17th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
I’m sure most, if not all
of you here are aware of what’s been happening across the country with the three-year-long
National Eucharistic Revival that began in 2022. It is a grassroots movement
called by the US bishops to rekindle a living faith in the hearts of all
Catholics across America to unleash a new missionary chapter in this pivotal
moment in Church history.
As part of that movement,
last year all dioceses hosted a local Eucharistic Rally. Last summer here in
Salt Lake City 10,000 Catholics gathered together at the Mountain America
Center for a full day of events and one huge Mass. So many St. Mary’s
parishioners volunteered to make it a success and many more participated in the
Mass. It was truly a wonderful event and experience and touched so many people
in this parish and in the diocese that we are still talking about it a year
later. One man I spoke with who attended told me that it has inspired him to
return to regular Mass attendance.
This year starting in May
there was a pilgrimage that processed with the Blessed Sacrament from the four
corners of the country converging last week at the National Eucharistic
Congress in Indianapolis. We were blessed here at St. Mary’s that the
pilgrimage went right through town and hundreds of us participated. We even celebrated
a special Mass here with the pilgrims, Bishop Solis and Bishop Gordon from Las
Vegas. It was so cool to see the video and pictures of our parish eucharistic
procession from the Old Town Chapel to this church posted on social media and
news channels nationwide.
The pilgrimage culminated
at the Eucharistic Congress last week in Indianapolis, the first Congress in
the US in 83 years. According to a statement by the US Conference of Catholic
Bishops, “The 10th National Eucharistic Congress was a profound moment for
the whole Church in the United States as our Catholic family united in
prayer. 60,000 Catholics gathered in Indianapolis for this generational event,
and countless more across the nation joined via livestream. This was a pivotal
moment in both American history and the legacy of the Catholic Church. After a
historic National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, tens of thousands of pilgrims
welcomed Jesus to Indianapolis. United in spirit with our brothers and sisters
across the nation, we worshiped Jesus as the Body of Christ and sought
repentance in joy and hope.”
It’s a big deal. A bigger
deal than we’ve had in a long time. I’ve actually heard people comment that
things like this are obsolete and old fashioned. Someone called them simply
medieval. Why do we have to make such a show about something we can do
ourselves privately or in our parishes? They’re so over the top. But there’s
something different about coming together in large numbers to share our faith
and worship. If where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am among
them, then what outpouring of the Spirit they will be with tens of thousands? Just as it is different to watch a football
game in person versus on TV, the enthusiasm factor and sense of belonging and
community are so much higher. Large events such as these create great
enthusiasm, they revitalize the faithful and re-focus us on our faith. They
also help us to spread the gospel throughout our communities and the world.
There were many
processions where I grew up in Massachusetts, both eucharistic and for feast
days. You would just see a bunch of folks following behind the priest carrying
the monstrance down the street to the church. Since I was in Catholic school, I
had to join in. I always thought they were pretty hokey, and somewhat
embarrassing, because it was a Catholic thing, and my non-Catholic friends
could see me marching down the street. I was a Holy Joe. And I was too young
and too self-absorbed to realize that that’s the idea. It is to make our faith
visible to the world. The processions are for the pilgrims, yes, but they are
more for the spectators. They are for the non-believers. They are for the world
to see our devotion so that some will find that attractive and want a part of
it. They are a way for us to witness to the world who we are, what we believe
in, and to claim part of our Catholic identity again. Large public displays of
devotion are missionary events, and we are a missionary Church. The entire
world saw our faith on display last week.
Most of Jesus’ teaching,
healing and preaching happened with individuals or smaller groups. But
sometimes they were grand events, like the feeding of the multitudes. The story
of the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle that is recorded in all four
gospels. Matthew and Mark also tell of feeding another 4000 at one time. These
miracles are a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. Jesus takes, blesses, breaks and
distributes. But I think the most important thing about them is the leftovers.
What do you think they
did with the 12 baskets of leftovers? They gave them to the people to take home
with them. The people were enthusiastic that day. They had just witnessed
something extraordinary, and they were eager to spread the news. They didn’t
just take bread and fish home with them, they took the story. They evangelized
to their family and friends about the man from Nazareth. Those same people who
Jesus fed that day followed him to Galilee, and they are the ones who he gave
the bread of life discourses to. Once fed a little, they wanted more. They were
touched by Jesus, and they wanted to make him their king.
Those 60,000 Congress
participants and the thousands more who experienced the eucharistic pilgrimage
were fed, and now want more. They are enthusiastic. They have witnessed
something extraordinary, and they are eager to spread the news. And they will
follow Jesus wherever he goes to get more. They have brought the fragments of
their experience back home with them to their parishes, homes, families and
friends. The gift with which they have been fed has reinvigorated them and
recommitted them to their faith. I have read the testimonies of people who were
interviewed about their experiences. So many of them had been on the
peripheries, not zealots as you might expect, but ordinary people who have a
simple faith, oftentimes a wavering faith in the face of so much secular
opposition, and something has come alive in them.
Wow, this isn’t just me.
This is a movement. I am not alone. We really can revive the church.
The leftovers are here,
in this parish. Just as 60,000 people knelt on the floor of that stadium last
week in silent adoration of the blessed sacrament, so can we here. Just as 60,000
people received the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ together
in that stadium every day, so do we in our little parish, at our Sunday
gatherings or even with a handful of friends at daily Mass. The size and scope
of the gathering does not affect the reality of the sacrament, nor its
efficacy. It’s the same Jesus feeding us. The loaves are still being multiplied.
We still take the fragments of the grace we receive home with us to give to our
family, friends and community.
Will that enthusiasm fade
over time? Probably. But you know, we can always have another procession. We
always have eucharistic adoration in our parishes. We still have daily and
Sunday Mass. We still gather as pilgrims throughout the world, in large and small
congregations, to be fed by our king. A flame has been kindled, the same light
of Christ that was lit in you at your baptism. It’s up to us to keep that flame
burning brightly and to feed it until it grows to a roaring conflagration.
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