STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — On Saturday evening, Scripture scholar and theologian Scott Hahn will join the throngs of Christians processing through Indianapolis, led by Jesus in the Eucharistic host; a culmination of the three-year National Eucharistic Revival happening there this week.
As the crowds dissipate, Hahn will pack up the enthusiasm he collects to bring it to the Fargo Diocese in September, when locals will receive him—one of the most renowned experts on the Eucharist today—and continue the procession here through the humble streets of Jamestown, North Dakota.
“This is no longer just religious rhetoric,” said an excited Hahn from his home in Ohio. “It’s the closest encounter with Jesus that anyone can have; to unite ourselves to him in Holy Communion!”
He added, “It’s time we blow off the dust and look more closely at what we have been professing, and really allow it to possess us and transfigure the way we live our days, and especially the Lord’s Day.”
Growing up in Pennsylvania, Hahn was a delinquent teenager with a hostile attitude toward the Catholic Church. He later became a Presbyterian pastor intent on disproving the Catholic Church. His conversion story recounts his surprise about-face after he attended an ordinary daily Mass in a basement chapel while studying at Marquette University.
“By the time (the priest) got to the words of consecration, I felt as though a light came on inside my heart, and I’m like, ‘That’s you Lord! That’s no longer bread!’” Hahn recounted. “And by the time he consecrated the chalice, I found myself literally drooling with this holy thirst for his precious blood.”
He eventually made the hard decision to leave his pastorate to immerse himself in Catholicism.
Since his conversion in 1986, Hahn and his wife, Kimberly, have raised six children and now have 23 grandchildren. Along with speaking and writing, he teaches at the University of Steubenville and works closely with the Saint Paul Center on Biblical Theology. His work, “The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth,” remains a bestselling book nearly 25 years after its release.
Brad Gray, who helps lead event planning for the diocese, said “Few have done more over the past few decades to introduce people to the power, richness, and depth” of the Christian faith than Hahn, who articulates the continuity of God’s salvific work through both the Old and New testaments, demonstrating in “captivating fashion how the Eucharist is at the very heart of it all.”
The conference also will feature Julianne Stanz, a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s committee leading the Eucharistic Revival, which began in the summer of 2022; a Eucharistic healing service guided by the Rev. Jeff Eppler of the Fargo Diocese; music by Aly Aleigha; and talks by the Rev. Thomas Richter of the Bismarck Diocese; along with Mass, Adoration and Confession.
Richter, pastor of Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Dickinson, said what excites him most about the Eucharist is the realization that it’s not just something but someone.
“From the very beginning, the Lord had given me the grace of faith and excitement about receiving the Holy Eucharist,” he said, noting that his First Communion in second grade continues to stand out as a highlight.
Later, as a seminarian just out of college, he began listening to talks by Archbishop Fulton Sheen on cassette tapes. “Rarely did he speak without mentioning the daily holy hour, and it took hold of me from day one of my priesthood,” he said, noting that every day since, he’s spent an hour praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament. “It’s been a foundational grace of my formation and life as a priest.”
But his favorite thing about the priesthood, he said—and the greatest surprise—surrounds the joy he receives from daily Mass, owing to “how much closeness I experience to Christ” there.
Richter likened the Eucharist to the manna in the desert from the Old Testament, and how it sustained the exiled Israelites in their need. “The Lord provided for them as they made their way from crossing the Red Sea into the Promised Land, sending them bread from heaven to strengthen them.” Similarly, “What feeds us from heaven now is the Eucharist. I find it provides my soul consolation, encouragement and energy.”
Richter said he thinks often of the Gospel story of the multiplication of the loaves. “There’s this vast crowd of people who are starving, who are hungering, and this little boy gives five loaves and two fish and offers them to Jesus,” he recounted. “And that offering that seems very inadequate, very insignificant? In the midst of that, the masses were fed.”
Steve Splonskowski, who works in evangelization for the diocese, said that as the Eucharistic Revival gained momentum, their team knew not everyone could experience the national event. So they began planning a local congress to rejuvenate souls through gathering and sharing in the joy of the Eucharist.
“The Holy Spirit has promised whenever two or three come together in his name, he will be there, so we know he’s going to show up,” he said. “And all the speakers will inspire us through their witness, catechesis, evangelization, and helping us in our understanding of the (Church’s) teachings.”
The opening procession will begin at the Saint James Basilica and advance past the nearby Catholic elementary school, where students will be invited to join in. “Then, we’ll start with Mass at the conference center,” and hear an inspirational talk from Hahn for the opening.
Hahn said he’s excited to bring his enthusiasm for the Eucharist to North Dakota, and that despite our area’s status as being a “Flyover District,” he believes it’s far from that, and that our local clergy seem to recognize, “with a sacred intuition,” the rich potential here.
“The Dakotas in general, but North Dakota in particular, are sometimes called the Heartland,” he said, noting that while it might not be “DC, NYC or LA,” it’s something more: it’s the heart of the nation.
“There’s an interior grace there that benefits the whole country, far more than we realize,” he said. “The heart of the country is often about hard work, prayer, fidelity, raising families, and, yes, going through economic hardship at times, but also staying faithful to the end,” Hahn said, which is more valuable “than all the glitz and attractions of city life.”
When it comes to revival, he said, family is key, not only the Church as the family of God, but in our own households. “The idea that we’re part of a family that stretches from earth to heaven, and isn’t merely human but also divine; it’s almost too good to be true.”
But since it is true, he said, we need God’s help to live it out. “That’s why I’m convinced the Eucharistic Revival has got to be the main agenda; not just now but for the rest of our lives.”
Hahn said it’s time to rediscover that conversion “is not just what happened to me when I was a teenager, but it’s what happens to me on a daily basis, with the transformation of bread and wine into the Body of Christ.”
The revival, he said, is simply a means to a sublime end. “God wants to transform sinners into saints, and bring prodigal sons and daughters home so we can all take part in this banquet that is truly heavenly.”
IF YOU GO:
What: Diocese of Fargo “Redeemed” Eucharistic Congress
When: Friday and Saturday, September 6 to 7
Where: Jamestown Civic Center, 212 3rd Ave. SE, Jamestown, North Dakota
Cost: $35 if purchased by early-bird deadline of Aug. 1; $50 after that date
Contact: For schedule and registration, visit: https://www.fargodiocese.org/redeemed
[For the sake of having a repository for my newspaper columns and articles, I reprint them here, with permission, a week after their run date. The preceding ran in The Forum newspaper on July 14, 2024.]
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