Jesus is here among us

When the U.S. bishops initiated the Eucharistic Revival more than two years ago, we wanted to spark a new awareness and appreciation of the great gift of the Eucharist throughout our nation. 

Alarmed that polls indicated a faltering belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, we aimed to reinforce this foundational understanding and experience of our Catholic faith. Jesus Christ, present to us in the gift of his Body and Blood, is at the heart of our faith. By strengthening our relationship with Jesus through the Eucharistic feast, we are being equipped to share the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

The Eucharistic Revival is more than striving for correct catechesis. We are not concerned only because people may not know how to answer a Catechism question correctly. We’re concerned because when a believer doesn’t encounter the true presence of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of his Body and Blood, Jesus becomes a stranger to that person. This sacred encounter is what fuels and strengthens our faith and keeps it alive.

To receive the Eucharist worthily is to enter into intimate communion with Jesus Himself. The invitation is that we might become as Jesus is. When we are as he is, his saving presence is brought to the world through us. 

When Christ is alive in us, our decisions, words and actions make Christ alive and real to those who encounter us. But, if Christ is not alive in us and active through us, by what means is the world to find him? 
We know this intuitively. When there is famine in sub-Saharan Africa, we pray that we might become the instruments of God’s care to those in need. We step up! We are to be Christ to them, bringing the bread of hope into their tents. 

When a flood washes away a neighborhood and families are looking for their missing loved ones and neighbors, we step up and become as Christ to those who mourn their lost ones and pray for their return. 

Intimacy with Jesus is the promise of the Eucharist. Being as Christ to one another is the mandate that is left to us. It flows from an authentic Eucharistic encounter.

Jesus reminded us that when we serve those who are most in need, those who are the forgotten and least among us, we serve him (Mt. 25). Our intimacy with him is intensified when our hands touch the hands of those in need. We are serving him when we are serving them. We can do this through direct service to the hungry, naked, homeless and abandoned, but we also can do this by supporting others who do so. 

The Catholic Charities annual campaign is one way to impact the lives of those in our communities and bring Jesus to them and allow him to minister to us through them. 

Supporting the important work of Catholic Charities can be an extension of our Eucharistic encounter with Christ who comes to us in “the distressing disguise of the poor” as Saint Teresa of Calcutta said.

It also is the case that when we acknowledge our own need and open our hands, we receive what others can offer to us, we are as Christ to them. Allowing others to minister to us in our need also is the means by which Jesus comes into the lives of those around us. 

To say “amen” to the offer of the Body and Blood of Christ is to say “yes” to the promise that Jesus will live in us. This is the intimacy we are promised. It is the heart of what it means to believe. 

If we do not bear the presence of Christ into the world, who will? If our lives are not turned toward the sufferings of those who have despaired of the goodness of God, how will they encounter the goodness and mercy of God? 

The Eucharistic Revival affirms the promise that our deep intimacy with Jesus will transform us into the saving presence of Jesus for the world. 

Among the most important questions posed by seekers and those who struggle to believe, is: “Is Jesus real?” It’s a legitimate question, one distilled through the lives of those who search with sincere hearts. To answer truthfully, we need to do no more than point to the example of the lives of people like Blessed Stanley Rother or point to the spirit of our many vibrant faith-filled parishes and lay apostolates or note the sacrifice of our priests, religious and dedicated lay men and women, and say: “Of course!” 

If it’s not obvious in what we do and how we live, then we must strengthen our intimacy all that much more. As we do, others will know and acknowledge: Jesus is here, among us!