July 6, 2022 // Diocese

Eucharistic Revival momentum continues with upcoming events 

The Eucharistic Procession and Festival on June 19 in Warsaw marked the first step in a three-year journey to inspire spiritual growth, encourage Eucharistic Adoration and evangelize throughout the diocese and the United States. Coming events will build on that momentum.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops organized the Eucharistic Revival to encourage a grassroots renewal of belief in and devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The revival focuses on dioceses this year, parishes next year and a National Eucharistic Congress takes place July 17-21 in 2024 — the first such event since 1976. Dioceses and parishes can decide how they want to participate in each year’s events.

“This is a special moment of grace for our Church, for our diocese, for every parish and for every family to encourage the faithful to embrace this moment of grace for themselves and to contribute in any way they can for the good of others, and to consider how they can help their parish,” said Chris Langford, the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend’s point person for Eucharistic Revival planning.

“All of this is Bishop’s leadership,” Langford said of the plans, referring to the diocese’s Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades.

Future plans include:

Diocesan Year, now through June 11, 2023

Langford said the current year has two main focuses: Develop leaders across the diocese and in parishes who can plan events for the Parish Year in 2023, and present a number of public events of regional or broad appeal.

Bob List
A variety of events sponsored by the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and individual parishes will continue building excitement and deepening faith as the Eucharist Revival moves toward a National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024 in Indianapolis.

Interested lay leaders can prepare for the Parish Year by attending Eucharistic conferences that will include Mass and talks on the Eucharist by speakers including Bishop Rhoades. The conferences, which are open to the general public, will take place on Jan. 14 at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Fort Wayne and Feb. 11 at St. Pius X Parish in Granger, both from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Registration can be found at diocesefwsb.org/eucharist. 

The diocese plans to offer a similar conference and other events in Spanish at dates and places still being determined; check diocesefwsb.org/eucaristia for updates.

Also in the area of faith formation, the diocese will offer Eucharist-focused mission encounter nights on Oct. 10 at Marian High School in Mishawaka and April 12, 2023, at Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne. Members of the Damascus Worship Collective and international speakers will help people encounter God and feel excited and empowered to live the Catholic faith. 

The events will be led by Damascus Catholic Missionaries of Centerburg, Ohio, which presented a similar event in March at Bishop Dwenger. Registration can be found at diocesefwsb.org/eucharist.

Diocese residents also can attend Eucharist-focused retreats on the Damascus Catholic Mission Campus grounds. Dates are:

• Women, Oct. 14-16, 2022, and April 14-16, 2023

• Men, Nov. 4-6, 2022, and April 21-23, 2023

• Empower Young Adult Conference, Dec. 15-18, 2022. 

Register for any of the retreats at damascus.net.

The diocese will celebrate Jesus’ gift of the Eucharist with two concerts in April 2023 featuring sacred classical music related to the Blessed Sacrament, Langford said. Details are:

April 23 at 2 p.m. at St. Pius X Parish in Granger, led by Music Director Jeremy Hoy and featuring the Notre Dame Liturgical Choir and St. Pius X Choir. 

April 27 at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne, led by Music Director Mike Dulac.

Register to attend at diocesefwsb.org/eucharist.

Parishes also are encouraged to begin planning their activities for the revival’s Parish Year in 2023, Langford said. Each parish is expected to appoint a point person to coordinate Eucharistic Revival planning and activities. 

Parish point people can share ideas with each other using an online collaboration platform, he said. For example, a larger parish may develop a Eucharistic Revival program that a smaller parish can adapt or use with its own congregation.

The diocese also will organize monthly Eucharistic Revival activities that people can take part in, Langford said. Information will be posted at diocesefwsb.org/eucharist. Plans include a Eucharistic Pilgrimage to 12 locations around the diocese that are associated with the Blessed Sacrament, such as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Most Precious Blood Parish in Fort Wayne and the Perpetual Adoration chapels at St. Jude and St. Vincent de Paul parishes in Fort Wayne. 

 

People can visit the locations on their own schedule, Langford said. Those who visit at least six sites can receive a free gift from Divine Mercy Gifts in South Bend or Good Shepherd Books and Gifts in Fort Wayne. 

The diocese also will develop monthly reflections on saints who have a special devotion to the Eucharist, Langford said. In addition, a set of meditations on the Eucharist will be made available for use in parish bulletins, on diocesefwsb.org and as short items on Redeemer Radio, the Catholic radio station broadcasting at 95.7-FM in the Michiana area and 106.3-FM in northeast Indiana.

Parish Year, June 11, 2023, to July 17, 2024

One of the main activities during the Parish Year will be encouraging parishes to hold 40 Hours Devotion events.

“Ideally, every parish will hold a 40 Hours Devotion that ideally involves 40 hours of continuous adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, starting on a Sunday evening and ending on a Tuesday evening, with mission talks each of the three evenings,” Langford said.

Parishes in the same geographic area will be encouraged to hold their 40 Hours events on different dates so people can attend more than one of them, he added.

In addition to outside speakers available for 40 Hours and other mission-type events, the diocese will support parishes by prepping priests and lay people to serve as speakers at the events, Langford said.

Evangelization also will be a major focus during the Parish Year.

“One of the objectives of the revival is to be a Eucharistic missionary people and to go out to the margins and to reach those who are in great need of our Eucharistic Lord,” Langford said. “And also to evangelize those who have left the Church or those who have never been in the Church with an emphasis on the living truth of our Lord Jesus.”

The diocese plans to schedule the St. Paul Street Evangelization group to provide evangelization training in May 2023, Langford said. The nonprofit organization, which is based in Warren, Michigan, seeks to proclaim the Gospel and share the Catholic faith in public settings using the peaceful, non-confrontational approach of “Listen, Befriend, Proclaim, Invite.”

The training will take place on May 6, 2023 at 9 a.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Fort Wayne and on May 13 at 9 a.m. at St. Pius X Parish in Granger. Register will be at diocesefwsb.org/eucharist.

The diocese launched a pilot parish Eucharistic evangelization program at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Wayne, Langford said. Members of St. Elizabeth’s evangelization team will be available to help other parishes.

Other activity suggestions for parishes during the Parish Year include:

Hold a “teaching Mass” that isn’t a real Mass but walks people through to explain all aspects of a Mass.

Make use of resources to assist priests with writing Eucharistic-focused homilies.

Place a special emphasis on the Eucharist when teaching young people in Catholic schools and in parish religious education and youth programs. The USCCB is developing a program to assist with youth education about the Eucharist.

Hold Corpus Christi processions.

Offer more opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration.

Encourage parish small-faith groups to study the U.S. bishops’ recent document on the Eucharist, “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church.”

National Eucharistic Congress, July 17-21, 2024

According to Langford, the diocese still is finalizing plans for 2024, but activities will point toward the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.

“A fruit of all of this reawakened faith and devotion to the Eucharist should be a desire to go out as missionaries in our communities,” Langford said. “We already mentioned the evangelization, but we are looking also, especially the third year of the revival, that the fruits of this revival will be Eucharistic missionaries who go out in the community to reach those at the margins and to serve those in need of spiritual and corporal works of mercy.”

The national congress has a goal of forming and sending out 80,000 Eucharistic missionaries to evangelize across America through Pentecost in 2025, U.S. Catholic bishops said on the revival website, eucharisticrevival.org. The hope is the missionaries’ work will inspire a Eucharistic Revival that continues long into the future.

For up-to-date information about Eucharistic Revival events and resources in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, visit diocesefwsb.org/eucharist or diocesefwsb.org/eucaristia.

For information at the national level, go to eucharisticrevival.org. 

* * *

The best news. Delivered to your inbox.

Subscribe to our mailing list today.