July 24, 2024 // National
‘Conversion to the Eucharist’ is Pope’s Message
INDIANAPOLIS (OSV News) – The five days of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis could not have ended in a more fitting way – with the celebration of the Eucharist with more than 50,000 people gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Mass was celebrated by papal envoy Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who greeted participants in many different languages. In a homily delivered with energy, joy, and humor, Cardinal Tagle thanked “the God who is Love … for gathering us a family of faith at this closing Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress.”
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, smiles as he delivers the homily July 21, 2024, during the final Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
Cardinal Tagle, who serves the Holy See as the Pro-Prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization, said he brought with him the “fatherly, paternal blessings” of Pope Francis, who “prays, as we all do, that the congress may bear much fruit for the renewal of the Church and of society in the United States of America.”
The message of Pope Francis to congress-goers, he said, was “conversion to the Eucharist.”
As attendees prepared to leave the five transformative days of the national congress and were commissioned to go forth to spread the Gospel anew, Cardinal Tagle reflected on the connection between “Eucharistic conversion” and “missionary conversion.”
Those who go out on mission are a “gift” to the Church and to the world.
“Mission is not just about work but also about the gift of oneself,” he said. “Jesus fulfills mission by giving Himself, His flesh, His presence to others as the Father wills it. The presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is a gift and the fulfillment of His mission.”
Where there is “a lack or a weakening of missionary zeal,” it could be that it is “partly due to a weakening in the appreciation of gifts and giftedness,” he said.
“When pessimism takes over, we see only darkness, failures, problems, things to complain about,” he continued. “We do not see gifts in persons and events. And those who do not see gifts in themselves and in others, they will not give gifts; they will not go on a mission.”
The cardinal asked those present to examine their own consciences in considering why some people choose to walk away from the Eucharistic Lord, preferring “His absence rather than His presence in their lives.”
“I invite you to pause and ask rather painful questions about this mysterious rejection of Jesus by His disciples – by His disciples,” Cardinal Tagle said. “Is it possible that we disciples contribute to the departure of others from Jesus? Why do some people leave Jesus, when He is giving the most precious gift of eternal life?”
Finally, the cardinal said, as attendees go forth, will they stay with Jesus?
“Those who choose to stay with Jesus will be sent by Jesus,” he said. “The gift of His presence and love for us will be our gift to people. We should not keep Jesus to ourselves. That is not discipleship. That is selfishness. The gift we have received we should give as a gift.”
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