Letter to the Faithful on the Feast of the Epiphany and Opening of the Year of the Eucharist

January 5, 2020, Feast of the Epiphany
 
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
               On this first Sunday of 2020, as we join with the Universal Church in celebrating the Solemnity of the Epiphany when Jesus was made manifest as Lord to all the world, I take this occasion to wish you all a very Blessed and Happy New Year!
               Here in our Diocese, this new year will be a special “Year of the Eucharist”, which I am officially inaugurating during the Mass I will be celebrating at St. Augustine Cathedral on this Sunday.  It is my fervent prayer that this “Year of the Eucharist”, which will be observed throughout the calendar year 2020, will help all of us---me, all our priests/deacons, and our lay faithful---to focus our attention on the incredible Gift that Jesus has given us in the Holy Eucharist, and that we will consciously express our reverence, love and gratitude to Jesus for this Sacred Gift of Himself to us as our Food to nourish us in our vocation to be “missionary disciples” as we live out the Good News of Jesus in our lives. It is also my hope that this “Year of the Eucharist” will result in a conversion of our hearts, a deeper devotion to the Eucharist leading us to a more active involvement with our parish communities, and an increase in our charitable outreach to those in need through the practice of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.
               I am also pleased to announce that during this “Year of the Eucharist”, I will be making Pastoral Visits to each of our Parish/Collaboratives. These visits will afford me the opportunity to spend time praying with, listening to, and being inspired by the witness to the faith that I know is so vibrant in all the parishes of our Diocese.  I will also be looking forward to an opportunity during each visit to have a public meeting with those parishioners who are able to participate, so we can have a pastoral dialogue on the current needs of our Diocese, and the Pastoral Plan for the future.  Those visits will begin in March and you will be hearing more details in the near future.
               May this new year, and this Year of the Eucharist, be a time of great blessings for you, your families, our parishes, and our entire Diocese.  May our dear Blessed Mother watch over us, and may we remain united with her Son, and our Lord, Jesus, most especially through our faithful and regular celebration of the Eucharist, living the mission of the Eucharist in the ways we love God and our neighbor, especially those in need.
 
Faithfully yours in Christ,

Most Rev. Paul J. Bradley
Bishop of Kalamazoo