Editorials

Eucharistic Revival Begins Sunday

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The three-year National Eucharistic Revival will launch in parishes of the archdiocese with Corpus Christi processions on Sunday, June 19, the day that’s observed as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

The revival is a grassroots observance of devotion and belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, leading to a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in 2024, the first to be held in the United States in nearly 50 years.

The Eucharistic Congress and the revival leading up to it offer all of us a welcome and sorely needed reprieve in these troubled times in the world. They remind us that our purpose in life is to grow ever closer to God on our journey through life.

“This is where God is with us,” says Tim Glemkowski, the executive director of the National Eucharistic Congress, calling the Eucharist “the source and summit of the faith.”

The revival that begins Sunday will be observed throughout the three-year period with services, adoration and other events in dioceses and archdioceses across the country, including regional revivals beginning in Year Two.

Spearheaded by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, the 2024 Eucharistic Congress is expected to draw at least 80,000 Catholics from across the country,

In the archdiocese, Cardinal Dolan will launch the revival with an outdoor procession he’ll lead on Corpus Christi Sunday, which falls on Father’s Day, around the block of St. Patrick’s Cathedral after the 10:15 a.m. Mass.

Numerous individual parishes have also announced plans for the outdoor processions traditionally held on Corpus Christi Sunday.

We encourage all Catholics in the archdiocese to participate in a Eucharistic procession.

It’s a beautiful observance that gives Catholics a unique opportunity for public witness and, at the same time, allows passersby to discover the beauty of the Blessed Sacrament themselves. Those not familiar with the ritual, or with Catholicism, may find themselves intrigued enough to learn more.

CNY published a list of parishes planning processions in our May 5 issue, available online at cny.org, and will update that list as necessary.

Whether or not one is able to join a procession, we urge parishioners to consider joining the parish teams planning the events for the revival and the archdiocesan participation in the Eucharistic Congress itself.

“The more people, the better,” said Elizabeth Guevara de Gonzalez, director of the archdiocesan Adult Faith Formation office, who’s planning many of the revival events for the archdiocese.

We heartily agree with her on that point.

And we join her in hoping—indeed, in expecting—that through the three-year Eucharistic Revival there will be a “ripple effect,” and that “lukewarm Catholics will become on fire and fervent Catholics will become even stronger disciples.”

We say too that with all of the local, national and world news we see around us looking bad, it’s time for some Good News, and the Eucharistic Revival is just that.