Estherville parish to host presentation on Eucharist

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
March 10, 2005

ESTHERVILLE - Parishioners in the Diocese of Sioux City will have the opportunity to attend a presentation about the Year of the Eucharist this month.

Michael Willis, director of the Office of Worship for the diocese, will offer a presentation on the Year of the Eucharist from 1 to 4 p.m. on March 13 in the Duhigg Center at St. Patrick's Parish in Estherville.

"The gist of the day will be talking about ways that folks can prepare for Eucharist the week before and the results that should flow from Eucharist the week after," said Willis.

The general theme of the presentation will be Eucharist as Source and Summit, which is what the constitution on the sacred liturgy after Vatican II call Eucharist.

On the feast of Corpus Christi, Pope John Paul II announced a "Year of the Eucharist" that the Catholic Church would observe from October 2004 to October 2005.

"I think a lot of people kind of pigeon hole their Sunday Mass to that one hour each week," said Willis. "The purpose of this is to show that we are eucharistic people and it is supposed to always be a part of our life as Christians."

According to Willis, people seem to be open during Lent to making more time for retreats, workshops and things that impact their spirituality.

"This is the time that those kinds things are scheduled in a lot of parishes," said Willis. He added that these presentations can be done at any time, not just during Lent.

The presentation at St. Patrick's is open to anyone in the area that would like to attend.

This is the only session left that Willis is scheduled to present this Lent. A previous session on cantoring was presented at Moville.

"I offered parishes the opportunity to have us come out and present something on the Year of the Eucharist," said Willis.

Willis noted that he is open to doing other presentations in the diocese if and when the need arises. He can be contacted at the Chancery office at (712) 233-7534 or at michaelw@scdiocese.org.