We Need a Eucharistic REVIVAL! We Need it NOW!
At the recent meeting of the Catholic Bishops of the United States, there was an enthusiastic discussion about a movement of “Eucharistic Revival” for the Church in our nation. Many people are asking: what does “Eucharistic Revival” really mean? We might think about it in this way. Sometimes when we go through a time in our life when we have faced many challenges, when we have been “running as fast as we can” just to keep up, we find ourselves exhausted, simply burned-out. We may even just collapse. We get so tired that we can hardly move. Our eyes are only half-open as we sink into a sort of stupor. We cannot see what is right in front of us. We cannot recognize who can bring us back to life – who can revive us.
I believe this is the state of mind of the Church in recent years. So much has happened to us that we are exhausted. We have been battered down by a culture that thinks God is irrelevant and that His Word can be changed or interpreted in any way one chooses. We have been told that the truth of the Gospel and the teachings of the Church are out of date. Recent surveys have revealed that some 66% of Catholics do not believe that the Holy Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We have been hammered by the clergy sexual abuse scandal and acts of sacrilege in our Church. To complete this scenario, we continue to suffer through a pandemic that has greatly hampered the mission of the Church. Yes, the Church has been battered but the Church is NOT going away. We just need a Eucharistic Revival. We need to have our eyes opened to see who is right before us. We need to see with the eyes of renewed faith who can revive us - Jesus Christ alive and in our midst, dwelling in our tabernacles and coming upon our altars. He is the Eucharistic Revival that we sorely need!
Over the past several Sundays, we have heard a series of passages from the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel. These passages proclaim the truth of the Lord’s Presence in the Holy Eucharist from His very own lips. We should pray over these Gospel passages and ask the Lord to increase our faith in and our love for Him present in the Blessed Sacrament.
In the first of these passages, we have described for us Our Lord’s feeding of the great multitude with just five barley loaves and two fish (Jn 6:1-15). Some would argue that this passage is only a lesson about the obligation of Christians to share with the needy and the hungry. Certainly, caring for those in need is an important dimension of the life of any follower of Christ. However, a closer look at the passage reveals a deeper reality. Our Lord had a large crowd following Him. They were attracted to Him because they saw “the signs He was performing on the sick.” He cured their ills and gave them hope. Then Jesus goes up on the mountain with His disciples. The crowd follows Him.
In Sacred Scripture, the places of encounter with God occur especially on a mountain. Think of Abraham taking his son Isaac to sacrifice on a mountain in the land of Moriah (Genesis 22: 1-19). So also, we read that Moses was called to meet God on Mount Sinai where God gave him the Ten Commandments and laws about sacrifice. (Exodus chapters 19-20) In these two cases, going up to the mountain is about meeting God and offering sacrifice. It is about encountering God who tells us how we are to worship Him.
In the New Testament we have the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain. He goes up with Peter, James, and John and He is transfigured in glory. This strengthens His disciples in anticipation of His upcoming Passion and Death. The tremendous event of the Transfiguration points towards Jesus’ ascent to Mount Calvary where He will offer Himself in sacrifice to the Father for our sins. In light of what He did at the Last Supper, Jesus will perpetuate His sacrifice of love on Calvary every time Mass is offered until He returns in glory. What happens at Mass is not just a reminder, or a symbol, or a lesson. It is Jesus’ making present again His Passion, Death, and Resurrection and His giving Himself to us. It is about our going up on the mountain with Him.
We see that the feeding of the multitude with barley loaves points toward how Jesus feeds us with His own Body and Blood in Holy Communion when we come to Mass. We go up with Jesus to Mount Calvary at Mass and we are fed with His Sacred Body and Precious Blood. Rather than receiving barley loaves for physical nourishment only, we feast on the bread and wine that is changed into Christ’s Body and Blood as spiritual nourishment for eternal life. It is the pinnacle of our relationship with Him. It is the fullest expression of His love for us.
To underline the connection of the feeding of the crowd on the mountain with the feeding of the faithful at Mass, we hear, right after Jesus ascends the mountain, these words, “The Jewish feast of Passover was near” (Jn 6:4). At the Jewish Passover, lambs were sacrificed and eaten in remembrance of the Israelites’ passing over from Egypt to the promised land. This short line shows us clearly that Jesus who ascended the mountain to feed the people was Himself the Lamb of God who would ascend Mount Calvary to offer Himself in sacrifice for all. His sacrifice, His Passover, would fulfill all of the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Just as the God’s people of Old Testament would eat of the Passover Lamb, so, too, we, as members of God’s people, truly are fed with the Lamb of God, Our Savior Jesus Christ. How awesome is that?!
If we truly believe, then what should our attitude be about coming to Mass to offer ourselves along with the Sacrifice of Jesus and receive Him, the Lamb of God in the Holy Eucharist? We should be running to Mass as often as possible and kneeling in adoration before Him! In order to approach Him with amazement, devotion, reverence, and love, I say we certainly need a “Eucharistic Revival.” We need to have our eyes and our hearts opened in Eucharistic amazement. I pray for that for myself and every member of the Church every time that I come to the altar to offer the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ in our midst. I want to be filled with Eucharistic amazement! What about you?
That is why we, as a family of faith at Divine Mercy Parish, are undertaking this journey entitled “Unmask the Answer: A Eucharistic Revival.” There is no time to be wasted! We need a revival, and we need it NOW! The journey will be anchored by four in-person events hosted in the Church. These events will each focus on a different way for us to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. Each event will also feature prayerful music by The Vigil Project, a speaking presentation by a guest presenter, and a community reception with light refreshments.
In addition to the four events, parishioners will be invited to engage in the weekly prayer guides, which will be made available in the bulletin and online throughout the journey. The prayer guides will feature a new question each week for personal reflection, Scriptures from the Sunday readings, and simple challenges for engaging in prayer throughout the week.
The parish journey is for parishioners of all ages, and those who join in will grow in new depths of experience and understanding that Jesus truly present in the Eucharist is the answer we often find ourselves grasping for in so many other places—places that cannot provide the answer.
Our journey begins this Sunday, August 22nd! Are you ready to reignite your faith in our Eucharistic Lord? Do you desire to find The ANSWER to all the questions and difficulties that we face in the heart of our Eucharistic Lord? Do you want to be filled with Eucharistic amazement!?
For more information on “Unmask the Answer: A Eucharistic Revival” and to start experiencing the journey, please visit: https://divinemercyparishjourney.org/