Pope Francis Gives His Enthusiastic Blessing to the National Eucharistic Revival

On June 19, 2023 Pope Francis granted an audience to members of the organizing Committee of the National Eucharistic Revival including Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. The Holy Father spoke words of encouragement and directed them to continue with the important work of the National Eucharistic Revival.  “I thank you for the work you have already undertaken, and I encourage you to continue your efforts to contribute to a revival of faith in, and love for, the Holy Eucharist, the ‘source and summit of the Christian life’ (Lumen Gentum, 11)".
           
Pope Francis recounted to the committee his reflection on the account of the multiplication of the loaves recorded in in the Gospel of St. John.  The people who witnessed this miracle came back to the Lord on the following day in the hopes of seeing another miracle.  Jesus wanted to transform their hunger for material bread into a hunger for the Bread of Eternal Life. (Jn 6:26-27)  Our Holy Father then went on to say that at Mass that morning he was thinking about Our Lord’s words saying that he is the Living Bread that comes down from heaven.  Pope Francis said, “Indeed, the Eucharist is God’s response to the deepest hunger of the human heart, the hunger for authentic life, for in the Eucharist Christ Himself is truly in our midst, to nourish, console, and sustain us on our journey.  Sadly, nowadays, there are those among the Catholic faithful who believe that the Eucharist is more a symbol than the reality of the Lord’s presence and love.  It is more than a symbol; it is the real and loving presence of the Lord.  It is my hope, then, that the Eucharistic Congress will inspire Catholics throughout the country to discover anew the sense of wonder and awe at the Lord’s great gift of himself and to spend time with him in the celebration of the Holy Mass and in personal prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.  I believe that we have lost the sense of adoration in our day.  We must rediscover the sense of adoration in silence.  It is a form of prayer that we have lost.  Too few people it is.  It is up to the Bishops to catechize the faithful about praying through adoration.  The Eucharist requires it of us.  In this regard, I cannot fail to mention the need for fostering vocations to the priesthood, for as Saint John Paul II said, “There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood” (Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2004).  We need priests to celebrate the Holy Eucharist.
           
Our Holy Father went on to say, “I likewise trust that the Congress will be an occasion for the faithful to commit themselves with ever greater zeal to being missionary disciples of the Lord Jesus in the world.  In the Eucharist, we encounter the One who gave everything for us, who sacrifices himself in order to give us life, who loved us to the end.  We become credible witnesses  to the joy and transforming beauty of the Gospel only when we recognize that the love we celebrate in this sacrament cannot be kept to ourselves but demands to be shared with all.  This is the sense of a missionary spirit.  You go to the celebration of Mass, receive communion, adore the Lord, and then what do you do?  You go out and evangelize.  Jesus asks this of us.  The Eucharist, then, impels us to a strong and committed love of neighbor.  For we cannot truly understand the meaning of the Eucharist if our hearts are closed to our brothers and sisters, especially those who are poor, suffering, weary or who have gone astray in life.  Two groups of people come to mind whom we must always seek out: the elderly, who are the wisdom of a people, and the sick, who are the image of the suffering Jesus.”
           
Finally, Pope Francis concluded with his hope for the National Eucharistic Revial and Congress.  He said, “…the National Eucharistic Congress marks a significant moment  in the life of the Church in the United States.  May all that you are doing be an occasion of grace for each of you and may it bear fruit in guiding men and women throughout your nation to the Lord, who by his presence among us rekindles hope and renews life.  Entrusting you to the maternal intercession of Mary Immaculate, Patroness of your country, I assure you of my prayers for you, your families and your local Churches”.
           
The Holy Father also blessed the four foot tall monstrance that will be used to carry our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament into the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress in July of 2024. 
           
How wonderful it is to know that Our Holy Father blesses our efforts for Eucharistic Revival and enthusiastically supports our adoration and love for our Eucharistic Lord and our desire to bring many souls to Him as we go forth as Eucharistic missionaries to the elderly, the poor, the sick and all who need the love of Jesus Christ!

Thank you, Holy Father, for your love, prayers and support!

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh