Many American Catholics are witnessing and participating in the National Eucharistic Revival, an initiative approved in 2022 by Bishop Andrew Cozzens, chairman of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. This stage officially launched on Corpus Christi Sunday. This website of the Eucharistic Revival outlines the goals of the church: https://eucharisticrevival.org/.
As the National Eucharistic Revival clarifies, this is a three-year movement to help American Catholics renew their belief in and worship of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The Revival committee launched this program with Eucharistic processions and adoration of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and the knowledge of the liturgy and dedication to adoration. As the committee has noted, in this world of scandal and doubt, and as the result of COVID that closed people away from church, the Catholic church stands strong under Jesus Christ to heal and unify the church.
That is why the National Eucharistic Revival is a grassroots movement and has reached out to parishes nationwide. For the second year of the revival, the Year of Parish Revival, starting on Corpus Christi in June, numerous parishes are fostering Eucharistic devotion and urging parishioners to attend Mass regularly.
For example, Jeff Hines, Director of the Faith Formation Office for the Diocese of Little Rock, wrote in a special to the Arkansas Catholic in June, 2023, that “every Catholic will be invited to participate in local activities focused on bringing each person to a deeper encounter with Christ in the Eucharist that transforms life. The parish year consists of four areas, called pillars, in which every Catholic is invited to gain a deeper relationship with Christ in the Eucharist: reinvigorate worship, personal encounter, robust faith formation, and missionary sending.”
In Chicago, Illinois, parishioners at Saint Thomas the Apostle church joined the Corpus Christi procession, launching what pastoral associate Timothy Johnston described as an effort to celebrate the Eucharistic Revival. “We announced to the parish,” he said, “that we plan to do a monthly bulletin series titled Communion with the Saints to provide catechesis on the Eucharist. In June we featured St. Norbert of Xanten, and each month there will be a saint who said something about the Eucharist. In the fall, we will have a bible study focusing on the Eucharist.
“Our intention is to also host a gathering to focus on the Mass….and what we are being sent into the world to do. And there will be an Advent retreat on December 9 led by a Salavatorian Brother Silas Henderson from Milwaukee. Because the parish includes faculty, students, and staff from Catholic Theological Union and the University of Chicago we’ll really kick off most of our plans when the academic year resumes; the parish gets quiet over the summer.”
In Kansas City, Kansas, Valentin Lobatos, Community Life Coordinator, Director of Faith Formation at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, added his commentary. “Our parish Eucharistic Revival plan has been prayerfully discerned,” Mr. Lobatos said. “We have brought back all-day Eucharistic Adoration from 8:30 AM – 8:00 PM on Tuesdays. We really wanted to make that a priority, as we had it prior to COVID-19. A number of our parishioners have signed up for Tuesday adoration. We plan to even offer Eucharistic Adoration for 24 hours once a month. Our hope is to also create small groups and book studies to dive deep into our knowledge of Jesus fully present in the Eucharist.
“One thing we have been doing over the past year,” Mr. Lobatos said, “is reviewing our liturgical celebration of the Mass, that being a priority of our Rector. Another initiative, our parish councils are making a special emphasis on Eucharistic Revival by planning to provide parishioners Eucharistic formation and offering transformative Eucharistic experiences.”
For the benefit of Catholics everywhere, the Eucharistic Revival issued the following prayer:
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I beg pardon for those who do not believe, nor adore, nor hope, nor love You.
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended. And, through the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of sinners.
Our Lady of Fatima
Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash
