Good evening!! Another day entering into the beauty of the Eucharist. On July 18th, 2024, the theme of the National Eucharistic Congress was the Greatest Love Story. My day began with the Family Rosary across America then a mass presided over by his eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan (formerly the Archbishop of Indianapolis). Then came my first day of the impact sessions. The themes for the impact series are Encounter, Encuentro (Spanish language session), Empower, Cultivate, Awaken (for Youth), and Abide (for Priests and Bishops). I chose my theme for the three full days of the Congress to be Empower. These talks will equip attendees with practical tools to become Eucharistic Missionaries, evangizing their community and taking on deeper roles in spreading the Gospel to those around them (description taken from the Eucharistic Congress program). This was the first day of breakouts as well. I volunteered this day and was ushering the Youth Session- Finding Forever: Our Ache For Jesus in the Eucharist given by Pete Burds. As I did with the Revival Sessions, for each speaker of each session I will highlight 3 things he or she said that resonated with me. Let's get empowered.
The first Empower speaker was Fr. John Burns, one of several Eucharistic Revival preachers/priests, and a priest that works with the JPII Healing Center. The First thing Fr. Burns said that struck me was how the Bible is "the Divine search for the Bride". It reminded me that God always pursues his church through all its messiness, in spite of its messiness, because of its messiness. It also reminded me of sitting in both Biblical Studies I and II at Franciscan where Dr. John Bergsma first introduced me to the nuptial meaning of salvation history. Now this first struck chord flows into the second one which was that we (the Church) are in the Era of Betrothal. This requires a bit of historical background to fully understand (and Fr. Burns went over this too). In Judaism (at least during Jesus' time), when a couple married there was a Betrothal ceremony after which a period followed in which the couple, though not living together, was considered married. The messenger between two was the Bridegroom's best friend (pretty amazing right). So in our context, the Church (in a official capacity) is Christ's "best friend" and the Chruch (both leaders, religious and Laity) is the bride. We are being prepared to live in the house of God the Father with Christ our bridegroom. Radical, right? Finally, one of the last things Fr. Burns is our third chord for his talk; this is that "He [Jesus] wants to reign through Eucharistic Love". Well, this was certainly a divine, heavenly wooden beam of truth. Jesus' reign can not be detached from the Eucharist. Perhaps, in some way, we know this subconsciously (if you're Catholic), but to have it said out loud made the unconscious reality, a conscious one, at least for me. Now, on to the next, Empower presenter.
The second speaker of the morning was Chika Anyanwu, an African American evangelist. The first thing that resonated with me from her talk was that she said "out of being will come the doing". It reminds me that without being, no one could do anything. It is existence is which allows us to do all things, of course, for Christ. Again, like with Fr. Burns, the second builds on the first. Chika said "out of love we go out and share the Gospel". This reminds me how the action of sharing Jesus' message finds its root in love. Love is, or a least should be, the foundation of evangelization. It's hard to sometimes communicate that love in our evangelization, especially in a society which appears to hate all that authentic Christianity, Protestant or Catholic, preaches. It's a call to reflect on how if evangelization fails to stand on the foundation of love, it may be not done at all, for it will, more than likely push others away from Jesus rather than draw people to Jesus. Finally, Chika said or rather asked "how do you abide?". It made me reflect on how I often don't often abide. My heart is often so restless I want to scream. Now, you can be anxious and still abide. This may seem like a contradiction, but you can be restlrss, but abide because if we decide to trust even in re see restlessness it can strangely be peaceful. It reminds me that we must rest in Christ and the most beautiful thing is this resting is most, or should be most, palpable in the Eucharist. Which brings me now to the Youth Session.
Now, this was by no means the session I desired to be in, but it is the session I needed. First, it hit me between the eyes when Pete said, "you did not choose to enter this world". Yes, of course , most, even those who have not hit puberty and have had "the talk", understand somehow that "mommy" and "daddy" did something and "I" resulted (no it was not a "special hug"). But when a man and woman consummate their marriage, not just on their "wedding night", conception is often possible, if the woman is at the right stage of her cycle, and if it happens it's because God willed it to occur. So from the first a gift has been given, because God did not have to choose for conception to occur when each person was conceived. Each day then comes a choice to accept that gift or reject it, most of the time I think the acceptance is passive because we are just happened to not pass in our sleep last night. It also reminds me that I"m not in control of this gift of life, but I am in control of how I use it. I can use it to my good or to my ill (a scary thought). Each then becomes an invitation to fulfill the ache inside me in some way and most of the time, despite having belief in God, that ache for something which is beyond me, I try to fill it with the material realities around me. So even me, someone who has been Catholic since birth (not by my choice at first), I need a reminder this ache is for the Eucharist not the next book that I wish to read. Another simple truth, Pete mentioned, which was good for me to be reminded of is that the "foundation of it all is prayer". Of course, here he si referencing the development of a relationship with Christ. It is easy to forget that prayer is essential, because it become perfunctory, or rather a chore to be checked off my "I'm a good/practicing Catholic" checklist. IF I forget that it is the foundation of my relationship with Christ, then I detach prayer from its purpose as way to talk to and listen to Christ. Prayer for me can become more talking at God than talking to God, if I look at it as a chore. So looking it as the foundation of my relationship with Christ helps me to remember that I have to listen, but I also have to say things like thank you, and praise him for his essence. Talking about God's essence, in one way it is part of God's essence to work miracles, not that he always does. To this point, Pete exhorted the attendees of the Youth Session to "led him [Jesus] do the miraculous". It only through prayer we can show our willingness to receive the miraculous work which he desires for us. Jesus may do the miraculous regardless of our "yes" or "no" and this is a call to be open. Yet, if he knows we are open, I wonder if that makes it more possible for him do the miraculous in and through us. Talking about the miraculous, it is pretty miraculous that the first speaker of the Revival session for this day, became who she is.
The first speaker Mother Olga, survived both abuse in her personal life, and the horrors of war outside her home, living through several wars in the Middle East. Her whole talk was inspirational no doubt. She near the beginning of the talk she spoke of how she once prayed or rather encouraged all the attendees to pray "Jesus lead me to the foot of the cross". What a beautiful prayer. Cause who is at the foot of the cross? Mary, the mother of God, and Mary Magdalene, who was healed by Jesus from seven demons. But also, at the foot of the cross, we can most easily untie our suffering to Christ. Yet, in uniting this suffering to Christ, perhaps we can more readily bring Christ to others. This is what Mother Olga loves doing, she loves "giving Jesus to people". Here she is particularly talking about Jesus in the Eucharist. Her ministry often takes Jesus in the Eucharist to others, often in dire situations. In sharing this love, she shared several stories of how "giving Jesus to people changed them". I'll focus on my favorite vignette, a story of a premature baby named Emma. Mother Olga shared that this child, in a dire situation, born premature with many defects as a result, reached out to touch the pyx which the nurses allowed Mother Olga to place in the Incubator. The beautiful thing is Mother Olga was allowed to day this for several weeks, and over time Emma was miraculously healed, and celebrated her first birthday this past May. Now this leads into seeing that the Eucharist is the greatest love story ever told.
The second keynote of the evening was Fr. Mike Schmitz. One of Fr. Mike's epic lines of the evening was "you were made good and we broke the world". Now, of course, you and I, broke the world, yet, our first parents, Adam and Eve did. Because of this, no matter our effort , we cannot fix the world by our own works. Yet, God can fix it, but he may not do it on our timeline. So then the Eucharistic is continuation of the beautiful moment of salvation on Calvary. Talking about that, next, Fr. Mike reminded the attendees that "what save us is the sacrifice". The Eucharist is the refraction of that sacrifice, the re-enactment of that sacrifice, the bringing Calvary to the present day. So, it is because it is connected to Calvary that gives the Eucharist its power. Finally, legitimately the last thing Fr. Mike said should be taken heart, and that was "Knowledge can make someone great, love makes someone a saint". In some ways, for the last several centuries, a large part of society has worshipped knowledge. They have also turned love into an emotion, and ONLY an emotion. Love can make one a saint because when one authentically loves, the will the good of the other. Christ did this on Calvary and did this by giving us the Eucharist. So knowledge is great, but love is much, much greater.
Come back later, (didn't meant to post this after midnight... os you get two days of the Congress in one day, I guess), to hear more "live" from the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.
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