April 4, 2023 // Bishop

Palm Sunday Eucharistic Revival Concert Held in Fort Wayne

Nicole Hahn

Director of Secretariat for Communications

Hundreds of people gathered together at St. Peter Catholic Church in Fort Wayne on the afternoon of Sunday, Apr. 2, for a Palm Sunday Eucharistic Revival Concert that featured Heartland Sings and choristers from Bishop Luers High School.

Bishop Rhoades scheduled the concert as a regional event during our celebration of the National Eucharistic Revival, a movement to restore understanding and devotion to this great mystery here in the United States by helping us renew our worship of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

The Palm Sunday Eucharistic Revival Concert was set to make Lent even more special by offering worship through classical sacred music centered on devotion to the Holy Eucharist. The program included the Pange Lingua, Ave verum Corpus, Stabat Mater, Cantique de Jean Racine, and Soul of My Savior.

Though there was no cost for the concert, there was a free-will offering to benefit Catholic Charities of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

CEO Dan Florin spoke to those present to explain that Catholic Charities serves as the charitable arm of the Church. “At Catholic Charities, we are instruments in the Lord’s hands. And just like Heartland Sings showed us today, we can do amazing things when we use our God-given talents, working together to build His kingdom here on earth.”

In asking people to prayerfully consider a donation, Florin explained how Catholic Charities has had to expand their services (financial and material assistance programs, homeless case management, Catholic school counseling, clinical liaisons to parishes, etc.) in response to the current economic crisis, and that they are on pace to support five times as many families and individuals as they did before the pandemic.

“Our faith calls us to go deeper. It calls us to provide the emergency assistance our neighbor needs in that moment and to do something beautiful in their lives — to love them as Christ loves us.”

The free-will offering at the concert brought in about $2,500 for the organization. Donations to Catholic Charities are always accepted. Learn more at ccfwsb.org.