National Eucharistic Revival is a three year program sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The first year of the Revival June 19, 2022–June 11, 2023 invited bishops, priests, and diocesan staff to respond to the Lord’s personal invitation. The second year June 11, 2023 – July 17, 2024 is about fostering Eucharistic devotion at the parish level.
Our world is hurting. We are beset with scandal, division, disease, doubt. In the midst of these roaring waves, Jesus is present, reminding us that he is more powerful than the storm. Jesus Christ desires to heal, renew, and unify the Church and the world through the celebration of the Eucharist.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
1324 The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”…For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself”
1364 When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ’s Passover… the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present. “As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which ‘Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed’ is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out.”
1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: “The victim is one and the same…the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an un-bloody manner . . .
PLEASE NOTE THE ACCIDENTS REMAIN…those things that appeal to our senses, touch, sight, taste, etc remain. The “substance” of the Eucharist is changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus and remains in “real presence” as long as the “accidents” remain.
THE HOLY EUCHARIST IN SCRIPTURE
JESUS TOOK BREAD AND BLESSED IT
“And as they were eating He took bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them and said, ‘Take, this is my body.’ And He took a cup and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them and they drank all of it and He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the New Covenant which is poured out for many. Mark 14:22-26
St. Paul writes to the Corinthians,”….the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this,,,,For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. I Corinthians 11:23-27
DEVOTION TO THE HOLY EUCHARIST
O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine,
All praise and all thanksgiving
be every moment Thine
Amen
HOLY HOUR of Eucharistic Adoration
Christ is present in the Most Blessed Sacrament to manifest his great love for us. Christ, the God-Man, is truly present in his divinity as well as his humanity, body and soul before me.
In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.” “This presence is called ‘real’ CCC 1374
A Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament may be broken down into 15 minute segments with different types of prayers, Adoration, Thanksgiving, Petition, and Contrition.
Copied below are examples of prayers that may be said for each 15 minute segment.
PRAYER OF ADORATION
Lord, thank you for this hour of Eucharistic devotion. I adore you as the infinite and Holy One of God. You and the Father are one and you promised that one day we will be one in You. May Your Holy Spirit be with me. Send Him constantly… I thank you for this precious gift of faith. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Thank you, Father, for having created me. Thank you for my family. Thank you for being with us in all our joys and sorrows, for your comfort in our sadness, your companionship in our loneliness. Thank you for friends, for health and for grace. May I live this and every day conscious of all that has been given to me. Everything I receive is pure gift. Help me to be a grateful giver to others.
!
PRAYER OF PETITION
O my God, give yourself to me. Behold I love you…if my love is too weak a thing, grant me to love you more strongly. I cannot measure my love, but let my soul hasten to your embrace… This I know that it is not good for me when you are not with me. Everything in this world that is not you is mere rubbish. Amen.
PRAYER OF CONTRITION
O Lord, forgive me my sins; the sins of my youth, the sins of my age, the sins of my soul, the sins of my body… the sins that I know, the sins I have concealed so long and which are now hidden from my memory. I am truly sorry for every sin, mortal and venial. I know my sins have wounded Thy tender Heart; O my Savior, let me be freed from the bonds of evil… O my Jesus, forget and forgive what I have been. Amen.
REFLECTION
It takes time to kindle a living, loving relationship and a relationship with Jesus Christ is no exception. That’s why the National Eucharistic Revival allows three years for discernment, encounter, and grassroots response on the diocesan, parish, and individual levels.
Just as we need to nourish our physical bodies in order to have strength; to work; and to live well, so too we need to eat in the House of the Lord to have spiritual strength.
What are we doing to increase and enhance our relationship with the REAL PRESENCE of Jesus in the Eucharist?
Where the Eucharist is so is God. The Eucharist is God’s gift of love to us. Our worthy reception is our gift of love and sacrifice to God. Are we worthily returning God’s gift of love…giving God my all…what am I holding back that keeps God at arm’s length?
TASTE AND SEE THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD
PSALM 34:8