This article was written by Amy Brooks (Prayer Wine Chocolate and Catholics Online, LLC)
This post contains affiliate or associate links with several businesses (which means if you shop through the links, I earn a small commission). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Whether you attended the Eucharistic Congress in person or watched from afar online – you were probably moved spiritually and emotionally.
But how do we keep this “retreat high” going forward?
We know it is so important to keep this FIRE lit for the love of the Eucharist; but how?
I asked members of our community to give some advice on how we can continue to spread the awareness of Our Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist as well as a great reverence and appreciation for this incredible gift.
7 Ways to Keep the Eucharistic Revival Alive
Here are some great tips from some Catholics who write, speak and work online for the Lord!
1. Embrace Liturgical Living
Steffani Aquila, the owner of His Girl Sunday, a business and blog that helps individuals, families, and parishes live liturgically and build long-lasting, authentic Catholic traditions gives this advice:
“The ideal response to the Eucharistic revival is to see the goodness of our Eucharistic God in the liturgy, and celebrate that in your daily life. Liturgical living is the physical and celebratory “yes” to the Eucharist.”
Steffani has a Master of Arts in Theological Studies and has worked in Catholic high schools as a dean and an honors-level Theology teacher. You can get some fun ideas on how to live liturgically on her website: His Girl Sunday
2. Go to Mass and Adoration More
Nelly Sosa, founder of the Spanish blog El Arbol Menta, gives this advice:
“There is no way to do good without being fed with the Greatest Good, Christ Body and Blood in the Eucharist. I feel called to daily Mass and Adoration more than ever… I know that my humanity won’t let me go far or do His perfect will without His True Presence truly present in my life!”
Tammi McCarthy (Whispers of Love and Faith), who was in attendance at the Eucharistic Congress, echoes this sentiment.
“The greatest reminder for me came from one of the Congress talks. We can not pour from empty cups as ministers. We all need to sit in the presence of the source and summit of our faith, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. From Him can we find the spiritual strength and love to pour out in service to the Church. Revival starts with allowing the Lord to fan the flame within our own hearts, then we can ignite and stoke the embers of the hearts of others“.
Follow Tammi on Instagram at Whispers of Love and Faith!
3. Attend What Your Parish Makes Available, even if is a bit of a sacrifice.
This is almost a repeat of what Nelly advised, but challenges us to really put our faith higher on our priority list.
Riley Provost is the owner of Ivy Doe & Co which is a Christian Catholic online gift shop carrying a variety of faith-inspired products including baby essentials, magnets, apparel, home goods, and more.
“Pastors and Bishops have made the Eucharist more accessible than ever for this year’s call. Find your local accessibility to Adoration and daily Mass. Attend these as much as you can so the leaders of the Church will keep them accessible for years to come. Move mountains and make sacrifices to grow this Eucharistic Devotion in your heart. . This Sacrament is the center of our Faith. It is truly Christ. So, before the energy of the national events and the conferences and the congresses falls away, go back to your local parishes and participate in what is offered so it will be maintained for generations to come.“
Heather LeBano (House of Love and Laughter) reiterates:
“When we go to Holy Mass each Sunday (or daily if you have that opportunity and gift), we are transported into the very life of God through the Eucharist.”
May we know the blessing and the privilege of receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist through regular participation.
May we bask in the grace of Eucharist and be transported into the very life of Christ.“
4. Make it obvious that you are a Catholic – in your words, actions and professions.
Jessica Connolly, owner of Telos Art Shop says this:
“We are called to be bold in our pursuit of beauty, goodness, and truth and to live it out. Whether it be word or action, “Good News” is meant to be shared!“
Mandy , writer at Mustard Seeds and Wildflowers states:
“I immediately think of Bishop Baron’s talk at the Eucharistic Congress. How Vatican II’s intention was to have great Catholic laity – great Catholic doctors, great Catholic writers and so on.
It reminds me of how much ownership we really do have in the church and how important our vocation as the laity is in helping spread the Gospel.
What we do each day as lay Catholics can in fact set the world ablaze for Christ.“
In other words, don’t just aim to have others think, “he is a good husband or she is a good doctor”. Aim so that people say, “he is a good Catholic husband and she is a good Catholic doctor”
***Need help making it obvious that you are a faithful Catholic? Shop these shirts and these accessories (use code AMY10 for 10% off Telos!)***
5. Be bold bearers of Christ. Instead of saying “I’ll pray for you,” offer to pray with others right then, in public.
Lisa Martinez, owner of Little With Great Love, attended the Eucharistic Congress and gives this testimony:
“This was so much more than an event for some of the Church to attend. It was a movement to bring all people back to the central tenet of our faith, the Eucharist. After nightly adoration, I saw tens of thousands of us bringing Jesus out to the streets as we left the stadium, feeding the hungry—both physically and spiritually. Late Saturday night, a priest and small group of women we found praying on the street prayed with my teammate and I. When we opened our eyes, a local man and his young son came over to us, drawn to whatever was happening. We prayed with them too. Just as we had encountered Christ there, we were to bring Him out to everyone we encountered, and to encounter Him in the people around us. That doesn’t end because the Congress did, as that was only the beginning. In all we do, we should be bringing Jesus to others and seeing Him in them.”
6. Resuscitate your heart and love more
Allison Brown, I AM HIS, says this:
“The Eucharist revival is about the true presence of our Lord. It is about love. It is a revival of love for our Lord and for all our brothers and sisters through Christ.
We are called as His sons and Daughters to be a light of the truth and to reach out to our brothers and sisters with love, inviting them to share in this truth with us.
I think Dan Burke sums this up perfectly.
“Love builds a bridge over which truth can pass.”
Claire Dwyer, (Even the Sparrow), wrote in an article titled That They All May Be One: Reflections After the Eucharistic Congress, shares these words:
“This Eucharistic revival, the gathering of the remnant (and we must remember, it is for the sake of our sending) is one of dead things coming back to life. And bringing us back not just to Eucharistic faith but bringing us back to life . . .
It is our hearts most of all that have needed resuscitation. This revival is our own chance to breathe again, to be whole again. “
7. Be Confident in the Power of the Eucharist
Brianna Jennings, owner of Joyful Mysteries Shop, shared this experience:
” That moment Fr. Boniface Hicks placed the monstrance on the altar, there was no denying Jesus was in this space. The rays of light came streaming in from outside of the arena at almost 9:00 in the evening. It was the greatest healing experience I’ve ever had. That’s the power of the Eucharist .”
***Brianna’s photograph was used as the featured image in this post – thank you for that Brianna!!!***
I found this advice in an article titled The Eucharist is the Most Powerful Thing in the World, I think it may help us all have more confidence in the Eucharist:
“Our conviction that Jesus is alive in the Eucharist is a bold and defiant truth. It is a belief that taunts death and boasts in God’s sovereign power alone.
Now more than ever, we as Catholics need to ask the Lord for a rock-solid, supernatural faith in the unstoppable power of the Holy Eucharist. We need to humbly ask the Holy Spirit for greater receptivity, so that when we receive this heavenly food, this Bread of Life — it might really change us!“
From our catechism:
1406 Jesus said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; … he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and … abides in me, and I in him.”
1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church’s life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once and for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his body, which is the Church.
1413 By the consecration, the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine, Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity.
How will you keep the Eucharistic Revival alive? Tell us in the comments!
Please support our community by shopping at our businesses! You’ll find great Catholic gifts and products here:
Would you like to be quoted in articles like this? Join our community today!
