The U.S. bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival has just announced 17 speakers to be featured at the National Eucharistic Congress at an NFL stadium next July.
The National Eucharistic Revival is the U.S. bishops’ three-year initiative to inspire belief in and reverence for the Eucharist. The decision to embark on the initiative followed a 2019 Pew Research study that suggested only about one-third of U.S. Catholics believe the Church’s teaching that the Eucharist is truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
As part of the revival, a National Eucharistic Congress will be held July 17–21, 2024, and is expected to draw 80,000 Catholics to Lucas Oil Stadium, home to the Indianapolis Colts.
“The whole Congress will be an experience of prayer: a liturgical act offering the Catholic Church — those in attendance in Indianapolis as well as across the country — to the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit,” the congress’ website says.
The congress will have three masters of ceremonies, including Montse Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of CNA’s parent company, EWTN News, Inc.; Sister Miriam James Heidland, host of the Abiding Together podcast; and Father Josh Johnson, host of the podcast Ask Father Josh.
The just-announced list of speakers includes Winona-Rochester Bishop Robert Barron; the Holy See’s current apostolic nuncio to the United States, Cardinal-elect Christophe Pierre; Crookston Bishop Andrew Cozzens, who heads the Eucharistic Revival; and the Archdiocese of New York’s Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat.
The speakers include the popular face of Ascension Presents and host of the hit Bible in a Year podcast, Father Mike Schmitz; host of EWTN programs Icons and Clic con Corazon Puro, Father Agustino Torres, CFR; and author and professor Father John Burns of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
A number of women religious will be speaking as well, including an author and host of the Hope Stories podcast, Sister Josephine Garrett; Sister Bethany Madonna of the Sisters of Life, an order dedicated to pro-life ministry and eucharistic prayer; and Mother Adela Galindo, foundress of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Additionally, several leaders among the lay faithful will be speaking, including Chris Stefanick, founder of Real Life Catholic; Catholic author and commentator Gloria Purvis; speaker, author, and podcast host Katy Prejean McGrady; author and retreat leader Julianne Stanz; speaker and evangelist Damon Owens; Scripture professor Mary Healy; and evangelist Mari Pablo.
From the Catholic News Agency
The theme of the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress is, “Fraternity to heal the world.” The theme is from Matthew 23:8. We are all brothers. This country and world needs plenty of healing. God bless this Eucharistic Congress to be a huge success in an election year that unites America.
Bishop Cozzens and Dr. Mary Healy are excellent. Let’s all pray for a deepening appreciation of the Eucharist.
I have to think that all the speakers will be very good, for rebuilding faith in the Eucharist would hardly be achieved by allowing a dissident speaker to distract from this one goal by sending attendees down a rabbit hole. That is reserved for the Religious Education Congress here in LA.
I think you’re right. I noted those two because I’m more familiar with them; no reflection on any others.
After all this time and money wasted, the Catholic Church will still be trending in decline, losing young people, losing families.
losing families: not in South Korea, Northeast India, central Africa or western Africa. Even the Nordic/Scandinavian countries are reporting a measurable growth.
The Church is dead in Ireland. This bishop is preparing his diocese for the eventuality of almost no priests within twenty years:
https://clogherdiocese.ie/2023/07/our-baptism-calls-us-to-serve-in-new-ways-pastoral-letter-from-bishop-larry-duffy/
Every statistic in the United States, which is the only country doing this “Eucharistic Revival”, indicates that the Catholic Church is in a staggering decline. If the trend isn’t reversed, dioceses in the US will be issuing pastoral letters similar to the one from Ireland.
At my parish there are hardly any people attending Mass who are under the age of 50. More than a “Eucharistic Revival”, the Church in the US needs a youth revival. Hardly anything is working.
As with my previous diocese of Raphoe in Donegal, where there was once a teeming flow of new priests and a burgeoning populace of fervent Catholics, there is sadly now only a smattering of elderly churchgoers.
O Realy, then come here to El Cajon, California and attend some of the Chaldean Catholic parishes. Lots and lots of young people. In fact a new parish was just opened in nearby Spring Valley.
Prayer works.
Ireland, the FSSP just opened up their first community in the Town of Waterford. They have five priests there.
I love Fr. Mike Schmitz, but it would have been much more efficient to do more *obvious* things like banning EMHCs and controlling unruly dictators like Cupich and others who are bent on keeping the Catholic faith as a mere social group with networking aspects. Fr. Mike has said some great things about ad orientem worship.
Going back to the past doesn’t work, never does. It’s cliche, but doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity. The Catholic church is losing members in droves, particularly the young. But, most liturgical denominations are doing even less well. The young people – 13-34 – just don’t believe anymore. The teachings of the Catholic faith are the opposite of cultural norms in many ways. The culture says love everyone, who cares if people are gay and get married? The church is considered a hate group by many. And then, think of what we believe: a piece of bread and a glass of wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Really, they ask? God is three persons in one. Really they ask? Not only was Christ born of a woman who didn’t have sex, but she was born from parents who didn’t have sex. Really, they ask? We are not an easy faith to assume and believe. The young don’t seem to see the point. If each of us could do one thing to bring one person to Christ, what would it be?
“The teachings of the Catholic faith are the opposite of cultural norms in many ways. ” Bob One, it is not the Church’s fault that this is so. But there is some inexactness in what you say. The culture does not really say love everyone, because concupiscence has taken hold of many youth, and love and concupiscence cannot coexist in the soul. The culture does say “love everyone” because it is human nature to want to hold the moral high ground. But “love everyone” devolves quickly into hate at times. Schools are teaching that white people are the enemy. The unborn can be killed up to the point of birth. The Church is considered a hate group because “love everyone” doesn’t extend to Christians. The “love everyone” crowd is often the first to want to silence those of opposing viewpoints. But you raise a very good question at the end, and I intend to mull over it for the rest of the day. Thank you.
Mary was conceived like everyone else.
No she wasn’t: she was conceived immaculately.
Her soul, not her body.
The soul is a component of conception, hence the term “immaculate conception”. Since Mary was uniquely conceived immaculately, she was not conceived “like everyone else”. Almost like everyone else, except not really. The truth and accuracy matter.
If someone claimed that Mary lived a human life like everyone else, he would be wrong. Because she lived a sinless life. That’s not like everyone else.
If someone claimed that Mary is in heaven like everyone else, he would be wrong. Because Mary is the Queen of heaven. That’s not like everyone else.
If someone claimed that Mary is prayed to like everyone else, he would be wrong. Because Mary has a prayer named for her: the Hail Mary. Doug doesn’t have a Hail Doug prayer named for him and Jennifer doesn’t have a Hail Jennifer prayer.
My choice of words caused confusion.
I apologize.
The only person conceived without sex is Jesus.
Mary is in Heaven body and soul, I would like to add.
Mary was conceived without her parents having sex? How? Did an archangel appear to her mother to announce her immaculate conception? Was she conceived by the Holy Spirit? Was she conceived in her mother’s womb without her father’s participation?
“If someone claimed that Mary is prayed to like everyone else, he would be wrong.”
The fact is, Mary prayed. We don’t know if the style of her prayers was “like everyone else,” but she prayed.
Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured up all these things and ponder.” Things about Jesus, she pondered in her heart. That’s meditation. Meditation is a higher kind of prayer.
John 2:3 “When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no wine.’” Addressed to her Son, who is God, this was Mary’s prayer of petition.
The Immaculate Conception means that she was preserved from original sin, not that she was conceived without sex.
Is anyone claiming the Immaculate Conception is a virginal conception? It seems there’s some confusion.
Just ask God to convert them. Ask God to give them the gift of faith.
Mary’s conception: Mary was the Immaculate Conception.
Priests from Africa and Asia will fan out to places like Ireland and the US/Canada. We’ll have enough priests.
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Title of the Blessed Virgin as sinless from her first moment of existence. In the words of Pope Pius IX’s solemn definition, made in 1854, “The most holy Virgin Mary was, in the first moment of her conception, by a unique gift of grace and privilege of almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Redeemer of mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.” This means that since the first moment of her human existence the mother of Jesus was preserved from the common defect of estrangement from God, which humanity in general inherits through the sin of Adam. Her freedom from sin was an unmerited gift of God or special grace, and an exception to the law, or privilege, which no other created person has received.
364 The human body shares in the dignity of “the image of God”: it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit:
Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day.
365 The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the “form” of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature.
366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God – it is not “produced” by the parents – and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.