{"id":6653,"date":"2026-01-09T10:56:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T16:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/?p=6653"},"modified":"2026-01-09T10:56:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T16:56:40","slug":"pastors-letter-january-11-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-11-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Letter: January 11, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope everyone is well and enjoying good graces at the beginning of this 2026 year!\u00a0 Several people have asked this week\u2026\u201dHow many rooms are there in the rectory?\u201d I\u2019m happy to say there are enough that everyone can have his own room! =) With Deacon Blake joining us, we do have a full house these days. I\u2019m joyful to say we are getting along well and enjoying good community life. Deacon Blake will be away this coming week\u2014he will be on pilgrimage to France with Bishop Lou. Please pray for safety of travel and for a fruitful pilgrimage!<\/span><\/p>\n

A couple of months back, I was asked to knock the dust off of one of my Eucharistic Revival talks for one of the High Schools in our Diocese. I talked about how some of the miracle stories are incredible, like the famous one in Lanciano, Italy where the priest had a doubt of faith at the consecration and the appearance of the host immediately changed to bleeding flesh. I shared other stories like where a priest and a young girl both saw the child Jesus after the consecration\u2014which for that priest was the confirmation of a prayer asking God for certainty.\u00a0 Ultimately, I spent the most time with the miracles that have been scientifically examined\u2014I especially think these miracles which are consistently showing in test results to be human heart muscle tissue give a special reminder of what our faith tells us is true\u2014that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever we come to Church, Christ is present in many ways\u2014in his Word, in prayer, in the poor, the sick, His people, in the sacraments, through the priest, and in a special way in the Eucharist (CCC 1373).\u00a0 In the Eucharist, Christ\u2019s body, blood, soul, and divinity is truly, really, and substantially present. We say truly, really, and substantially present because Christ is present in the fullest sense (CCC 1374). That is, by the changing of the bread and wine into Christ\u2019s body and blood, Jesus Himself becomes present in the Eucharist. Now without faith, it might be hard to believe that Christ is actually there in the tabernacle or present on the altar during Mass. However, as St. Ambrose said, \u201cCould not Christ\u2019s word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before. It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature\u201d (CCC 1375).<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, we don\u2019t just rely on good reason and statements like this one of St. Ambrose to believe Christ is present in the Eucharist. Because Christ said the Eucharist is His body and blood, we believe it.\u00a0 Christ said, this is My Body and unless you eat My Flesh you will not have life within you (cf John 6:53). So, we believe that the bread and wine are actually changed into Christ\u2019s Body and Blood; the name for this change is transubstantiation (CCC 1376). After the change of the substance or nature of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, nothing remains of the bread and wine but the appearances. Because the appearances remain, we can\u2019t experience with our senses the change of the bread and wine into Christ\u2019s true Body and Blood; it can only be seen through the eyes of faith. We must rely on faith, which is a gift from the Lord, and based on the words of Christ.\u00a0 Jesus says, \u201cThis is My Body which is given for you.\u201d \u201cDo not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since He is the truth, He cannot lie.'” (MF)\u00a0 So, the very words used by Christ when He instituted the Most Holy Eucharist lead us to acknowledge that “the Eucharist really is the flesh of Our Savior Jesus Christ who suffered for our sins and whom the Father in His loving kindness raised again.”<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Theodore of Mopsuestia reminds us, “The Lord did not say: This is a symbol of My Body, and this a symbol of My Blood but: ‘This is My Body and My Blood.’ Jesus teaches us not to look to the nature of those things which lie before us and are perceived by the senses, for by the prayer of thanksgiving and the words spoken over them, they have been changed into Flesh and Blood.” When teaching about the Eucharist, St. Cyril of Alexandria said, “that which seems to be bread, is not bread, though it tastes like it, but the Body of Christ, and that which seems to be wine, is not wine, though it too tastes as such, but the Blood of Christ.\u201d St. Ambrose (335-397 A.D.) continues the discussion by saying that the body and blood of Christ are truly present, but in a veiled way.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we believe, during the Mass, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit the bread and wine become Christ\u2019s Body and Blood (CCC 1333). Christ is really present in the Eucharist from the moment of consecration and remains present as long as the appearance of bread and wine remain. The whole Christ is present in each particle\u2014breaking the host does not divide Christ (CCC 1377). Likewise, the whole Christ is contained under each species\u2014so, in receiving either the host or from the chalice we receive Christ\u2019s body, blood, soul, and divinity. So, it isn\u2019t necessary to receive under both kinds; but we can do this for a fuller sign of receiving Christ\u2019s body and blood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the presence of Christ remains in the Eucharist after the Mass, we keep hosts in the tabernacle to take to the sick, but also for adoration. Because Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, it is fitting that we worship the Eucharist with the same fervor and worship that is due to God. This is why we have holy hours, adoration, opportunities to pray before our Lord in the tabernacle, processions, etc. We also strive to show proper reverence for Christ in the Eucharist. This is why we genuflect (or bow for those unable to genuflect) to the tabernacle when we come into Church. These ways of adoring Jesus in the Eucharist all help remind us of what our Faith tells us is true\u2014that Jesus truly is present!<\/span><\/p>\n

Know of my prayers and blessing for this week!<\/span><\/p>\n

In Christ,<\/span>
\nFather Luke<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,\u00a0 I hope everyone is well and enjoying good graces at the beginning of this 2026 year!\u00a0 Several people have asked this week\u2026\u201dHow many rooms are there in the rectory?\u201d I\u2019m happy to say there are enough that everyone can have his own room! =) With Deacon Blake joining us, we … Continue reading Pastor’s Letter: January 11, 2026<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6066,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176,40],"tags":[131,130,107,102],"class_list":["post-6653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fr-luke-spannagel","category-letter-from-pastor","tag-catholic","tag-christian","tag-eucharist","tag-sacraments"],"yoast_head":"\nPastor's Letter: January 11, 2026 - St. Philomena Catholic Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-11-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"chadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-11-2026\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-11-2026\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"chadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/5e00f5f2ab9dc0c9672d91f3666e7572\"},\"headline\":\"Pastor’s Letter: January 11, 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-09T16:56:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-11-2026\/\"},\"wordCount\":1096,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/pastors-letter-january-11-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stphils.com\/church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Fr.-Luke-Spannagel_9358-Copy.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Catholic\",\"Christian\",\"Eucharist\",\"sacraments\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Fr. 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