On June 19, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Church in the United States begins a three-year preparation for the National Eucharistic Congress.
The bishops of the United States are calling for a Eucharistic revival, much like the call the Church has received for a new evangelization (see www.eucharisticrevival.org). It is an invitation to hear and experience again the joy of the Gospel: that Jesus Christ came down to earth to set us free from sin and restore us, as adopted children of the Father, to a life in the Spirit, eternally.
At the heart of this gift of new life is the gift of Jesus Himself, in the Holy Eucharist.
Jesus, in the most extraordinary humility, gives Himself in the Blessed Sacrament. He presents Himself to us, vulnerable to rejection but relentless in offering His love.
He waits for us, ready to listen to our cares, to heal and comfort, to restore us to ourselves when we fail. He is the most faithful friend we could ever know.
In a world of chaos, noise and the darkness of sin, we need the order, peace and beauty of a loving God to sustain us as pilgrims on the path homeward to heaven. This comes to us through Jesus in the Eucharist. He revives our souls. This is the revival we all need, daily.
The saints find strength to conquer personal weakness and the errors of their time by turning to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. One example is the patron of the first year of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Eucharistic Revival, Blessed Carlo Acutis (1991-2006). He once said, “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.” (Francesco Occhetta, Carlo Acutis, The Servant of God: Life Beyond the Border, 2018, 20)
In many ways, he was a typical young person of his day, but he was deeply touched by his First Communion, and his devotion grew to a deep love of Jesus and Mary.
He had a clear understanding of our need for the Holy Eucharist and of its power to transform, noting “with each Communion, we come closer to the goal of sanctity.” (Occhetta, 23)
It is worth learning more about Blessed Carlo, as he is inspiring to young people in many ways, including his choice to practice the virtue of moderation with technology. He has been named a patron saint of World Youth Day in 2023, along with Pope St. John Paul II, to encourage young people with a modern example of following Christ.
Blessed Carlo reminds us that the Eucharist is a true Presence we need, more than we realize. As baptized children of God, we come to know and love God by being in His Presence and listening to His word in the Scriptures.
As adopted children of the Father, we know that the “free gift of adoption requires on our part continual conversion and new life.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 2784)
The Catechism encourages us to turn to the Father in prayer, so that “two fundamental dispositions” can develop within us. The first is “the desire to become like him: though created in his image, we are restored to his likeness by grace; and we must respond to this grace.” Second, we should pray to develop a “humble and trusting heart.” (CCC, 2785)
These dispositions are accomplished “by the contemplation of God alone, and by the warmth of love, through which the soul, molded and directed to love him, speaks very familiarly to God as to its own Father with special devotion.” (CCC, 2785)
Being in the Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament draws us to the Father.
Pope Francis recently encouraged us to “invoke” the Holy Spirit “each day, so that he can remind us to make God’s gaze upon us our starting point, to make decisions by listening to his voice.” (June 5, 2022) We can do this especially by gazing on Jesus in the Eucharist.
As we celebrate Corpus Christi on June 19, let us pray that all may know Jesus more deeply through the Holy Eucharist. Let the Eucharistic Revival begin!
Learn more at www.usccb.org/resources/welcome-national-eucharistic-revival.
Sister John Paul Maher, OP, is principal of Worthington St. Michael School and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.
