Finding Hope in the Eucharist

Sherry Hayes-Peirce considers the importance of the Eucharistic Revival that has just begun in the Catholic Church.

I remembered after the lockdown was lifted and we were able to celebrate Mass for the first time at my parish. When the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion said, “The Body of Christ” and my response was “Amen,” she placed our Lord in my hand; when the Eucharist was in my mouth, there were tears. I have always believed that our Lord is present in the bread and wine we receive.

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)

The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith and this year the Church begins a period of Eucharistic Revival. Over a period of the next three years the Church, leading up to its Jubilee in 2025 wants to draw its members closer to Christ. This year's theme is around “Closeness and Care;” in 2023 the focus will be on “Reconciliation and Purification of Memory,” in 2024 “Political Love,” and we will join as “Pilgrims of Hope” in 2025, enkindled with missionary fire in the hearts of the American faithful, the Holy Spirit will send us out on mission to share the gift of our Eucharistic Lord as we enter the universal Church’s jubilee year in 2025.

The revival is in response to the 2019 Pew Research study that reported that less than 30% of Catholics believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. Many of our readers will soon be starting another year as catechists and sharing the message of the meaning of receiving the Eucharist and preparing the next generation for Confirmation. While I am an advocate of continuing to stream Masses live to those who for whatever reason continue to use Covid as cover to justify their absence from attending in-person Masses, we must remind them of what they are missing. 

Pope Benedict XVI said,

The active participation called for by the Council must be understood in more substantial terms, on the basis of a greater awareness of the mystery being celebrated and its relationship to daily life.

The conciliar Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium encouraged the faithful to take part in the Eucharistic liturgy not “as strangers or silent spectators,” but as participants “in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration.” This exhortation has lost none of its force. The Council went on to say that the faithful “should be instructed by God’s word and be nourished at the table of the Lord’s body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other.”

I

just finished taking a class on Pastoral Liturgy at Loyola Marymount University that challenged me to really look at how the Body of Christ is supposed to be a participatory experience of Mass at a time when technology is now expanding the experience beyond the walls of churches and bringing the experience on demand to wherever we are.

“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” (Luke 12:48)

I have been given many gifts from God that I use to serve the Lord and as such my gifts are used in ministry as a lector, bereavement minister, extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, faith formation commission member, Catholic conference speaker, online Mass media minister of comments, Catholic blogger and Catholic social media strategist. Every Monday morning I serve as lector for the 8:10 AM Mass at my parish, American Martyrs Catholic Community. I am not a morning person, so it is definitely a weekly sacrifice to get up early and be camera ready for this live streamed Mass. Usually I get there about ten minutes before Mass starts and don’t even have coffee in my system and when I receive the Eucharist there is a real sense of the Lord’s presence. It is a perfect start to my week!

When serving as a Eucharistic Minister on Sundays at the noon Mass I see the faces of so many receive our Lord—such a gift. Online Mass does provide an option for spiritual Communion.

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already here, and unite myself wholly to You. (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

The feeling of having the spiritual nourishment of the Eucharist in my body feeds my soul in an extraordinary way. While I am a little too young to have been catechized with the Baltimore Catechism that espoused teaching obligations associated with being a good and faithful Catholic, the next generation just won’t respond to threats of hell, fire and brimstone.

Click to tweet:
Having the spiritual nourishment of the Eucharist in my body feeds my soul in an extraordinary way. #catholicmom

The Millennials and GenXers and GenZs want to be catechized with teaching that espouses an opportunity to grow in relationship with Christ and truly be his disciples in the world. They also find such peace in many of the meditative prayer practices that our church has done for centuries. In my humble opinion it is the spark for the resurgence of Eucharistic Adoration.

To learn more about the Eucharistic Revival visit EucharisticRevival.org and subscribe to receive updates on what’s happening around the country and writings from Eucharistic scholars. 

May God bless all of you serving as catechists and may my writing inspire some of you to answer the call to be a catechist at your own parishes, which are always in need of faithful teachers of our faith.

Copyright 2022 Sherry Hayes-Peirce
Images (from top): copyright 2009 Holy Cross Family Ministries; all rights reserved; copyright 2022 Sherry Hayes-Peirce; iStock, licensed for use by Holy Cross Family Ministries