“Revival: A Lenten Devotional for Eucharistic Renewal,” is a series of simple, daily reflections that will help Catholics rekindle a living relationship with Jesus by reflecting on their relationship with the Lord, the Eucharist, and our missionary call to share the love of God with our neighbors.
I was raised Catholic in a family that valued the Sacraments, especially regular participation in Mass. Whenever I tried to avoid going to Mass, my parents insisted that as Catholics we didn’t believe in skipping Mass. On one occasion, when I joined my friend for a three-hour rally of various Protestant communities (my parents were out of town for most of the weekend), my parents informed me that I would still need to go to Mass despite the time I spent praying earlier that day. Even though I was already receiving Holy Communion regularly and I knew that, at every Mass, our Lord makes himself present to us in a special way, I still didn’t see the need to go to Mass, and I couldn’t understand why my parents insisted I still go.
It wasn’t until several years later that I began to understand the importance of Mass and why it is the source and summit of the Christian life (see Lumen gentium, no. 11). It was the year that I was preparing for Confirmation (our diocese generally had confirmations during our sophomore year in high school). That year, I had a number of experiences that opened my heart to seeing and hearing our Lord speak to me. Of these experiences, two stand out.
The first was a talk we attended by Fr. Larry Richards on the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. In his talk, Fr. Larry really converted me to the need to go to confession regularly—and he made it easy to go to him, too! From that moment on, I realized that God doesn’t hate us: quite the opposite is true. He loves us so much that he gave us a sacrament where we can regularly participate in his forgiveness! All he asks of us is that we make a good confession to a priest, have sincere contrition, and make some form of satisfaction (which isn’t a burden, but a way in which we make firm our commitment to turn away from sin). Not only does he take care of the hardest parts, he’s with us every step of the way.
The second experience I had that year—actually a series of experiences—was in Eucharistic adoration. Our parish held Eucharistic adoration from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. We prayed together before our Lord in the Eucharist at the end of one year and the beginning of another. At that moment, I knew our Lord was with us, with me, holding me close to him and reassuring me that whatever problems would arise in the new year, he would be there to assist me.
Also that year, our youth group participated in a weekend retreat centered around Eucharistic adoration. On the final night of the retreat, as the monstrance was processed around in front of us, I was drawn nearly to tears because I knew, at that very moment, that the Lord of the universe was with us in a special way. Our youth group stayed late that night, long after most people had left, as Christ remained quietly in the monstrance placed at the center of the room. We were there to converse with him, to behold him, but most of all, to be with him. These moments before our Lord—often hours at a time—were some of the most transformative in my life. Without them, I doubt if I would still be a practicing Catholic today.
In recent years, there have been a number of surveys that show the growing problem of disaffiliation in our country. Catholics are not immune to this trend. One of the primary reasons people give for their disaffiliation is their lack of a personal encounter with Jesus. We spend many years educating our youth to make sure that they know the core truths of the faith, but without an encounter with Christ, many will fall away once they’ve received the sacraments and exited religious education. As parents, teachers, pastors, and mentors, we need to remember that knowledge alone is not enough. We must make sure that we are providing people an opportunity to encounter Christ and get to know him. Without this encounter, without an experience of God’s real and tender love for us, no amount of information will keep us close to God.
Pope Francis recently reminded us:
This was Paul’s deepest conviction: the knowledge that he was loved. Christ’s self-offering on the cross became the driving force in Paul’s life, yet it only made sense to him because he knew that something even greater lay behind it: the fact that “he loved me.” At a time when many were seeking salvation, prosperity or security elsewhere, Paul, moved by the Spirit, was able to see farther and to marvel at the greatest and most essential thing of all: “Christ loved me” (Dilexit nos, no. 46).
Let us then remember that this love remains central to all that we preach. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).
