Well, Welcome to this daily reflection on the National Eucharistic Congress. The Congress kicked off July 17, 2024. I am pretty sure anyone waiting in the Check-in line gets an indulgence for their sacrifice. The check-in line stretched all the way to Victory Field (home of the Indianapolis Indians). My mom and I spent two hours (perhaps more) in that line. As this day was not much other than check-in, the only talks to reflect on are those at the evening session, the Revival Session.
The first of these talks was given by the Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Papal Nuncio to the United States. Ok some of you are definitely wondering, what the heck is a Papal Nuncio. He is the representative of Pope Francis to the United States. I will reflect on 3 things he said in his talk.
Firstly, he talked alot about buliding bridges. For this point it struck me that he said "Christ is the one who builds the first Bridge." It makes me ponder how in Jesus constantly reaches out to each human being. Yes, this reaching out is a gift which can be rejected, but he reaches out anyway. How beautiful? The second thing I which touched me is that Cardinal Pierre said "to adore Christ is to relate to him". Again, this just emohasized how relationship is the center of Catholicism. We can never truly know Christ unless we relate to him through prayer. I never connected having a relationship with Christ as an act of adoration to him. This should not be a surprise, but it did. Yet. I am so grateful for the surprise. Finally, Cardinal Pierre said"He [Jesus] leads with love",. This reminds me of the adage "to tell the truth in charity. Leading with love means Jesus wants to know us;so, to imitate him we must lead with Love and get to know others as persons (not objects). Yes, call others beyond their current situation, but do it as someone who knows them and they know they are loved. Noe, talking about knowing that you are loved, the Sisters of Life do exactly that for women in crisis pregnancies and the second speaker of the night was Sr. Bethany Madonna. Sister of Life.
Her talk focused heavily on identity. The first thing that she said that struck me was "simply to be, to exist is to be loved". It reminded me that my existence is an act of love from God. It may not always seem like that, but it is so true. May I never forget that. The next thing that set my heat aflame was that "shame and blame are (Satan's) signature". This reminds me the wiliness of the devil. I am a perfectionist and, scrupulous at times, extremely, this is one of the ways I am kept from the present moment or from healing. But i, and you, can erase that signature with the Eucharist. Finally, she said "what the world needs is love". This seems like a cliché. Surely, even outside of the Congress ibahve heard this. But this cliché is such because it it so true. All the war, whether in Ukraine or in the Holy Land, all the strife what the world truly needs is love. That love is relationship for to adore Christ in others is to relate to them face to face (not on social media, my chagrin and that of many of my peers).
May you have a wonderful evening and come back tomorrow for more from the 10th National Eucharistic Congress:
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