Bishop Larry Silva celebrates Mass in a scene from the diocesan video “One Ohana: the Eucharist.” (Screen grab)
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“It is the Church that makes the Eucharist, but it is more fundamental that the Eucharist makes the Church.” (Pope Francis, homily on the 2022 Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ [Corpus Christi])
Many Catholic churches are facing declining attendance and increasing religious disaffiliation. In response to these challenges, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) initiated a Eucharistic Revival Project as part of its 2021-2023 strategic plan. The initiative is outlined in its document, “Created Anew by the Body and Blood of Christ: Source of Our Healing and Hope,” which hopes to revitalize “the Eucharist as the source and summit of who we are and what we do as Catholics.” Every diocese in the U.S. is called to participate in this initiative by re-evaluating its eucharistic activities beginning at the parish level. A range of resources is being collected and created for this eucharistic revival including inspiring homilies and videos.
During this year’s Angelus homily on the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Pope Francis underscored that the Eucharist is fundamental to the Catholic Church and its mission. In St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father shared his reflections on the feast’s Gospel passage about the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish, focusing on how to understand the experience of the real eucharistic presence of Christ in our daily lives:
“The miracle of the loaves and fish does not happen in a spectacular way, but almost discreetly, the bread increases as it passes from hand to hand. And as the crowd eats, they realize that Jesus is taking care of everything. This is the Lord present in the Eucharist. In reality, the Lord takes all our needs to heart, beginning with the most basic. And he wants to set the example for his disciples, by saying, ‘You give them something to eat.’ Our eucharistic adoration comes alive when we take care of our neighbor like Jesus does. There is hunger for food around us, but also for companionship; there is hunger for consolation, friendship, good humor; there is hunger for attention, there is hunger to be evangelized. We find this in the Eucharistic Bread.”
Here in Hawaii, our Diocese of Honolulu provides a valuable resource for the eucharistic revival through an award-winning video that explores the full meaning of the Eucharist. As part of the “One Ohana” religious education series on the sacraments, Bishop Larry Silva describes the Eucharist as “the signature sacrament” of our faith, which gathers, nourishes, and sends us forth to witness to Jesus as an ohana.
He says, “The mission that Jesus has for us is to take him as our Living Bread come down from heaven and to multiply him. So when we reach out to the poor, when we visit the sick, when we visit those in prison, when we comfort those who are mourning, we are the Presence of Jesus.”
The video also features other members of the diocese sharing their reflections on the Eucharist, such as: “One of the greatest gifts that God gives us is His Presence in the Eucharist … to remember we could always be forgiven and he would always be with us … He would also challenge us to be nourished so that we go out and recognize him in those who are hungry and those in need. In that way we can deepen our relationship with him and our neighbor.”
Others in this video share how “Social ministry is central to the Eucharist: to feed those who need to be fed; clothe those who need to be clothed; to give a place to live for those who are homeless. In the Eucharist, we receive the body of Christ so that corporately together we become the body of Christ which is connected to our being called to wash each other’s feet, to serve one another.”
This locally produced video titled, “Eucharist-One Ohana,” is available on the Diocese of Honolulu website at catholichawaii.org/catholic-essentials/sacrament-videos/eucharist-one-ohana.
In the coming weeks this Talk Story column will share more resources for the Eucharistic Revival. As Bishop Silva says in the diocese video, “Being able to share the Body and Blood of Christ is a gift and a blessing … it calls us to be bread broken and wine poured out for others.” And in the words of Pope Francis’s Corpus Christi homily, “In the Body and Blood of Christ , we find His Presence, and in the warmth of His Presence, our lives change.”
To read the full text of Pope Francis’s homily for the 2022 Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, please visit the Office for Social Ministry website at officeforsocialministry.org.
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
