By Joe Pisani
BRIDGEPORT—Bishop Frank J. Caggiano inducted 39 people into the Guild of the Most Blessed Sacrament on November 3 and told them, “The world is blind and much of the Church is asleep before this great sacrament, so it’s up to you to energize God’s people and proclaim this great gift that is given to everyone who comes to him in faith.”
The inaugural members of the guild included deacons and their wives, laypeople and their families, including teenagers and children, committed to Eucharistic spirituality. Ten priests, including Bishop Caggiano, will also be inducted on December 12 at the Clergy Advent Day of Reflection.
During his homily at the Pontifical Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral, the bishop called the inductees to action and said, “We are the leaven and have been given the grace so that we might animate, stir this body to greater holiness, to greater service, to greater dedication, to greater witness of this power of salvation in Jesus Christ.”
“Each of us in a different way, each of us with our own gifts and talents, each of us with our own prayer life and our own struggles and challenges are leaven,” he said, “so that this bread, this living Body of Christ, may continue to grow and thrive until it includes the whole world.”
He said the aspirants were being called to “be heralds of this great mystery, to be leaven within, not by how you may preach or teach, but by the integrity of your life so that people may see you as a joyful, faithful, dedicated, generous, kind and forgiving woman or man who proclaims that the Eucharist is alive in your heart—and in it the presence of Christ—and by that attractive witness, you will invite others to see what you kneel before in adoration.”
Luigi Manente, director of guilds for the Diocese of Bridgeport, said, “We are living in a time when we need a Eucharistic revival because as we draw people closer to the Eucharist, they will draw others closer to Christ.”
The guild, he said, is a community of priests, deacons, religious and the laity that seek to deepen their personal holiness by developing a Eucharistic spirituality by devoting themselves to Eucharistic adoration and drawing others to prayer before the True Presence of Our Lord.
The mission statement of the Guild of the Most Blessed Sacrament encourages a deepening of Eucharistic spirituality through reverence for the Blessed Sacrament in prayer and adoration. Members commit themselves to ongoing spiritual renewal and fraternity, works of charity and acts of reparation for the sins committed against the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Central to their mission is perpetuating knowledge, love and reverence of the Blessed Sacrament in the secular world, especially among Catholics who struggle with belief in the Real Presence.
Monsignor Kevin Royal, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Ridgefield, which has a Perpetual Adoration chapel, came with a large contingent of 16 parishioners, who were among the inaugural inductees.
“The Lord asked this of us, when he said, ‘This is my Body, do this in remembrance of me,’” Monsignor Royal said. “It doesn’t stop at Mass. He also expects us to appear before him in Adoration.”
Carol Incarnacao-Schirm of St. Mary’s said, “The Eucharist is everything to me. We are called to be heralds of the Eucharist in the world, and by being a little glimmer of Christ, we can change the world.”
She credits Monsignor Royal with helping her on her journey of faith and said that the Adoration chapel is available any time of the day for those who wish to adore the Eucharistic Jesus.
Laurel Silveria of St. Mary’s was also inducted with her husband Robert and three daughters, Clare, Rosa and Teresa. “We are trying to create structure for our family to be in front of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,” she said, noting that the requirements for participation in the guild include regular prayer and Adoration.
Joe Boscia of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel Parish in Stamford, who is active in the Knights of Columbus, said, “Being at Adoration gives me a special feeling and helps me recognize the importance of the time I spend in church.” He regularly goes to Adoration at his church and the Redemptoris Mater Seminary’s perpetual Adoration chapel in Stamford.
Gina and Marc Pin of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Ridgefield were among the inductees.
Gina said the Guild of the Most Blessed Sacrament is the foundation of all the diocesan guilds because “It starts with the Eucharist and belief in the True Presence.”
She said she often goes to the perpetual adoration chapel at nearby St. Mary’s.
“As I’ve gotten older and I need more graces, I find them in the Eucharist,” she said.
Gina also said that she and Marc are committed to the guild’s evangelization mission, which is “to bring heaven to earth.”
In addition to the ceremony for the Guild of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Dr. Stephen Maddox of Newtown was inducted separately by the bishop into the St. Luke Guild for Healthcare Workers because he could not attend that guild’s event several weeks ago.
