A Eucharistic journey

Join me in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Revival!

In November 2021, my brother bishops and I traveled to Baltimore for our first in-person meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops since the pandemic had disrupted our semi-annual cycle of meetings. All of us were eager to meet face-to-face rather than through a virtual gathering as we had attempted the previous June.
The meeting turned out to be decisive for our episcopal conference and the Church in the United States. 

Instead of merely looking back and focusing on the difficulties of shepherding the Church during the months since the pandemic had begun, we were brought to a new place of hope as we voted overwhelmingly to embark on a three-year Eucharistic Revival. 

I remember thinking at the time “we're on the cusp of something truly impactful for the Church in the United States.” (catholicnewsagency.com/news/249625/us-bishops-overwhelming-endorse-eucharistic-statement-revival-campaign)

Reflecting on that critical meeting, I recognize that the path we had discerned to guide the Church forward was a providential affirmation of the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the Church.

The pandemic and the global chaos that ensued deprived so many of the faithful of the weekly and daily encounter with Christ in the Eucharist, which is the lifeblood of our Church. The fountain of grace that flows from the Eucharist crashed against human barriers during the months of 2020 and 2021. The only path forward was to begin to break down those barriers and allow the flow of God’s grace to reach the faithful again. That has been the goal of this Eucharistic Revival in which we now find ourselves.

During this calendar year of 2024, I intend to devote my column “Put Out Into the Deep” to exploring this central mystery of the Church. Why? Because the Eucharist is our most intimate encounter with the living God imaginable! 
Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter “Desiderio Desideravi” on the Liturgical Formation of the People of God writes, “In the Eucharist … we are guaranteed the possibility of encountering the Lord Jesus and of having the power of his Paschal Mystery reach us” (DD 11). 

Later, the Holy Father describes the encounter with the Eucharist as being “plunged into the furnace of God’s love” (DD 57). As your archbishop, I ardently pray and deeply desire that all the faithful of our archdiocese will experience this encounter with God’s love in the Eucharist. 

Much has certainly been published about the Eucharist — not just this past year, but indeed since Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians where he describes the ancient Church’s understanding of the Eucharist as a memorial of the salvific events of Christ’s paschal mystery, that is, of his death and resurrection. “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26). 

My aim, therefore, is to draw from the many sources of our Catholic theological, liturgical and pastoral traditions and present a comprehensive teaching on the Eucharist through this series of articles. 

I will follow the pattern given by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but also address some other dimensions of our Eucharistic faith that are particularly timely as we journey together in this National Eucharistic Revival.

As we focus together on the Eucharist this year, I invite you to follow the series of columns and discuss them within your parishes, families and small faith-sharing groups. Allow this catechesis to deepen your desire to encounter Jesus Christ and to prepare you to share that saving encounter with others as a missionary disciple.

Speaking of mission, I also would like to invite you to join me this summer at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. 

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City has secured 250 seats for this landmark event, the same event I so eagerly anticipated at our national meeting of bishops more than two years ago. 

Now is the time to see our vision come to fruition. This is our opportunity to be part of something that will bring us closer together as a Church. This is our opportunity to draw close to Jesus in the Eucharist. This is our opportunity to be equipped for the mission that is ours by virtue of our baptism and on which we are sent at the end of every Mass: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” 

There is no path other than this: to seek more ardently that furnace of God’s love in the Eucharist.