My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

It was truly a blessing to ordain four new priests for our diocese on May 23. Father Samuel Bagyo will serve as parochial vicar at Our Saviour Parish, Jacksonville, St. Alexius Parish, Beardstown, St. Fidelis Parish, Arenzville and St. Luke Parish, Virginia. Father Adam Prichard will be parochial vicar at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Quincy. Father Martin Smith is assigned to be parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and chaplain at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield. Father Jason Stone will be parochial vicar at Holy Family Parish in Granite City and St. Mary and Mark Parish in Madison. Their new assignments will officially begin July 1. Please pray for our newly-ordained priests as they begin their ministry among the People of God.

Sunday, June 7, is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known by its Latin name of Corpus Christi. Last year to mark this occasion I published my first Pastoral Letter, Ars Celebrandi et Adorandi (On the Art of Celebrating the Eucharistic Liturgy Properly and Adoring the Lord in the Eucharist Devoutly). The Eucharist is essentially God's efficacious action, but we can either cooperate with God's grace by celebrating the Eucharistic liturgy properly or hinder its effects by failing to do so. Celebrating Holy Mass properly, with a welcoming and caring community, good music, inspiring preaching, heartfelt prayer and an environment conducive to prayer, will attract people to participate and deepen their connection to God and the church. An unfriendly and uncaring community, bad music, poor preaching, insincere prayer and an environment distracting from prayer will turn people away.

Adoring our Lord in the Eucharist can also be done either devoutly, carelessly or not at all. Those who never adore our Lord in the Eucharist risk becoming indolent and tepid in their relationship with Jesus. Those who adore our Lord but do so in a careless manner at least may start out with the right intention, but miss a golden opportunity to grow closer to Christ. Adoring our Lord devoutly is an expression of our love for God and our gratitude for his love and for all the gifts of his creation.

Travelling around the diocese and visiting many churches and chapels in our diocese in the past 12 months, I am pleased to see that many previously displaced tabernacles have been returned to the center of the sanctuary in accord with the original architectural design. Other bishops around the country have told me that they have issued similar directives to correct the mistaken understanding of the post-conciliar liturgical principles and architectural norms regarding the placement of the tabernacle that had resulted in the Blessed Sacrament being relegated to a remote corner or hard-to-find closet in many churches. Many priests and lay people have expressed their gratitude for returning the tabernacle to a visible, prominent and noble space to make eucharistic adoration more conducive and accessible.

In my Pastoral Letter, I wrote that "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." We will have such a Corpus Christi procession on Sunday, June 7, following the 10 a.m. Mass at our cathedral in Springfield. Many of our parishes throughout the diocese will also be conducting Corpus Christi processions in their local communities.

Leading his first Corpus Christi procession as pope through the streets of Rome on May 30, 2013, Pope Francis said, "The Eucharist is the sacrament of communion, which brings us out from individualism to live together our journey in his footsteps, our faith in him. We ought, therefore, to ask ourselves before the Lord: How do I live the Eucharist? Do I live it anonymously or as a moment of true communion with the Lord, [and] also with many brothers and sisters who share this same table? How are our Eucharistic celebrations?"

Last year, Pope Francis encouraged participation in the Corpus Christi procession, saying, "I invite Romans and pilgrims to participate in order to express our desire to be a people drawn together in the unity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." I likewise encourage the faithful of our diocese to participate in local Corpus Christi processions as a public testimony of faith that Christ's love is not some secret to be kept hidden, but is truly present in the world in which we live.

May God give us this grace. Amen.