Simply Grateful

Dear parishioners of Sacred Heart, Moline: 

“In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

As I mark thirty years of priesthood, my heart overflows with gratitude to God. Reflecting on my missionary journey, I realize how faithfully the Holy Spirit has led me—sometimes with clear guidance, other times through mystery, but always with love. I thank God for His Call, and remain grateful to my family, my SMA community, and to the many friends whose support has been my strength through the years.

I also thank our pastor, Fr. Mark DeSutter, and the Sacred Heart family of Moline. Your kindness, prayers, honest criticisms, and friendship have strengthened my vocation in lasting ways. I am equally grateful to the Office of the Bishop and to my brother priests of the Diocese of Peoria for their prayers, guidance, and fraternity.

I came to Sacred Heart as a humble missionary priest, fully aware of my unworthiness before God. For the past nine years, you have welcomed me not only as a priest, but as a brother in Christ. Like Saint Paul, I have tried to serve you not with human wisdom, but with the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that your faith might rest on God alone. 

Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen wrote in The Priest Is Not His Own that a priest is a “holy victim,” united to Christ, who offered Himself for our salvation. I feel the weight of that truth each time I stand at the altar of Sacrifice, and say, “Pray that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God.” At that moment, we are offering our lives together—your joys, sorrows, hopes, and wounds—along with the bread and wine that become the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Church teaches in Canon 900 §1 and Canon 924 that, for the Eucharist to be valid, there must be a validly ordained priest, the proper matter, and proper intention. In other words, the Catholic Mass is valid when a validly ordained priest uses wheat bread and grape wine, speaks the words of consecration, and intends to do what the Church does.

In that moment, the Eucharist truly becomes the Body and Blood of Christ, regardless of the priest’s personal holiness or minor liturgical imperfections. Though I am your unworthy servant, the Eucharist is the heart of my priesthood. It has sustained me in uncertain times, reminding me that the grace of all the sacraments does not depend on my worthiness, but on God’s unfailing faithfulness.

Reflecting on my years at Sacred Heart, I am grateful for each of you. You have allowed me to use my faculties to wash your feet, baptize your children, bury your loved ones, anoint the sick, hear your confessions, and celebrate the Eucharist for you and with you. You have profoundly shaped my ministry.

Today, on behalf of my superiors and the SMA Community: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).

Remain Blessed, in JMJ.

Rev. Fr. Matthew Abu B. COLE, SMA

Parochial Vicar