By Kimberley Heatherington, OSV News
(OSV News) — In the same way that a relationship with Christ is not about something but someone, the organizers of the National Eucharistic Revival will tell you that their movement is not just something faithful Catholics do, but something that they are — a grace from God, stirring up the hearts of his people.
The National Eucharistic Revival — a three-year initiative of the U.S. bishops aimed at reviving Catholic belief in Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist — began in 2022.
Its launch nurtured a spark of urgent motivation: In August 2019, the Pew Research Center reported “just one-third of U.S. Catholics agree with their church” that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ. Nearly 7 in 10 Catholics (69%) told Pew they personally believe the bread and wine they receive at Mass are only symbolic.
While a later study conducted by Vinea Research proposed the wording of Pew’s survey was problematic — its 2024 results indicated 69% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence — adherence is still not universal.
“I think that Pew study … was a catalyst that got our church moving,” said Kris Frank, vice president of growth and marketing at the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., or NEC. “But whether it was a lack of belief or just indifference, I think what the revival did was bring the Eucharist front and center — and reminded us of what a gift we have in the person of Jesus Christ.”
That gift literally took a road trip, when — from May 17 to July 16, 2024, on routes north, south, east and west — a total of 250,000 participants processed 6,500 miles in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage across America. The routes eventually converged on Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress from July 17-21, 2024, which was attended by more than 60,000 participants.
But Jesus’ journey wasn’t done.
This year, in a second National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, Christ has once again been on the move, traveling since May 18 from Indianapolis to Los Angeles. A June 22 Mass, Eucharistic procession and festival in Los Angeles will mark the feast of Corpus Christi and the end of the pilgrimage.
The 11th National Eucharistic Congress is expected to be held in 2029, with the date to be announced in the near future.
“I do think that we are seeing an increase in belief,” Frank said. “But I think more than that, we’re seeing a renewed vigor and excitement around the Blessed Sacrament.”
“And,” he added, “I think that’s also a fruit of the revival.”
The NEC team has remained busy since the 2024 congress in Indianapolis concluded.
“This past year, we’ve really been working on how we send people forward in the spirit of the National Eucharistic Revival,” explained Joel Stepanek, NEC vice president of programming and administration. “And a lot of that has taken the form of preparing the Eucharistic Missionary initiative and the Walk With One initiative.”
They began planning immediately after returning from Indianapolis.
“We invited attendees of the congress — and then, folks at parishes that had been following along with the National Eucharistic Revival — to walk with one individual,” explained Stepanek.
Why just one?
“Sometimes it can feel really overwhelming to think, ‘How am I going to share Jesus with a bunch of people?’ But everybody can walk with one person. Bishop Cozzens — at the end of the Congress — really challenged people with that,” said Stepanek, referring to Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who founded and is the first president of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc. and oversaw the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.
“And so over the past year, we’ve had different trainings and webinars for folks to learn a little bit more about how they might walk with different groups of people — from people hurting from the church, to friends and family,” Stepanek continued.
“That’s been really well received,” he added. “And that’s been a big part of the initiative — just go accompany one person.”
In mid-May, the NEC released its Eucharistic Missionary formation program, “which is a more intentional commitment to live out the spirit of the National Eucharistic Revival — even as the bishops’ initiative comes to an end on the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ on June 22,” Stepanek said. “And so that’s an invitation for people to undergo a few weeks of formation — and in those few weeks, take up some daily practices they’ll continue as they live out life as a Eucharistic Missionary.”
Those things include making a Holy Hour every week; attending a daily Mass, in addition to the Sunday obligation; joining a small group; continuing the Walk With One initiative; finding ways to serve in family, neighborhoods and parishes; and offering daily prayers and fasting for both those they are accompanying and for ongoing Eucharistic revival in the United States.
Through the NEC’s Manna platform, additional materials are also offered for Eucharistic Missionaries to continue to pray, learn and grow in their faith.
“So that’s sort of where we’ve been and where we’re going as far as the Year of Mission, and how we carry the Spirit moving forward,” Stepanek said.
It is an accomplishment the U.S. prelates could perhaps only hope for in 2022.
“Eucharistic Missionaries is one of the things that the bishops have always dreamed of, from the beginning of the three-year Eucharistic Revival,” said Frank.
The dedicated materials on Manna have proved popular: “I know the Diocese of Venice (Florida) has over 400 people going through that program alone,” he reported.
Tanner Kalina — NEC’s mission outreach manager and an actor who takes the lead in EWTN’s “James the Less” series — has discerned another outcome of their efforts.
“What I’ve seen — and what I sense — is a shift in how people are viewing their communities. More of, ‘How can we go deeper in this together? How can I bring someone closer to the Lord? How can I get outside of myself?'” he said, “which is really cool.”
Not only is it cool, it’s metanoia — a change of heart.
“It’s kind of like people’s gaze has turned outward a little bit this last year — and we’re really hoping that, come Corpus Christi and with all that we have on the horizon, that just continues to unfold,” Kalina said. “We are — like Pope Francis promoted so often during his papacy — a church that goes out to the margins and continues to accompany people.”
NEC’s popular seven-part video study “Jesus and the Eucharist” — produced a couple of years ago with the Augustine Institute — has been met with what Kalina characterizes as “just tremendous feedback; hundreds of thousands of hours of play.”
The just-released five-part “Become” study is designed to equip believers to transform into Eucharistic Missionaries.
“We ultimately just want to make our Eucharistic Lord known,” Kalina said. “So we will continue doing whatever we can to draw people back to him. And that’s through ongoing pilgrimages; continuing to work with dioceses and parishes; and providing resources that will help people embrace their missional identity.”
While the National Eucharistic Revival was originally scheduled for 2022-2025, Frank said there is still work to do.
“I think that’s exactly where God is pointing us, and I think that’s what we’re seeing. I think we’re just now beginning to see the fruit of this work — and I don’t think the work stops until every Catholic has a deep and living relationship with our Eucharistic Lord,” he said. “So I think until that happens, the work of the revival needs to continue.”
Kimberley Heatherington writes for OSV News from Virginia.
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