Taking his Eucharistic presence out into the world
Bishop McKnight: The Eucharist’s foundation is God’s intense desire to be with his people
 -- Annie Williams.JPG)
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A matronly voice shattered the stillness into 60,000 pieces.
“Viva Cristo Rey!” — “Long live Christ the King!” she kept chanting from a faraway balcony in some recognizably indigenous key.
Plaintive, pleading, raw and unvarnished, she dared to revel out loud in the gift.
As if to say, “Is this true? Can it be real? Is the One sent by the Father to remediate our brokenness once and for all really here on the altar before me?
“Rejoice, O Children! Rejoice with me!
“For the love of God, may we never, ever forget!”
This encounter took place during Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament with tens of thousands of Catholics at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, held July 17-21 in the Indiana Convention Center, the Lucas Oil Stadium and nearby historical St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis.
Bishop W. Shawn McKnight and about 50 people from parishes in the Jefferson City diocese attended the Congress, a key milestone in the three-year Eucharistic Revival called for by the U.S. Catholic bishops to rekindle belief in, reverence for and an ardent response to Christ fully present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
The theme for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress — the first to be held in 83 years — was “... and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world,” (John 6:51).
“Christ wants us to know how much he loves us,” said Sheryl Underhill, a member of Holy Rosary Parish in Monroe City, who attended the Congress.
“He wants us to know that he loves us so that we can become more like him when we receive him, so that we can go out and love others the way he loves us,” she said.
The reason for all of this? “So we can all go to heaven! So we can all have eternal life with him,” said Mrs. Underhill.
People of the Beatitudes
The days of the National Eucharistic Congress were filled with opportunities to worship God at Mass, learn about him at an array of daily Impact Sessions and exhibits, hear from world-renowned Catholic speakers at evening Revival Sessions, and enjoy the company of thousands upon thousands of fellow Catholics from all over the United States.
Bishop McKnight likened the event to a massive family reunion — “a reminder that we are one in Christ.”
The Holy Eucharist — Sacrament of Unity — is what makes that oneness possible.
Bishop McKnight celebrated Mass for people from the Jefferson City diocese in the ornate and intimate Blessed Sacrament Chapel of the Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul in Indianapolis.
He chose to offer the Votive Mass for Mary, Mother of the Church.
“She is always at work interceding for us and for our need as a Church to be faithful to her Son,” Bishop McKnight stated.
His special prayer intention for the Mass was for all the volunteers who had helped organize events for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which passed through the Jefferson City diocese the first week of July.
Father Paul Clark, diocesan vocation director, director of seminarians and chaplain of Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City; Father Gregory Oligschlaeger, pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Monroe City and St. Stephen Parish in Indian Creek; and Father James Brockmeier, rector of the Indianapolis cathedral, concelebrated.
Deacon Robert Reinkemeyer, who assists the pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Tipton, served as deacon.
Bishop McKnight emphasized in his homily that the foundation for the Eucharist is God’s yearning to be in communion with his people.
“The Eucharist is a result of God’s desire to be with us,” the bishop stated. “He wants to reign in our hearts. He wants us to have the love of God in us.”
Being with Jesus means being on mission with him.
“It’s not a static or merely passive relationship on our part, but one that is very dynamic,” said Bishop McKnight. “To follow Jesus means we must become Eucharistic disciples of our Eucharistic Lord.”
That means becoming people of faith, hope and charity — people of the Beatitudes.
“Hope is about right now,” he said. “Hope that Christ is risen, that he is alive with us today in the midst of all our challenges and all our struggles.”
The Beatitudes, an integral part of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, include a litany of blessings: Blessed are the poor in spirit ... those who mourn ... those who are meek ... those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ... those who are merciful ... those who are clean of heart ... the peacemakers ... those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness ... and those who endure insults falsely because of Jesus.
“These are attributes of our Eucharistic Lord,” said Bishop McKnight. “And as we are transformed by the grace of the Eucharist to be another Christ, we become Eucharist for others. We become a means of hope for others.”
He reiterated that the Eucharistic mission belongs to the entire Church, not just to clergy and religious.
“May our Blessed Mother’s intercession under her title of the Immaculate Conception bring about a greater unity for the Church as we fulfill our Lord’s mission of becoming Eucharistic people with hearts full of love of God,” he prayed.
“Face of Christ”
Perpetually reminded throughout the Congress of Christ’s love, majesty and total self-giving sacrifice, people from the Jefferson City diocese spoke at length about what they were learning and how they hoped the Eucharistic Revival would continue back home.
Anne Mulholland, a member of Immaculate Conception Parish in Jefferson City, learned the power of one-on-one interaction with other people during her years as a registered nurse.
“You really see the face of Christ in other people when you’re able to work with them at that level,” she said.
She’s convinced that people studying, sharing and growing in their faith together in small, intentional groups will build community, enliven parishes and solidify people’s commitment to take part in the Eucharist and carry the presence of Christ out into the world with them.
Craig Eufinger, a member of St. Vincent de Paul Parish of Pettis County, contemplated the urgent need to bring inactive Catholics back to participate in their faith.
He’s convinced it will require consistent, courageous witness from friends, family members, neighbors and coworkers.
“Throughout my time here at the Congress, I’ve been praying for God to give me the words I need to do this,” he said.
Mary Madelyn Mertes, assistant director of catechetical formation for the Jefferson City diocese, recently completed her master’s thesis on “Reconciliation and the Eucharistic Revival.”
“We bring to the world what we receive from God, so the world becomes kinder, easier, more helpful to people in need, to those in our community who need us, who need to know that they’re loved, who need to know that they’re accepted, that they’re welcome,” she said.
God’s love is the complete opposite of the sadness, fear and loneliness many people are experiencing right now.
“It is community and belonging and acceptance and the experience of being loved by a Father who takes absolute delight in each and every one of us!” said Miss Mertes.
People come to Mass to receive Christ in the Eucharist and experience an incredible level of closeness and intimacy with him.
“We receive God in the Eucharist so that we can become like him, so that we can go out into the world from Mass and change the world and be a little bit of Christ to everyone we encounter,” said Miss Mertes.
She said the Sacrament of Reconciliation is important for sustaining the Eucharistic Revival because it not only restores individual people to a state of grace but also heals wounds in the entire community.
“My sin doesn’t just hurt my relationship with Jesus,” she said. “I’m part of the Body of Christ, and when I’m wounded through my sin, the whole Body of Christ is wounded.
“So, when I go to Confession and put myself before the mercy of the Lord and receive forgiveness through the ministry of the Church, the grace I receive, the whole Body of Christ receives,” she said.
“Feet of Jesus”
Gary Wilbers talked about the importance of bringing Christ back to the center of his everyday life and activities.
He’s convinced that the Church and society won’t grow in holiness without individuals deciding to change.
“You change the world a little at a time, first by being good to the people you spend the most time with,” Mr. Wilbers noted.
“Intentionally doing God’s will even in smaller things adds up to the living of a Christian life and being truly part of the Church and not just going through the motions,” he said.
Mr. Wilbers and his wife Dana are members of St. Stanislaus Parish in Wardsville.
“I was excited to come here and enhance my faith life and my devotion to the Eucharist,” said Mrs. Wilbers.
Adoring Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament with over 50,000 fellow Catholics filled her heart with joy, as did seeing hundreds of deacons and seminarians distribute Holy Communion at Mass.
She was determined to bring that joy back to her parish and put it to good use.
“I’d like to see our community be more of the feet of Jesus,” she said. “Reaching out to show love to neighbor in service — I’d like to see us do a lot more of that.”
She spoke about what she hopes parishes will be like in five years if the Eucharistic Revival is successful: “Very full, with a lot of young people and families, and more men answering the call to the Priesthood, and everyone being the hands of Christ out there, serving others in need.”
Where change begins
A volunteer usher in one of the hallways of the Lucas Oil Stadium the morning of the Closing Mass made himself heard over the passing crowds.
“Don’t leave the Revival here!” he appealed. “It’s just getting started! You have to take it home with you!”
“It’ real! It’s happening in front of you at every Mass — this wonderful sacrifice that Jesus made for us,” said Donna Long, director of faith formation for Holy Rosary Parish in Monroe City and St. Stephen Parish in Indian Creek.
“And it’s an immense love that he gives us that I think is way beyond our ability to realize.”
He made that sacrifice and draws people into participating in it because he wants to save them.
“All he asks is that we truly love him in return,” said Mrs. Long. “We do that by helping each other and by showing up at church, by helping the parish grow and thrive.”
Mrs. Long did not grow up Catholic but entered the Church after meeting her husband.
“He and his family were very involved, and everything I saw, I wanted for my own life,” she said.
Mrs. Underhill said she went to Indianapolis because she wanted to do something different in her relationship with God.
She had recently completed the 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory preparation for Eucharistic Consecration by Matthew Kelly, and had several conversations with her son, Darin, author of a book titled Navigating Catholicism.
“I always believed in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist,” she stated. “I would like to feel his presence more in my heart.”
The sessions she attended gave her a lot to think about, especially about receiving the Eucharistic Christ fully in her heart and helping those around her to do likewise.
Her husband, Jim Underhill, also a Monroe City parishioner, arrived in Indianapolis thinking the Eucharistic Congress would change the Church.
“The message I’ve gotten here is, it’s got to change ME first,” he said. “I need to allow Christ more into my life.”
He’s taken the presenters’ repeated call to repentance to heart.
“Right now, I’m praying for knowledge for God’s will for me,” he said. “That, and the power to carry it out.”
Called to depth and unity
Mark Rehagen, a member of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City, was pleased to see many young families and a tremendous number of priests and consecrated religious at the Eucharistic Congress.
“There’s certainly a lot of energy here,” he said. “It’s all very encouraging.”
Throughout the Congress, he was struck by the consistent message of the need for action: “Go out and do something in the world now. Go and be Eucharistic missionaries and disciples. Go spread the Gospel! In our homes, in the workplace, in the culture.”
He marveled at an inquiry Catholic evangelizer Bishop Robert Barron had given about what kind of an impact the nation’s 70 million Catholics could make if they all took their faith seriously and put it into practice every day.
Mr. Rehagen also took to heart the urgent appeals for Catholic unity in these times of rampant division.
“Our credibility suffers whenever we get on the bandwagon of battling each other,” he said. “We need to flip the switch and live our faith in a way that’s appealing to others and makes them want what we have received.”
Erick Chinchilla, assistant director of pastoral ministry for the Jefferson City diocese, came away from the Eucharistic Congress with a renewed understanding that all baptized Catholics, regardless of their state in life, have an obligation to God and the world.
“Whenever we give back to God what he bestows on us for the benefit of the whole Church, we know we’re putting it to good use,” said Mr. Chinchilla.
He also rediscovered a depth of prayer he hadn’t experienced for several years — “something less superficial, more of a resting with God.”
He doesn’t have specific predictions for what the Church will be like when the Eucharistic Revival takes hold, “but I know it will be beautiful,” he said.
“It’s not like there won’t be difficulties in life, but man, what a beautiful world!” he stated. “We saw it and we got to have a taste of it at the Congress.”
Being transformed
Fr. Clark reflected on four actions of Jesus at the Last Supper — took, blessed, broke and gave — and how they apply to living a Christ-centered life, “allowing ourselves to participate in what the Lord is doing, saying yes to becoming Eucharistic and being Eucharistic.”
“And when we truly offer ourselves to God and allow him to take that offering, when we give thanks, when we have that blessing of gratitude, when we’re honest that we’re all sinners, broken and in need of Christ, it allows for us to be given to others,” he said.
He pointed out that revival is not something people do; it’s an act of God.
“If it is to spill out into mission, we have to be aware of God stirring our hearts and moving us to a response,” said Fr. Clark.
That response is to become people of the Beatitudes, sent on mission to be the presence of Christ in the world.
“Ultimately allowing ourselves to be transformed into him, into Eucharist,” the priest stated.
Fr. Oligschlaeger was honored to take part in the giant Eucharistic Procession in Indianapolis, led by children who had recently made their First Holy Communion.
to pour out his love and grace while urging everyone to turn away from sin.
“Overflowing with that love and grace, it is our obligation to share what Christ has bestowed on us,” the priest stated. “I come to Mass not with the sole purpose to get what I need as an individual, but rather to receive what I need in my soul to share God’s love with everyone I meet in the coming days of the week.”
Fr. Oligschlaeger spoke of how the Church uses the grace it receives from Christ to work toward overcoming the imperfect and sinful dimensions of human existence.
“The Church’s best asset is the saintly activity and example of those who have chosen the Christian way of life,” he said.
“All of this is fueled by the Eucharist we receive at Mass and the Body of Christ, which we adore and present ourselves to in homage before the tabernacle and monstrance,” he said.
Fr. Oligschlaeger noted that all who took part in the Eucharistic Congress were sent home to share what they experienced in their parishes, communities, towns and nation.
“If we accept the mission given to us by Christ our King, we are assured by his promise that we will change the world to be united as one Body of Christ,” he stated.
“Fearless, dauntless faith”
Gage Neisen attended the Eucharistic Congress as a seminarian for the diocese.
He brought back some clear insights into how the Church will become more Eucharistic.
“I would start with the unity of the Church and the necessary communion that comes from the Eucharist itself,” he said.
“Then, the need for a deeper prayer life in the heart of every Catholic, and the need for us to be fearless in our faith, in the knowledge that we have the truth of the Eucharist,” he stated.
Sharing that knowledge effectively requires patience and humility, along with conviction and understanding.
“It’s rooted in a fearless, dauntless faith in the presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist,” he said. “You’ll never be able to understand it completely, but we all have to grapple with it internally, and that’s where our faith steps in.
“Our goal in the Revival is to bring the truth of Jesus’s presence in the Eucharist,” he said. “To do that, we need to turn to his words, knowing that we have the truth, but starting by finding a simple way to walk with one person.”
Mr. Neisen prays for the fire of the Holy Spirit to motivate every Catholic to step out of his or her comfort zone, make more time for prayer and get involved.
“We know that we’re only created for infinite love, and that is wholly contained for us in the Eucharist,” he said.
Annie Williams, creative services coordinator for the diocese, was struck by the universal message of being sent out to reveal and actually become Christ’s presence in the world.
“What I experienced and what I’m still trying to hold onto is seeing each person I meet as a soul, a heart who Jesus desperately wants to draw to himself,” she said. “So, how can I help bring each of these people closer to Christ?”
She was impressed with such diversity of people being drawn together for the purpose of honoring and adoring Christ and wanting to draw others into that experience.
“There’s real power in our unity, just knowing that we’re loved by Christ,” she said.
“As we go forth to the ends of the earth, we give thanks to God and everyone involved in this extraordinary moment in our Church’s history,” she stated. “This is just the beginning!”
