Christ the Cornerstone
Giving thanks to God in the holy Eucharist
The publication date for this column is Friday, Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving. I pray that you had a blessed Thanksgiving celebration. I also pray that yesterday was a day of respite for those who are suffering from hunger, homelessness and all forms of spiritual and material poverty.
Thanksgiving Day is a secular holiday, but those of us who believe in a generous and loving God can’t help but use this opportunity to give thanks for all the gifts we have received from him. For Catholics, there is no greater way to express our gratitude than to participate fully in the holy Eucharist whose very name means “to give thanks.”
Many pastors say that Mass on Thanksgiving morning is one of their favorite celebrations. Although it’s not a holy day and no one is obliged to attend, there is a great sense of gratitude that fills the Church because those who are present truly want to be there and to give thanks to God.
The Eucharist is the incomparable gift of our Lord’s body and blood, soul and divinity, to us. When we receive the Eucharist, we accept into our minds, hearts and bodies the person of Jesus Christ. We praise him and give him thanks for this most intimate gift-of-self to us who are in no way deserving of such a precious gift.
Even the most devout Catholics are sometimes tempted to neglect their responsibilities to participate actively in the eucharistic liturgy or to adore the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass. We are busy with many things, and we too easily forget (or fail to appreciate as we should) that Christ’s gift of himself to us is the source and summit of our lives as missionary disciples of Jesus.
As I trust many of you know, we are now in the midst of a three-year revival of eucharistic devotion sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. This special initiative was launched on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) in 2022. Dioceses throughout the United States are conducting local events to celebrate the holy Eucharist and promote the objectives of the National Eucharistic Revival. These local events will culminate in the National Eucharistic Congress, which will be held on July 17-21, 2024, in Indianapolis.
At this historic gathering, Catholics of all ages will come together to worship our Lord with a joyful, expectant faith. There, the Holy Spirit promises to enkindle a missionary fire in the heart of our nation as we reconsecrate ourselves to the source and summit of our faith.
Just over a year ago, at the Italian Eucharistic Congress on Sept. 26, 2022, Pope Francis said to the clergy, religious and lay faithful in attendance:
I would like to tell you: Let us return to Jesus! Let us return to the Eucharist! While we are broken by the travails and sufferings of life, Jesus becomes food that feeds us and heals us.
Especially during the eucharistic revival, we are invited, and challenged, to develop a deeper awareness of the significance of this great sacrament. “Returning to the Eucharist” is not just for those who have stopped practicing their faith, although one of the primary objectives of this revival is to encourage and support those who have either rejected their Catholic faith or have simply drifted away. Returning to the Eucharist—in the sense of making a deliberate decision to center our lives on the great mystery of Christ’s real presence—is something that all of us are urged to do.
Turning back to Jesus—conversion—means allowing him to show us the way to give thanks to the Father by surrendering our minds and hearts to God’s will for us. Returning to the Eucharist allows Jesus to feed our hungry hearts and heal our brokenness.
It is a great privilege for us to host the National Eucharistic Congress here in our archdiocese next summer. It’s also a serious responsibility. The official purpose of the revival is: “To inspire and prepare the people of God to be formed, healed, converted, united, and sent out to a hurting and hungry world through a renewed encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist—the source and summit of our Catholic faith.”
As the host archdiocese, we must be prepared—spiritually as well as organizationally—to accomplish this ambitious objective by welcoming pilgrims from all regions of our nation as we celebrate the Lord’s great gift of himself to us in the Eucharist.
During this special time of Thanksgiving, let’s return to the Eucharist. Let’s give thanks to God for the wonderful gift of Christ’s presence among us in this Most Blessed Sacrament. †