Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Two of the most eloquent signs of God’s yearning for our friendship are the two sacraments the Church encourages us to receive frequently, the Eucharist and confession.

Each one of these sacraments was invented by Christ as a way to reach out towards us, to extend his hand to us, to strengthen and renew our friendship with him.

These were the two pillars of the remarkable life of St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests. Two days before St. John Vianney died at the age of seventy-three, he received Holy Communion for the last time. He was extremely weak, unable to rise from bed, completely exhausted from his decades of tireless service to his little parish of Ars. The parishioners gathered around his rectory, kneeling in prayer, tears streaming down their faces. After receiving his last Holy Communion, he whispered: “How kind the good God is! When we are no longer able to go to him, he comes to us.” That’s what Jesus does for each of us in the sacrament of the Eucharist – he makes it easy for us to find him and go to him, and when even that is beyond our power, he himself comes to us.

That’s the Heart of our Savior, a heart burning with love for us.

Love,

Fr. Jason