On June 6, the feast day of Corpus Christi, priests and the lay faithful in every corner of our diocese showed a public display of our faith that as Catholics, we believe the Eucharist is the true presence of Jesus Christ. Parishes held Eucharist processions around their churches or in their neighborhoods, with people walking and praying behind the monstrance.

In 2019, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey and found with self-identified Catholics that 69 percent do not believe that during the consecration at Mass, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. Instead, they believe the bread and wine remain bread and wine and are merely symbols they receive.

Only 31 percent of Catholics believe Jesus is actually present in the Eucharist, something the Church joyfully teaches, and has taught from day one. The Church also says that the “Eucharist is the source and summit ecclesial life.”

The witness of these processions were a powerful example that exemplify what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

“The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action. It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice” (CCC 1409-1410).