Less than two weeks ago, the final words of Cardinal Tagle’s homily at the concluding Mass of the Eucharistic Congress resounded through Lucas Oil Stadium, flooding our hearts:
“Go! Go! Go! And what you have heard, touched, and tasted, you must share with others. We have received the gift of Jesus. Let us go to proclaim Jesus zealously and joyfully for the life of the world.”
Of all the liturgies of the Congress, this one was the most powerful. It was as if all of us were given permission to fly! To think big! To reach out to others and give away the gift we had discovered at the Congress for the life of the world!
Tired but joyful and excited about the future, we all left Indianapolis and returned to “the first day of the rest of our lives”—as Catholic artist Matt Maher, who led us in worship the night before, notes in his popular song, “Love Will Hold Us Together.”
I don’t know about you, but when I got home I had to stop and take a deep breath!
Here are six things I did to “catch my breath,” so to speak. These are ways you can process the experience of Eucharistic Revival at the Congress and create a bit of a personal “plan” for yourself so that the gifts of the Congress “stick.”
1. Take a rest. In the quiet of prayer before the Eucharist, journal about two or three things that really moved you. These are the movements of the heart where Jesus was working to recreate you as his Eucharistic Missionary. For example, I was struck by this reflection from Chris Stefanick about sharing the Gospel: “If God opens a door, you open your mouth, that’s it, you’ll figure it out as you start talking.” They were words I needed to hear, and God gave me an opportunity to practice on the plane heading home by sharing Jesus with a seven-year-old girl. But I experienced other “epiphanies,” too. I’ve noticed how God is changing my prayer and transforming my selfishness. By holding on to the graces you’ve received and bringing them to prayer, the gifts of the Congress will be firmly rooted and begin to bear unimaginable fruit in your life.
2. Use your imagination. Recall one encounter you had with someone at the Congress that opened your eyes or your heart. Maybe it was a stranger you met having coffee, someone who sat next to you at a liturgy, or even one of the vendors in the exhibit hall. I’m remembering a conversation with a religious sister from a community founded by Saint Manuel González García, the bishop of the abandoned tabernacle. I will cherish for a long time her insight about Eucharistic prayer. She helped me to see how staying with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is loving like Mary, who did not abandon her Son beneath the cross. Pray about the gift God gave you through a powerful encounter of your own. Let him help you discover how that moment informs your call to be a Eucharistic Missionary
3. Give yourself time to process. Going from a congregation at Mass of 60,000 to one of 20 or 30 people was a bit of a shock for me. Certainly, there’s an energy in the liturgies at the Congress that can’t be replicated. Hold on to those memories and cherish them. However, it was almost a shock when on the day after the Congress I attended a weekday Mass with fewer than 20 other parishioners. Remember that the same Jesus that we worshipped at the Congress is present in every Mass, no matter how small the church or how simple the music or how few are they in the assembly. The Lord of glory, the King of the universe, is present at every Mass and in every tabernacle: and the invisible presence of the angels and the communion of saints surrounds us!
4. Hold on to what is true. At the Congress, we were immersed in what was most real and most true. As I watched the almost 2,000 priests, deacons, and bishops process into Lucas Oil Stadium at the opening of the concluding Mass for a full 40 minutes, I was deeply moved by goodness and hope, and I prayed for each of them and for the whole Church in the U.S. Sometimes I get weighed down by what is broken, difficult, and tragic in our Church and country, so much so that I can forget what is true, good, and beautiful. As we go forward and encounter negativity and weakness and sin, we can hold on to what Bishop Cozzens prayed in the first evening’s Revival Session: “We know that we are broken, and our world is broken, but we know that you have conquered sin and death and have given us yourself as a foretaste of heaven. We know, God, that you are able to accomplish far more than we ask or imagine by the power of the Eucharist.” As you reinsert yourself into “real” life, keep the eyes of your heart on Jesus who “sacrificed himself in order to give us life, who loved us to the end.”
5. Just tell your story. I have found it almost impossible to convey to friends and family the awesome experience of the Congress. Instead, it has been more meaningful to share some of the quiet things: the personal memories, encounters, and ways in which Jesus worked in my heart and is changing me from the inside out because of this experience of Revival. Share your own personal “epiphanies” with others. Invite them to listen to some of the talks posted on YouTube. And as one woman I met at the Congress told me, “Just tell your story.”
6. Finally, keep it simple. There is someone in your life right now whom Jesus longs to call to himself. He wants to spark a relationship with them and bless them with his sacraments. In this Year of Mission, Catholics across the U.S. are saying “yes” to a special form of heart-to-heart accompaniment called Walk With One. Take some time to download and understand the simple process for Spirit-led accompaniment.
At the Congress, we lived and worshiped with 60,000 people. For me, it was a tiny glimpse of the glory of heaven, when the communion of saints and the angels will bow down before the glory of God. So, as you go forward, remember to breathe: Inhale the quiet presence of Love at Mass and in adoration, and exhale the gift of yourself. Breathe in the friendship and joy of the Church in heaven, and reach out to support the members of the Church around you. Each of us is now commissioned as an instrument of unity and peace in the world and in our Church, called to a Eucharistic way of living and loving. Whatever is happening around you, or even within you, remember that Jesus is with us always, and the world and the Church belong to him who through his victory over death is the ultimate Master of all things.
