In my adult lifetime, I don’t think there’s ever been a time when we the people have been more in need of repenting our collective sins.
This is not to suggest that it’s the most morally corrupt era in U.S. history. Surely nothing can compete with the onerous institution of chattel slavery that prevailed for some 250 years. But, with this exception, we may be living in the most morally corrupt era in U.S. history. And if we do not repent of our sins, our lives together will continue to be degraded into warring sects and factions.
It’s natural to think of the institution of the Eucharist when the Last Supper comes to mind. The sacramental memorial of Christ’s paschal mystery is, after all, as the Vatican II document “Lumen Gentium” says, “the source and summit of the entire Christian life.”