September 2024 - An encounter with the Lord Jesus

Leaving Indianapolis Airport, my Uber driver said to expect detours due to the large number of people in the city. As we drew near the hotel, that became obvious as he had to weave through parking lots to get to the entrance. On the way, we drove around the Indiana Convention Center where the National Eucharistic Congress was headquartered. There were lines of people waiting to register for the congress. It certainly was going to be a large crowd. Participating in that congress with 50,000 or more people was the purpose of my trip to Indianapolis.

This 10th National Eucharistic Congress, the first held in our country in 83 years, was a key part of the Eucharistic Revival launched on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on June 19, 2022. Originally, this revival responded to a survey that found that nearly 70% of Catholics did not believe in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. For them, it is a symbol, not a reality. In addition to the survey, of course, there is also the sad reality that fewer people avail themselves of the grace that awaits them in the sacrament of the holy Eucharist. Since COVID, the number of people who attend Mass has not returned to what it was before the pandemic. And the question becomes, if people know and believe the gift that we have in the Eucharist, why are they not there? Why is it not a priority for them? We believe that Jesus is truly present to us in this encounter. We know His love in the Eucharist and seek to bring that love to others through our acts of charity. The Congress was a national opportunity to reflect and pray with the Eucharist at the center of the gathering so that those who attended would find their lives enriched by this encounter with the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist and return home renewed in their appreciation of the gift that is ours in the Mass and the Eucharist and ready to be missionaries of God’s love.

The congress had features that are similar to any meeting. There were speakers and personal reflections, exhibits and gatherings, food and music — things that are part of many large gatherings.  But the major difference in this meeting was its central focus. Prayer and eucharistic devotion were at the heart of the day. Mass was offered twice a day in three different places with different groups of people and in different languages. And each evening, there was an extended period of prayer, reflection, and witness called a Revival Session. Central to these sessions was an extended period of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which was carried into the stadium in a huge monstrance and placed on an altar set up in the center of the stadium. We were being helped to be with Jesus. We were experiencing the love of God Jesus brings to us.

As the congress was coming to a close, we wondered how this Congress could make a real difference in people’s lives. I think there were two ideas that were at the center of the message of the congress that could help people who find in the message of the Gospel and the life of Christ peace, meaning and purpose for their lives.

Pope Francis summarizes these ideas in his letter to the participants of the congress. Francis reminded us of what we believe: “in the Eucharist Christ himself is truly in our midst, to nourish, console, and sustain us on our journey.” The Eucharist is more than a symbol. The Pope encouraged “Catholics throughout the nation” to discover anew in the sacrament of the Eucharist the “sense of wonder and awe at the Lord’s great gift of himself.” This, he suggested, could be done by participation in holy Mass and in personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

This opens us to the second idea. Our encounter with Jesus, our Savior, in the Eucharist, has a purpose for us as Christians. As Pope Francis said, “In the Eucharist, we encounter the One who gave everything for us, who sacrificed himself in order to give us life, who loved us to the end.” The love we celebrate in the Eucharist cannot be kept to ourselves but impels us to share it: the Eucharist “impels us to a strong and committed love of neighbor.”

That is why the Mass ends as it does: “Go in peace.” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle reminded us, as he concluded the homily at the end of the congress, "When the priest or deacon says, 'The Mass is ended. Go in the peace of Christ,' please go! What you have heard, touched, and tasted, you must share with others," he exclaimed.

Go in Peace!

Bishop Robert Deeley, JCD
Bishop Emeritus of Portland