With close to 160 talks, at least 91 hours of Adoration, more than 17 liturgies, and over 60,000 Catholics packed into five days, the National Eucharistic Congress offered pilgrims a taste of heaven on earth. In this life, we may never know everything that God managed to accomplish through the Congress. But among the countless fruits, there are two essential takeaways from the event.
1. Revival starts with me
A repeated message of the Congress was that, to bolster the Church and awaken America to God’s infinite love, it is our own hearts that need revival.
As good and powerful as education is, perhaps a deepening of love in those who already know Christ’s presence is the key to Eucharistic revival. “We know, but we just don’t care,” Fr. Mike Schmitz said in his keynote. “The remedy for indifference is love. And the road to love is repentance.”
Bishop Barron boldly insisted that “the energy in this room [Lucas Oil Stadium] could change our country.” But this energy needs to be channeled into an earnest desire to live our Eucharistic calling. Enabled by grace, we must make a complete and sincere gift of ourselves in love of God and neighbor.
“What if 70,000,000 Catholics, starting tonight, began to live their faith radically and dramatically?” asked Bishop Barron. “If we became body offered, blood poured out, we would change the country.”
We must repent and believe in the Gospel. And as Cardinal Luis Tagle, Special Envoy sent by Pope Francis to represent the Holy Father at the National Eucharist Congress, pointed out in his Sunday homily, we need to make ourselves gifts and live our missions, which are two callings united in Christ.
2. Every Mass is a life-altering miracle
If it is our own hearts that need healing, the Congress showed that Liturgy is privileged medicine. The very structure of the five days, including a Holy Hour to kick off the whole Congress, multiple Liturgies a day, and perpetual Adoration, embodied this truth.
The closing Mass on Sunday was a particularly vivid example of the power and majesty of liturgy. The processional alone took almost thirty minutes as hundreds of seminarians, deacons, priests, and bishops entered Lucas Oil Stadium, accompanied by several cardinals as well. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra filled the large space with sounds of praise as tens of thousands of Catholics joined together in the one Body of Christ in the Eucharist.
Cardinal Tagle greeted the congregation in eleven different languages, further underscoring the universal and unifying nature of our Faith.
But the real gift of this breathtaking stadium Mass was that it illustrated what occurs invisibly in every Mass. Every Eucharist unites the receiver with the entire Communion of Saints, and all Masses bring the worshippers into the one Paschal Mystery of Christ. We may not see thousands of people worshipping with us at our hometown parishes, but every Communion brings millions of people together in Christ. With all the saints in Heaven and on earth present with us, we can imagine every Mass being even fuller than Lucas Oil.
As Fr. Mike Schmitz reminded congress-goers on Thursday night, “The Mass is not just about looking at Jesus. When you see the Lord lifted up like this, you are looking at Calvary.” Fr. Mike then lifted his hands as if holding up the Chalice and Host, “When you see the Lord lifted up like this, you are participating in His restoration of the world.”
So, as we return to our daily lives, we carry with us from the Congress the conviction that we need to revive our own love for Our Eucharistic Lord and go forth ablaze with that love, feeding the fire with frequent attendance at Mass and Adoration, the most powerful kindling imaginable.
