A Eucharistic Revival
As the month of June commenced this year we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi. In a number of dioceses throughout Australia Eucharistic Processions were held in the city streets. Sydney attracted some 15,000 people.
In many parishes processions in and around the church were held in honour of a feast that has been part of our Catholic tradition since the eleventh century, with the actual feast of Corpus Christi dating back to 1264.
From 17-21 July in Indianapolis, Indiana, a three-year Eucharistic Revival program promoted by the US Bishops will reach its conclusion with a Eucharistic Congress held in a major sporting arena. Prior to the Congress four different pilgrimages which began on 18 May will converge on the Congress site.
The pilgrimages alone are expected to number some 100,000 people and involve over 1,000 host parishes along the way. This has been a major initiative of the bishops in the United States to strengthen and inspire greater Eucharistic devotion.
At the heart of our Catholic life is the celebration of the Mass, as we faithfully fulfil the command of Jesus at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of Me”. Receiving Holy Communion at Mass is a most sacred personal moment. The risen Lord abides in us, and we respond by receiving Him in faith and opening our hearts to Him in deep and humble gratitude for such a great gift.
The Blessed Sacrament was reserved in Catholic churches in order to provide Communion to the sick. Faith in the Real Presence was taken for granted among Catholics until Berengarius, archdeacon of Angers in France, publicly challenged the real physical presence.
The Pope, Gregory VII, ordered him to retract. This act of doubt actually occasioned a Eucharistic renaissance. It led to public processions as signs of belief of the Catholic people and the desire for Eucharistic adoration grew.
Our Catholic tradition boasts of some beautiful hymns in honour of the Real Presence, still familiar to many Catholics under their Latin names, O Salutaris Hostia, Tantum Ergo Sacramentum, Panis Angelicus. We could say that Eucharistic devotion is in the DNA of Catholics.
We see in our own time a new Eucharistic renaissance as requests for times of Eucharistic adoration are made by parishioners, and priests have responded by providing times of Exposition on a regular basis.
In this month of June which began with our celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi we are reminded of the precious gift of the Real Presence of the Lord among us. We are aware that every time we enter our churches we can commune with Him who, as he did with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, walks with us, shares our personal journey, and is discovered in the Breaking of the Bread.