The U.S. Bishops have overwhelmingly called for a national Eucharistic Revival in our country. The third and final year of the Revival is a year of Eucharistic missionaries “going out on mission.” As the organizers seem to understand very well, to reinvigorate Catholic faith is not merely to get Catholics to believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but to be sent on mission witnessing to the world.
Find out more about the National Eucharistic Revival.
Through the Eucharist, Jesus transforms us into his body so that we incarnate him in our everyday life. To be like him is to do what he does. Therefore, even as he made disciples through the power of the Holy Spirit, we do likewise. The ultimate goal of the Catholic faith is to transform the world in Christ. Until Catholics burn with faith in the Eucharist, they will never burn to make disciples of all nations. Likewise, if Catholics do not strive to grow apostolically, they will never be fully Eucharistic.
To be a Eucharistic people is to be apostolic. In the Eucharist, Jesus freely gives and pours out his life for the life of the world. Freely we receive and he calls us to freely give in response. As we have been loved by him, so we are to love others. As he gave his life for us, now our Eucharistic worship propels us to unite our lives to his and pour out our lives for the world. The Eucharist is not an escape from the world into communion with Jesus. It is gaining apostolic vision and love for the world through our communion with Jesus. We simply are not a Eucharistic people if we are not apostolic.
What’s needed to reach the apostolic goals of the Eucharistic Revival? Find out in Part 2 of this series.
Jason Simon is the President of the Evangelical Catholic. The Evangelical Catholic’s mission is to equip Catholics to live out the Great Commission.
