In their meeting in the fall of 2021, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops approved a three-year Eucharistic Revival whose purpose is to "renew the church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist." The first year, from June 19, 2022 through June 10 of 2023, has been the "Year of Diocesan Revival." The purpose of this year was to prepare diocesan staff to share the love of the Eucharist with the Catholics in their dioceses.
The second year will be called the "Year of Parish Revival, and it goes from June 11, 2023, through July 17, 2024. This year has also been called the "Year of Eucharistic Revival," and this is the year that I am writing about principally in this article. The purpose of this year is to strengthen Catholics in their understanding of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and in their “devotion to Christ in the Eucharist."
The third year is the “Year of Going Out on Mission," and it runs from July 21, 2024 through Pentecost, 2025. The purpose is to deepen and spread this devotion to others.
Let us now focus on the Year of Eucharistic Revival from June 11, 2023 through July 17, 2024. On June 10, 2023, there will be an Archdiocesan Eucharistic Congress at the Mary, Mother of the Church Pastoral Center. There will be a Mass, "deepening formation on the Eucharist . . . a Family Zone for those with children . . . a Eucharistic procession" and opportunities for Confession and Eucharistic Adoration. Registration begins on the weekend of April 29/30 and closes on June 1, 2023. The cost will be $20 per person or $50 per family.
At St. Joseph, there will be a Eucharistic procession at the Masses on the June 11, Corpus Christi Sunday weekend. In July through Christmas, the plan is to have one or more speakers talk on the Eucharist, more homilies preached on the Eucharist, more opportunities for Eucharistic adoration, and opportunities both for groups at the parish to integrate a focus on the Eucharist into their sessions and for the school to highlight it in their religious curriculums.
From January 2024, there will be both parish-wide and archdiocesan-wide events to grow in the understanding of the Eucharist and in Eucharistic devotion. At our parish, other such occasions will be another talk on the Eucharist at this time and more homilies about the Eucharist. Further, we will offer a program called Emmaus 90. It is a 90-day program from January 1 through the end of March. Groups consisting of several people may come together to read the Bible together and to pray together. This will be advertised more as the time approaches. In addition, there will be another Eucharistic procession on Corpus Christi Sunday in June of 2024. Archdiocesan-wide opportunities include the 10-year Archdiocesan synod anniversary Mass at the Mary, Mother of the Church Pastoral Center on May 19, 2024, and the opportunity of archdiocesan delegates to attend a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis on July 18-21, 2024.
This is the beginning of our information to you on this Year of Eucharistic Revival. We plan to continue keeping you aware of opportunities as they approach.
– Dennis Sylva, Adult Minister