This past month I was honored to be able to attend the tenth National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. The congress was intended to be a cataclysmic moment of Eucharistic revival in our Church, one that should inspire us to radically obey the order to ‘go forth’. The success of the congress will not be measured by the amount of people in attendance, the caliber of the talks given, or even how beautifully the liturgies were celebrated. Rather, its success will be measured by the response of ordinary Catholics and their efforts to faithfully carry out Christ’s demand to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19).
The congress reminded us of three important things: that the Eucharist is what heals us, fuels us, and unites us. Revival starts with repentance. In order to share the good news of Jesus Christ, we must first repair the damage sin has caused in our own hearts. Sister Bethany Madonna of the Sisters of Life proclaimed this message in her talk Wednesday night. She shared several stories of healing, revealing that it was the Eucharist that broke open the addict’s stubborn heart, and the Eucharist that gave new life to the post abortive woman. Jesus desires to heal and transform our hearts in the same way. It is often challenging for us to be so vulnerable with God, but Sister Miriam James Heidland reminds us that “The Lord is not overwhelmed by you. He loves you, and he sees you, and he’s not deterred by anything.”
The Eucharist is not static, it is a dynamic encounter with the living God, one that begins with repentance and ends in mission. As the Apostolic Nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre said in his opening remarks “Our encounter with Christ’s real presence in the Sacrament opens us to an encounter with Him in the rest of our life. This means seeing Him everywhere we go.” Gaining this ‘Eucharistic Vision’ of the world will help us encounter Christ in everyone we minister to, work with, and are challenged by. From the unborn, the homeless, the poor, the immigrant, the atheist, the abortionist and even those who mock us, hate us, and scorn us. With eyes open to these many ‘Christs’ among us, our efforts to serve this broken world will be radically transformed and united in and through the body of Christ.
The Eucharist is the cause of our healing, the source of our strength, and the bond that unites all of mankind. It calls us to action and to solidarity, to personal repentance and universal evangelization. The time for revival is now. As Monsignor James Shea put it, “It’s time for faithful Catholics to stop trying to live for God. Instead, we should start living from him. The body and blood of the Lord is the source of our life, our energy, and our joy. So let’s eat and drink here and every day to our heart’s content and then let’s rush out into a starving world and tell everybody we meet, ‘Starving people, listen! We found where the food is!’”
By: Emily Branscum, Associate Director for Respect Life Ministries.
