Bishop-elect urges priests to be men of Eucharistic sacrifice, gratitude
“The life of a Christian disciple is a life lived in gratitude! When we are caught up in love, there is no sacrifice too great for our beloved.”
Bishop-elect W. Shawn McKnight addressed the priests of the Jefferson City diocese during a Holy Hour and Solemn Vespers service Feb. 4.
It was one of several prayer-centered events leading up to his ordination and installation as the fourth bishop of Jefferson City.
From the pulpit of iconic and historical St. Peter Church in Jefferson City, he reminded the priests that the Eucharist is what gives them strength to be men of sacrifice, whose lives are anchored in gratitude, joy and love.
“The Eucharist, we believe, is our salvation,” he said. “It is the medicine and antidote to the age-old sin of Adam and Eve’s original ingratitude.”
The entire service took place during Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament — Christ fully present in the Eucharist.
“Christian sacrifice is Eucharistic!” Bishop-elect McKnight insisted. “It springs from and leads toward the perfect gratitude of Jesus for His Father, as manifested at the Last Supper.”
He reminded the priests that suffering does not equal a lack of joy. Rather, authentic Christian sacrifice is an act of praise and thanksgiving.
“It is significant that the Lord left us His lasting legacy (the Eucharist) at the beginning of His Own Passion, His great suffering on earth,” the bishop-elect stated.
He noted that a heart filled with gratitude is infectious and attracts other people to Christ.
“My brothers, it is our mission to preach, to sanctify, to shepherd our flock in the way of Christ’s gratitude to the Father,” the bishop-elect stated. “Through our efforts at evangelization, we work to restore a sense of gratitude to God, of being in right relationship with Him.
“It is our responsibility to lead the whole Church, to invite converts to take their place at the Eucharistic table ... and to facilitate ongoing conversion to gratitude,” he said.
He prayed that through devotion to the Eucharist and through the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, patroness of the Jefferson City diocese, “your hearts and mine may be configured to the priestly Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Monsignor Marion J. Makarewicz, pastor of Our Lady of the Lake parish in Lake Ozark, served as lector for the service.
The altar servers — Michael Berendzen, Luke Mahsman, Jon Bequette and Pedro Almazan — are in formation to become permeant deacons of the diocese.
A choir directed by Karen Kramer and accompanied by organist Lisa Fender led the singing. St. Peter parishioner Mark Rehagen served as cantor.
Father Charles D. Pardee, pastor of St. Peter parish, and Father Patrick G. Dolan, who ministers to Hispanic Catholics in northeastern Missouri, assisted the bishop at Benediction.
Bishop Emeritus John R. Gaydos — who became the diocese’s third bishop in 1997, resigned for health reasons on Nov. 21 and served as apostolic administrator of the diocese until Feb. 6 — attended the service and the fellowship that followed.
Located near the State Capitol, St. Peter Church served as the diocese’s cathedral from 1956 until the Cathedral of St. Joseph was completed in 1968.
Bishop-elect McKnight gave his homily from the same pulpit from which Bishop Joseph M. Marling C.PP.S. (+1956-1969), founding bishop of the diocese, preached every Sunday.
During Benediction, Bishop-elect McKnight knelt upon the prie-dieu that had been used by Cardinal Joseph E. Ritter of St. Louis during Bishop Marling’s installation Mass in the church in 1956.
Snowy weather and dangerous road conditions delayed the bishop-elect’s arrival from a prayer service in Columbia, but he made it to Jefferson City safely without incident.
Photo gallery from this event:
