our belief that God is in our midst even in our everyday lives.

It is fitting that our celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and our Corpus Christi processions occurred this year at the beginning of the Fortnight for Freedom, the two-week period that began on June 21 and will continue until the Fourth of July. The Fortnight for Freedom was initiated by the bishops of the United States to call attention to the need to protect the religious liberty given to all people by God and codified in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Our public processions with the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of our cities, towns and villages are a declaration that our freedom of religion cannot be confined to a private “freedom of worship,” as the secularists would like to interpret the First Amendment. Our Catholic faith calls us to put our faith into practice and our dismissal at the end of each Mass sends us to go forth and glorify the Lord by the lives we live in the world during the rest of the week.

At the Napa Think Tank on Protecting Religious Freedom in the 21st Century, Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wis., connected freedom of religion with freedom of conscience, saying, “Freedom of conscience reaches its height in freedom of religion lived out. If one is free in conscience, then the most important way in which that freedom is lived out is the freedom to discover and to do all that is necessary for one’s salvation, which includes life beyond this world. No particular freedom could be a higher priority for the person than his or her freedom of religion. Because human reason, the law of nature leads one to conclude that God exists, freedom of religion is the most basic freedom contained under the umbrella of freedom of conscience, and so it was thought to be by our founding fathers in the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”

As part of our Fortnight for Freedom, we will have a prayer rally at the Lincoln Capitol Statue at South Second Street and East Capitol Avenue in downtown Springfield on Tuesday, July 1, at noon. All are welcome to attend. More information about the Fortnight for Freedom is available online at www.dio.org/fortnightforfreedom and www.Fortnight4Freedom.org.

As we celebrate our nation’s independence, I pray that you will have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

May God give us this grace. Amen.