Beginning on the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, January 10, 2021, the local Catholic Church has entered into the Year of the Eucharist, a time of renewal, healing, and communion. This year is dedicated to helping all of us, clergy, religious, and laity, grow in our relationship with Christ. We begin this important year on this feast because baptism marks the beginning of our initiation into Jesus Christ, a lifelong journey toward union with Christ and one another.The Eucharist is communion with God. Christ nourishes us with his very Body and Blood so that we can be joined more closely to him and to all humanity. Throughout this year, we will join with Catholics around the world to call upon the prayers and patronage of St. Joseph to help us more fully understand the meaning of the parts of the Mass, the theology of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the obligation we have as Catholics to participate in Mass on Sunday. As the universal church observes a special Year of St. Joseph as proclaimed by the Holy Father, we in the Archdiocese of New Orleans call upon St. Joseph’s powerful intercession to bring us closer to Jesus in the Eucharist. A PRAYER FOR THE INTERCESSION OF ST. JOSEPH To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our afflictions, and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke your patronage also. Through that charity which bound you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you graciously to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities. O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ;O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence;O our most mighty protector, be kind to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness. As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of usby your constant protection, so that, supported by your example and your aid, we may be able to live piously, to die in holiness, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.