Robert Moynihan: I have one last question, and I thank you so much for your time. I want to go to the most spiritual and deep level of your faith. Can you tell us what Jesus means to you? What is your relationship with Jesus Christ? What is important about Jesus, and why is he so important to you and to the world?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Jesus, I take the words of St Thomas, the apostle, as my God and my Lord. They cannot be more beautiful words than these, my Lord and my God. And the other phrase of St Paul, Omnia in omnibus Christus, translated, Christ shall be all for me. In every aspect, he shall be all for me. My God and all is Jesus Christ. He is the incarnate God. Jesus is my God and my Lord, my Savior, my all. This is the foundation of all my life, my faith, my work, and my sufferings. This is my desire: to see Him in heaven, the whole Trinity, and the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, my Savior, whom I now see with my faith in the Holy Eucharist primarily.
For me, Jesus Christ here on this earth is primarily the Eucharistic Christ because here I find my God, my Lord, my Savior, incarnated concretely in the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, the Eucharistic Christ is the center of my life, of my spiritual life, and my faith. Every time I come to church to see the holy host, during Holy Mass, during adoration, it is a continuous invitation to believe. I do not see Him in His glory, but I believe he is here truly, substantially, really. It is a continuous exercise of my faith and my love.
My motto, also of St Peter Julian Eymard, a great Eucharistic saint, is “Adveniat Regnum Tuum Eucharisticum,” may thy Eucharistic reign come and reign. Our lives will be restored, sustained, and maintained most vigorously through the Eucharist. A Eucharistic life in the entire church can only be renewed and revigorated through our true renewal of the liturgical and Eucharistic life.