The Eucharistic Revival - What Comes Next?

The National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis last month was a tremendous time of the outpouring of grace for some 60 thousand people who participated in it.  To say that it was a success does not adequately describe the power of God that was experienced during those five days. It was a spiritual encounter that will bear great fruit for years to come.   There is, however, a question that is posed now that the Congress is over. “Is there something else? What comes next?” The answer is, “You better believe that there is something else. What comes next is the Mission of the National Eucharistic Revival, for the Revival continues until Our Lord returns at the end of time!”
            
Bishop Andrew Cozzens, the Chairman for the National Eucharistic Revival, wrote this past month, “Welcome to the most important phase of the National Eucharistic Revival! When the bishops of the United States began this Revival, they envisioned that through a renewed encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, the People of God in our country would be formed, healed, converted, and united and sent out to a world that is hurting and angry.   This Revival began with an invitation to dioceses and then to parishes in preparation for the mission phase, and that time has now arrived.” Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the Legate of Pope Francis to the National Eucharistic Congress, said in his homily at the closing Mass of the Congress, “Go! Go! Go! And what you have heard, touched, and tasted, you must share with others. We have received the gift of Jesus. Let us go to proclaim Jesus zealously and joyfully for the life of the world!”
            
My dear brothers and sisters, we are in the most important phase of the National Eucharistic Revival. The more than three hundred people who represented the Diocese of Pittsburgh at the Congress are primed to go on mission as Eucharistic Missionaries for the Lord Jesus. The Committee for the National Eucharistic Revival of the United States Bishops Conference is providing direction for moving into the Year of Mission. Our Parish Point Persons for Eucharistic Revival will be gathering in September to dig deep into the Mission Phase.  
            
What is important to bear in mind as we move into the Mission Phase is that the Eucharistic Revival is not a program. Rather it is a movement. So, too, then it follows that the Mission Phase is not a program to follow.  We, true to the way that the Church was founded by Jesus and began its apostolic mission of bringing Jesus out to the whole world, are convinced that it is Jesus Christ truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist whom we bear out into the world. It is by the power of His grace, His mercy and His love that souls will be drawn to Him and receive the salvation He so desires for them.  As we center our lives more and more on His Eucharistic Presence and saving action, we are empowered by Him as His Eucharistic Missionaries to bring His hope and love to people who so need to find meaning and purpose and love in their lives. It is all about our relationship with Him and our loving one another as He taught us.
            
The genius of the National Eucharistic Revival and now the Mission Phase is its utter simplicity and its profound spirituality. It takes us right to the Heart of the Church that is the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. The Revival in all of its dimensions shows us what the Church is and how it should look. The Revival manifests the Church as the Body of Christ.  He is the Head of the Church and we are the members of His Body.  This image is taken directly from the teachings of St. Paul (1Corinthians 12:12-31; Ephesians 1:22-23: 4:16). The Revival also manifests that the Church comes forth from the Eucharist.  Pope St. John Paul II noted this in his Encyclical Letter on the Eucharist, Ecclesia de Eucharistia. Likewise Pope Benedict XVI in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis, writes that the Church comes forth from the open side of Christ. The early Fathers of the Church believed and taught the same.  
            
It make perfect sense then that if we want to know, understand and build up the Body of Christ, the Church, we should go to the truly present Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The answer to strengthening the Church lies in our relationship with the Body of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar. That is what the Eucharistic Revival and the Mission Phase of the Revival are all about.
            
The Revival and the Mission Phase are not just for some people in the Church. This great movement is for all of us. The Holy Spirit beckons every one of us to become part of this great movement. So, stay tuned for an unfolding of the Mission Phase of the National Eucharistic Revival.  It is all about Jesus and His amazing Eucharistic Presence in His Church that is the source of the proclamation of his Gospel!
            
This is what Pope Francis noted to the Organizing Committee of the National Eucharistic Congress when he received them in audience last year, “You go to the celebration of Mass, receive Communion, adore the Lord and then what you do after? You go out and evangelize. Jesus asks this of us. The Eucharist, then, impels us to a strong and committed love of neighbor…especially those who are poor, suffering, weary or may have gone astray in life.”

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh