This past week, over 50,000 faithful Catholics gathered in Indianapolis to participate in the historic National Eucharistic Congress. Josh Parmet, who has been living here in our rectory over the summer to experience parish life as he discerns his call to priesthood, was one of eight seminarians who were sent by our seminary to the Eucharistic Congress. Next week, he will provide us with some reflections on this important event in the life of the Catholic Church in our country; I’m sure you will benefit from it!
At the end of the Eucharistic Congress, participants are being called to become part of the last and most important phase of the National Eucharistic Revival: the Year of Mission. When the bishops of the United States began this Revival three years ago, they envisioned that – through a renewed encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist – the family of God in our country would be healed, converted, united and sent out to a world that is hurting and hungry. You will recall that this Revival began in the summer of 2022 when all of the dioceses throughout the country were called to make plans to introduce the Revival locally. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church,” a compelling document to introduce the Revival; I hope you read it!
Then, on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ in June 2023, we joined with the rest of the parishes throughout the country in the parish phase of the Revival, reflecting on the Eucharistic Lord in a variety of ways. Erin Reusche, one of our parishioners, generously provided copies of The Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle at the church tables for our reflection. Last September, we made copies of Bishop Robert Barron’s informational and inspirational book entitled This is My Body available to everyone in the parish. To encourage everyone to read it, I offered an overview of the book in the Parish Bulletin and our parish website toward the end of September. I was delighted to see that all 400 copies of the book disappeared from the tables at the church entrances. Again, I hope that you read and reflected on this excellent book where Bishop Barron offered powerful presentations on the Eucharist as a meal, a sacrifice and the real presence of Jesus Christ. On the 30th of September, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia hosted a Eucharistic Congress at Our Lady of Czestochowa Shrine in Doylestown. Those who attended that local Eucharistic Congress benefited greatly from the opportunity to gather with hundreds of fellow Catholics before the Blessed Sacrament and be inspired by some powerful presenters as they reflected on this precious gift.
Beginning on 17 May of this year, four Eucharistic Pilgrimages approached Indianapolis from the north, south, east and west of our country, drawing attention to the real presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in preparation for the National Eucharistic Congress. Thousands of people witnessed the devotion of the faithful throughout our country. Many of us were privileged to participate in the Seton Route Pilgrimage that passed through our archdiocese from 30 May to 3 June. All four of the Pilgrimages ended in Indianapolis in anticipation of the National Eucharistic Congress which began on 17 July and ends this Sunday.
While this National Congress – the first in our country in 83 years – stood as a key moment for the National Eucharistic Revival, it was by no means the end of the Revival. The next phase – called the Year of Mission – challenges us all to go out and share the love of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist in order to transform the world. As we have encountered the Eucharistic Christ in our lives and have been transformed, so we are called to continue to grow in our relationship with him, to allow Jesus to shape our identity and to share in the mission that all Christians are called to take on at their baptism: to go out to all the world and spread the gospel of our salvation.
Pope Francis, in his catechesis on the two disciples’ encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-25), instructs us that:
Jesus repeats for the disciples the fundamental gesture of every Eucharist. He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it. Does not Jesus’ entire history perhaps lie in this series of gestures? And is there not in every Eucharist, also the symbol of what the Church should be? Jesus takes us, blesses us, “breaks” our life – because there is no love without sacrifice – and offers it to others; he offers it to everyone. (General Audience, 24 May 2017)
As we enter into this last and most important phase of our National Eucharistic Revival, I encourage you to continue – or, if you have not yet done so, to begin – your encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist. We cannot witness to our Lord if we are not closely united with him. And, we are so blessed to have him present in our midst every time we participate in the celebration of the Eucharist and every moment we spend with him reserved in the tabernacle or exposed in the Blessed Sacrament.
We read in the gospels that before the most important moments in his life, Jesus retreated – to the desert, up into the mountains or away from the crowds – and prayed to his heavenly Father. In doing so, he offered us an important model for our lives. Before we go out to share the joy of encountering Jesus, we have to seek him out and spend time with him. Let us heed the message that Pope Francis gave to the Organizing Committee of the National Eucharistic Congress:
It is my hope that the Eucharistic Congress will inspire Catholics throughout the country to discover anew the sense of wonder and awe at the Lord’s great gift of himself and to spend time with him in the celebration of the Holy Mass and in personal prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. I believe that we have lost the sense of adoration in our day. We must rediscover the sense of adoration in silence. It is a form of prayer that so many have lost. (19 June 2023)
I encourage every parishioner to make it a priority to spend time with our Eucharistic Lord so we can all be more effective witnesses to the world of this great gift: God present in our midst to save us from our sins, provide us spiritual nourishment and lead us to eternal joy at the heavenly banquet!