Denver Catholic

T his Corpus Christi Sunday (June 11), the archdiocese kicks off the second year of the Eucharistic Revival which focuses on the parish. We are convicted that the Parish Year is the most important year of the Eucharistic Revival. The reasons for this are many but primarily, the most common experience for the faithful to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist is the local celebration of the Mass which is celebrated in our parishes. As one pastor noted, "We need to understand how to better participate in what we do every day." Leading up to the parish year, I have sent teams from the pasto- ral center to visit many of our parishes and deaneries to communi- cate the goals of the Eucharistic Revival and inform the planning and discernment of the parish teams. The U.S. bishops have hoped that the Eucharistic Revival would be mostly a grassroots move- ment. I would like to share here the specific goals for the Archdi- ocese of Denver in hopes that you would pray with them and ask Jesus how he is asking you and your parish to respond in this year. ARCH B I S H O P ' S CO LU M N The Parish Year Eucharistic Revival 2 JUNE 2023 | DENVER CATHOLIC BY ARCHBISHOP SAMUEL J. AQUILA 1 2 3 THE FIRST GOAL IS to foster encounters with Jesus in the Eucharist among many who have not encountered him there before. Another way of stating this is that, if at the end of the Eucharistic Revival, the only thing we have done is encourage someone who is already faithful and devoted to the Eucharist to be more devoted, we have failed. Our primary aim is to, as we heard in the synodal process, "Find creative ways to bring our Eucharistic Lord to others and to bring others to our Eucharistic Lord." Jesus desires new people to find him in the Eucharist. He desires for Catholics who come to Mass, but were never taught how to participate, to participate fully and drink from living waters that are present in the liturgy. He wants to do something new. THE SECOND GOAL IS to increase devotion to the Holy Eucharist in the Mass but also in adoration and strength- en awareness in the faithful of the connec- tion between these two. A Eucharistic Revival must center on a revival of the Church's celebration of the liturgy. By Church, I am referring to the entire People of God. The Mass is the focus when we are speaking about the Eucharist. Eucharistic Adoration, which is a beautiful practice and devo- tion, exists in relationship to the Mass. If we lose sight of this connection, adoration risks becoming something foreign to Jesus' saving action in the Eucharist. Eucharistic adoration should lead us to a deeper adoration in the Mass as we are joined to the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ in his worship of the Father. We, joined to the one sacrifice of Jesus, offer ourselves to the Father and are strengthened in that self-offering as we receive our Lord. THE THIRD GOAL IS to unite across ministries, movements, parishes, entities, and even the dioceses of Colorado, to truly become one body in the Eucharist. Unit y, another strong theme in the synodal process, is present in the Eucharist as we become one body with Jesus Christ. Already in the Diocesan Year, we have been blessed to engage several lay ecclesial movements and local apostolates to seek collaboration and partnership. We are blessed to have these movements and apos- tolates that help us encounter Jesus Christ. They are not to be in competition with one another or the only way to encounter Jesus. All of them are united through the Eucharist, and how we celebrate and understand it, as Catholics.

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