Reflections on the Eucharistic Congress
When Deacon Andy asked if I would like to go to the Eucharistic Congress over a year ago, my response was “nah”, the same response I give everytime he asks me to do anything that will take me out of my comfort zone. But then as usual, the Holy Spirit opened my mind and I agreed to go. And, as usual, it was something that I was very grateful that agreed to do. Little did I know how powerful the whole experience would be.
The sheer number of participants gave me a sense of renewed hope in our faith, our beliefs and our mission. While many others wanted to be there, but couldn’t for this or that reason, the number of people involved either live or digitally was very encouraging and gave me hope that the Catholic faith is very much alive through the grace of the Holy Spirit.
The Congress was well organized and intertwined the theme of the Eucharist through a progression of topics over five days. The topics were: coming together from all over the world to unite as one Church through the four Eucharistic processions taking place as the date of the Congress approached (Also evident by the Bishops who spoke who were from other countries and the different cultural flavors that were present.), the message of the love that Christ gave to us through his Incarnation, passion, death and resurrection passed onto us through the apostolic Church, the challenges of life and consequences of sin in the world and our response as a Christian to them, the redemption and salvation Christ offers us, and finally, being sent into the world to make His message of love and hope known to others; that is, being part of a missionary Church. The talks that were given by the guest speakers reflected these themes and they included Fr. Mike Schmitz, Bishop Robert Barron, up and coming Catholic evangelists like Sr. Josephine Garrett and the star of the Chosen, Jonathan Roumie.
The message of being sent to others, or being a missionary, made the biggest impact on me. It was after all, a Eucharistic Congress and the theme of Christ made present in the Eucharist was the framework through which everything else presented at the conference rested upon. Christ makes himself present to us in the Eucharist in a substantial and tangible way. He gives us his flesh and blood so that we can be present to others by becoming more like Jesus when we receive Him in the Eucharist. In fact, there was a challenge given to all the participants at the conference called “Walk with One”, a challenge to bring someone in your world into a relationship with Jesus; to allow Jesus to bless them with his sacraments. He wants your help. It is part of being a missionary church and something we are all called to do through our Baptism. Might people reject the invitation as they did in John 6, when Jesus said “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you will not have life within you” and many walked away? Yes, they might, but we need to extend the invitation.
I have the privilege of directing the OCIA (formally the RCIA) where I meet people who were extended an invitation by someone who knows that Christ makes a difference in his or her life and they are different because of it. He or she wants to share the peace and joy that only Christ can give, so they take the risk and invite someone to the feast. Those that go through the OCIA have responded to that invitation that someone took the risk to extend.
Even if you were unable to go to the Eucharist Congress, you can be part of the Eucharistic revival that the Congress was to help spark. Find out more about making an invitation, to someone at eucharisticrevival.org/walk-with-one or get involved in our parish mission work by helping with the OCIA program for adults, OCIA for children, or other missionary work such as the St. Vincent dePaul Society. The Eucharistic Congress helped strengthen my conviction to making God known and giving people hope through His love. However, when I think about it, Jesus renews us everytime we receive Him in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
-Teresa Oross
It was a taste of heaven on earth. That is how I felt attending the Eucharistic Congress in July. While I was not expecting this feeling, it should not have surprised me. After all, the church teaches that the Eucharist is a foretaste of heaven. But I was surprised.
What surprised me the most was finding over 50,000 people in one place whose love for Christ, His church, and the Eucharist was obvious. It is the Eucharist that brings Christ and His Church together. Each night of the Congress we had exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Lucas Oil Stadium. It was quite stunning to be a part of 50,000 people in silent adoration, punctuated with occasional singing.
Daily mass was also beautiful and inspiring for the same reason. While the opening procession for mass would take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, it was wonderful to see dozens of bishops and hundreds of priests processing in. There was loud and active participation by all there. Witnessing thousands of people receiving our Lord in the Eucharist at mass was very moving.
I realized how much our Lord loves each of us in the church. Since Christ is not limited by time or space, he gives each one of us the ultimate gift of himself. His gift of the Eucharist is the way that he most clearly does this. He enables all of us to be united to him in love and therefore to be able to be united with each other. The connection I felt with strangers and with the whole Church is something I will never forget. It was a taste of heaven on earth.
-Dcn. Andy Oross
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