“Why are you going to Indianapolis?
How could I explain to those who don’t believe that Jesus is truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist, that I was going there to see our Lord? That the God who created the world, became man and died for our sins, would be the headliner for five blessed days in a stadium designed for professional sports and rock concerts?
“I’m going on pilgrimage.” It was easier. But now that I’ve experienced the National Eucharistic Congress, the 10th revival of its kind since its inception in 1895, I’m compelled to share more of this pivotal event.
Incidentally, the reason the congress paused after 1941 was due to World War II. Our attention turned and we seemed to have forgotten about its importance. Its restoration was overdue.
The Eucharist has been a point of division since the Bread of Life discourse (see John 6), when Jesus proclaimed that if we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we will have life in us. Many of his disciples “murmured that his words were too hard” and turned away.
The Eucharist isn’t easy to grasp, but over time, it has become more precious to me. I spend an hour weekly sitting “at the Lord’s feet” in a chapel, from 11 p.m. to midnight, absorbing God in the Eucharistic host. My “weekly date with Jesus” has given me so much inspiration and solace.
For nearly a week in Indianapolis last month, I was surrounded by 60,000 others who believe God is in that host, and we celebrated this sublime gift together in a way that was often electrifying.
God can show up in our lives in many ways, but in his Eucharistic presence, I see Jesus’ aching to be with us. Our invisible God is still hidden there, but also tangible.
The Eucharist makes so much sense. God came to us in a reachable way before as a baby who lived among us for 33 years. When called home, he didn’t want to abandon us, knowing we’d still need him. So he gave us a church, and he gave us himself. One especially endearing way was through the Eucharist.
“This saying is too hard.” Yet why wouldn’t God yearn to remain with us in this way? We need to eat to stay alive, and when we consume Jesus in the Eucharist, we are bringing our Lord into our very selves, so that we can be infused with him, and offer his love back to others.
For five days in Indianapolis, I raced out of my hotel room every morning to see Jesus, and I found him. Sometimes he was far off, in a tiny host in a big stadium full of 60,000 people; other times, he was exceedingly close.
What if it’s true that it’s really him in that host? Imagine for a moment it is, and you’ll understand why I returned from Indianapolis filled with joy impossible to contain.
“My Lord and my God!”
[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 Aug. 4, 2024.]
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