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September 21, 2023
Interview with Fr. Christopher Tran about parish Eucharistic Revival
Father Christopher Tran has been a zealous missionary of Eucharistic adoration long before the Eucharistic Revival was introduced. For the past 15 years, he has served as a priest in 11 parishes, a chaplain for a university, a prison and a nursing home and he has been bringing Christ to people with the Eucharist.
Currently serving as the pastor and rector of the National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague, Father Tran shared his experiences and advice on how to come to love the Eucharistic Jesus more ardently and how to draw others to the Eucharist.
How did you become a missionary of Eucharistic adoration?
When I became a priest, I heard a moving story told by Bishop Fulton Sheen of a Chinese priest who was captured by communists destroying Catholic churches in China, including his own parish where they were also shooting at the tabernacle. Thirty-three consecrated hosts he remembered to have preserved in the ciborium were lying scattered on the ground. From a window of the adjacent building where he was kept captive, he was able to see a young teenage girl sneaking into the church silently and unnoticed by the guards every day, kneeling in prayer for one hour in front of the destroyed tabernacle and receiving Holy Communion on her tongue – one host on the ground per day. After 33 days, she was caught by the guards, as she had just finished consuming all the hosts.
This young girl became an inspiration to Bishop Sheen and to me also, and the story determined my devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. I resolved to do a Holy Hour every single day, with no exceptions and excuses, and I have continued to this day – regardless of how busy my schedule is.
How do you motivate your parishioners to come to adoration and the Eucharist?
The Eucharist is love and only with Christ’s love we can successfully bring Jesus to the faithful and the faithful to Jesus. It is not only about the celebration of the Mass on the altar and preaching the Gospel, but it is also about the example each priest sets for his people. I believe, my whole life as a priest is a homily. I am deeply aware that when people see my example and can sense Jesus’ love and mercy resonating from my words and actions, they will desire to experience the same joy, happiness and love. Knowing that these graces come from the Eucharist, they will come to the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to receive the blessings.
I have seen conversion of hearts through the Eucharist in all places I served as a priest. We just need to keep inviting people by telling them, “Come and see the goodness of the Lord.”
What is the most memorable experience of parish Eucharistic Revival in your lifetime as a priest?
The Tabernacle project at Saint Patrick Catholic Church in Oklahoma City. When I arrived at Saint Patrick, the tabernacle was kept in the sacristy. With the help of the parishioners, we rebuilt the altar space and placed the tabernacle in the church.
When I pray Mass, I bow down to the altar – the representation of Calvary – and I genuflect to the Eucharist. Without the tabernacle, the church was like an empty tomb, and I felt like repeating after Mary Magdalene: “Where did they put my master?”
What blessings can people receive from adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the Eucharist?
Miracles happen on the altar every single day. Many people travel to distant places searching for miracles, oftentimes forgetting that Jesus is present in each tabernacle, transforming us, healing us bodily and spiritually. The presence of Jesus with us is a miracle.
The mystery is contained in the humility of God who waits for us silently in the small host, while people search for loud and “big” things of the world.
If we truly know Jesus, we will experience real peace and joy in our hearts, and we will never want to miss the opportunity to communicate with him and enjoy his presence.
Many parishioners have often shared with me after the Holy Hour, “Father, this is the most beautiful hour of my day.”
How can we ignite others to believe in Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist?
When a silversmith polishes a silver piece, he knows that his work is complete when he can see his face reflected in that polished piece.
We need to allow the Lord to transform us through the Eucharist to the degree that we become a reflection of Christ, i.e., Persona Christi (the person of Christ).
Jesus is all mercy, and we need to reflect his mercy in our lives toward other people. When they are touched by the love and charity of Christ in us, his living tabernacles, they will come to believe.
This is exactly the most powerful and effective way to share Christ with others: to fulfill the commandment of love Christ imparted to us, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jad Ziolkowska is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
