Washington, D.C, October 12, 2022—To assist diocesan, parish, and Catholic school leaders in spiritual and logistical preparation for the National Eucharistic Revival, the executive team for the Revival has issued a Leader’s Playbook. Available for download online, the Playbook is a guide filled with suggested activities and resources designed to serve as a springboard for lay leaders and clergy to effectively brainstorm creative and practical initiatives that best fit the unique character of their own communities and those in their care.
The Playbook was conceived from the awareness that spiritual preparation and ongoing transformation are necessary requirements to becoming missionary disciples of the Lord Jesus. Built to inspire the faithful to enter more deeply into the Eucharistic Revival, the Playbook is organized around the four pillars at the core of the Revival: Personal Encounter with Christ, Reinvigorating Devotion, Deepening Formation, and Missionary Sending.
“The success of the revival depends on those leaders in each community who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are ready to become missionaries,” noted Bishop Andrew Cozzens, Chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. “This leadership handbook will help inspire your creativity to share the gift of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist with those in your parish and beyond.”
Fr. Craig Vasek, a member of the National Eucharistic Preachers, a group of clergy commissioned to preach at events across the country in an effort to awaken a desire among the faithful to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist, shared an encouraging recent experience: “We had a multi-parish gathering with a fiery presentation on the lives of St. Manuel and Blessed Carlo. While most of the people were before the Eucharistic Lord in adoration, long lines of people were formed at both confessionals as well as the area reserved for veneration of the relics of the Saint and Blessed. It was an event full of Catholic life! In other areas, I’ve been giving presentations based on the Bishops’ recent document on the Eucharist as well as Bishop Cozzens’ video course, and peoples’ eyes are being opened in amazement. It’s all incredibly heartening!”
The Leader’s Playbook is an offering to support Year One of the National Eucharistic Revival’s strategic three-year focus on formation. It is currently available online in English and Spanish.
Individuals are encouraged to be part of the Revival by signing up for the weekly newsletter to stay apprised of news associated with National Eucharistic Revival events as well as inspiration, testimonies, Eucharistic teachings, and future information on how to register for the Congress in 2024. More ways to support the Revival and get involved may be found here.
The milestone moment of the National Eucharistic Revival will be the first National Eucharistic Congress in the United States in almost 50 years. It expects to draw more than 80,000 Catholics, by way of pilgrimage, into an event of preparation, equipping the faithful as “Eucharistic missionaries” to go out to the existential and physical margins of society emboldened with the flame of divine charity to be the hands, feet, and heart of Christ in the world.
For more information and a complete press kit, visit eucharisticrevival.org/press/.
