A Note From Our Parochial Vicar: June 28, 2026

Did you know that the Holy Spirit has a special role when it comes to the bread and wine at Mass becoming the Body and Blood of Jesus? This may surprise some because we tend to think the Eucharist is all about Jesus. Yes, it is His Body and Blood, but it’s not like the other persons of the Trinity are absent. They are at work, albeit in different ways.

This is what we see in a special part of the Mass called the epiclesis. This occurs when the priest (depending on the Eucharistic prayer he uses that day) prays certain words that petition the Holy Spirit to transform bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. Here is an example: “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall.”

Do you recognize these words? If you don’t, perhaps you remember the bells that are rung at this time! This action brings attention to the fact that the Holy Spirit who renews and transforms all things, helps to make these earthly elements of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.

I encourage you the next time you are at Mass and hear the bells ring during the epiclesis, ask the Holy Spirit to come upon you and increase your belief that this Eucharist is the Lord Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you live out this communion with all you encounter in the week ahead. Reflect where you need transformation this week.

May we grow in appreciation of this gift of the Eucharist and the Holy Spirit’s place within the mass!

God bless,

Fr. Ben