Shared parish Lenten Mission focuses on Eucharistic Revival

“For the Life of the World: A Lenten Mission for The Eucharistic Revival,” held in Mary, Mother of God Church, Hillsborough, and Immaculate Conception Church, Somerville, Feb. 25-26, respectively, was an opportunity for Timothy Glemkowski, chief executive officer of the National Eucharistic Congress, to lead parishioners to a fuller understanding of Eucharist as Encounter and Eucharist as Mission.

Glemkowski explained that the National Eucharistic Congress was founded by the U.S. Bishops in November 2021. There have been nine previous Congresses, beginning in 1895. The 10th will be held in Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind., July 19-21.

“It is going to be among the most significant Catholic moments probably in our lifetime,” Glemkowski said to those who participated in the first evening of the mission.

He recounted that the Congress was created to initiate the National Eucharistic Revival focused on “bringing people back to a living relationship with Jesus and the Eucharist,” noting that the Congress is doing the logistics and marketing for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, the first procession with Jesus and the Eucharist in history to move across the U.S. from north, south, east and west.

Underscoring the evening’s theme, Glemkowski shared the words of Pope Benedict XV1 in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est: “Being Christian is not result of an ethical choice … it’s not just a lofty idea, but it’s the fruit of an encounter with a person who gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”

“The Eucharist is not an object, it’s not a thing. It’s a person,” he explained. “What we receive at Mass every Sunday is a who, who gives himself to us.”

Glemkowski repeated the words Jesus spoke to crowds of 20,000 in his public ministry: “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you will not have life within me. And the bread, which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

“This gift of Jesus in the Eucharist is his very self, offered to us. … In Jesus Christ, God has reconciled all of us to himself. And he can be known and in knowing him and being loved by him we have everything that we will ever need,” Glemkowski said.

On Feb. 26 some one hundred parishioners gathered in Immaculate Conception Church to hear Glemkowski speak on “Eucharist as Mission.”

After reminding the faithful of the first evening’s focus on Eucharist as Encounter, Glemkowski posed a question: “What is this church, Immaculate Conception, supposed to do?”

Drawing on the teaching of Pope Paul VI, he stressed that the natural state of the Church is mission, and the mission is to evangelize. Glemkowski cited statistics stating that two generations ago, 94 percent of the people of Quebec were Catholic. Today that number is six percent. The “nones,” claiming no religious affiliation, dominate the culture.

“We must go back to our mission stage for the least and the lost,” he said.

Glemkowski closed with final notes on the Eucharist, recalling that Mother Teresa urged her nuns toward Eucharistic encounter: spend fifteen minutes a day before the Eucharist, asking “Who are You?” and “Who am I?”

He urged that the faithful identify with the Eucharist, in that they are good, worthy, and loved. He finished by proposing that each person write down the names of three persons they love and ask Jesus what he wants for them, then make the commitment to bring that about.

Reynoldo Lopez, a deacon at Immaculate Conception for the past seven years, was present with his wife Julia. “It was amazing. A beautiful devoted young guy. I am sure he has had an encounter with the living God. He told us to go on our mission as God sends us or we are left to curse the darkness.” Julia appreciated the questions that were proposed.

Myrna Gonzalez, another parishioner, found the presentation “interesting, informative, and easy to follow. He talked like the person next door.” Osvaldo and Marietta Echevarria said the talk was “impressive, with a deeper understanding of the Eucharist as not just a symbol but intimacy with Jesus.”

Aura Izaguirre, another attendee, said it was the first time she heard of the call to mission, and appreciated Tim Glemkowski’s passion for the Eucharist.

Culminating and summarizing the evening was Msgr. Joseph G. Celano’s and clarion call that “It is time for the Church to get out of the Church.”

Both evenings closed with Benediction and Adoration of the Eucharist.