My pitch: A Congress every 10 years — time enough to recover from one event before whetting people's appetites for another — and a big single-route pilgrimage every two years so a pilgrimage year can coincide with the Congress year.
Counter-pitch: Diocesan-level Eucharistic procession every year. Far fewer resources needed, and it starts treating processions like they are *normal*, not special.
Parish-level, for that matter. It doesn't take that much prep to walk around your church grounds (if you have them) for a bit. It's literally just walking.
My parish has done an annual Eucharistic procession for years now, but the National Pilgrimage was very effective in mobilizing interest in our community when it came through and bringing lots of people out who hadn't participated in the past. I think one of the big fruits we will see from the national event is an increase in local events, because people got to "practice" having these events that maybe felt intimidating when they'd never done it before, and because lots of people now have an experience of doing it and will be interested.
I'd like to see the national pilgrimage be less-than-annual, because I think what made it effective was that it was special, and if it happen every year, even though on different routes, it will cease to be special. But I think there is lots of room for both national and local, and they can help each other.
If it has any fruits at all, it will have to have local fruits. And I very much hope it does. Possibly one of the best things it did was declare to every Catholic that at least most of the bishops in the US consider Eucharistic Processions to be a normal Catholic thing, not a museum piece from the past or something only weird or super-pious Catholics do. But that declaration will go by the wayside if there aren't local fruits.
I think you could have it be an every-other-year event and still be special. Just don't do the same route. The one they took this year was well over a day's drive away for many people, which is a lot of people who couldn't do anything beyond read about it - press coverage certainly is something you get more of when you do things infrequently.
I will ask St Mary Magdalene to pray for us, as we are sent out to tell folks the good news of Christ (I think this is evangelization in words of one syllable.)
“How do we scale up? How do we learn from this [Congress], and how do we keep the momentum going?” Shanks asked. “How do we pull together as a Church, at least in the infrastructure, so that not everyone is working in silos?” he asked.
I don't get this attitude. The Church has always thrived through subsidiarity, first in the family, then in the local parish. This is not "everyone working in silos".
Hopefully it won’t use the “scale up” templates of CCHD, Peter’s Pence, Treasury of the Vatican Secretariat State, etc. perhaps some university level training in Finance, Controlling, and Asset Management would help?
You’re right, but also the church has often attempted and completed projects much greater than the parish level. Cathedrals, Universities, Missions, etc. I think the Eucharistic Congress is inherently missionary in nature, in the same way that the 3 festivals in temple Judaism held together the Jewish faith and culture.
I was struck by the power of silence in the stadium — there was no music, no preaching, for a few minutes, there was just silent prayer.
Why not strengthen local communities? Make the TLM more widely accessible. There the faithful can experience the profound silence in the liturgy, the devotion to the Eucharist, kneeling before a communion rail, the priest saying the Eucharistic prayer in a very low voice, copious incensing of the Eucharist. And it does not cost millions of dollars and organizational and logistical obstacles, and it would be accessible to everyone, not those who can afford the time and expense to travel long distances.
The Lord was not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire but in the still small voice. 1 Kings 19: 11-12
Re: “kneeling before a communion rail” ==> As long as tyrannical parish priests can’t use that communion rail as a barrier to deacons and extraordinary lay ministers of the Eucharist ministering in the sanctuary. Fortunately we have SOME good bishops and parish pastors who are preventing this and other retro-traditional passive aggressiveness. Otherwise have at it with anything that saves the US church. 🙏 🙏 🙏
The TLM communities just get stronger as the naysayers try to shut them down. It helps that many of those interested in the TLM are young and will outlive the older folks who for whatever reason seem to be hung up about it.
I’ve been very vocal over the past two years (including in the minor fiefdom of The Pillar comment section) that the Revival is a fruitless endeavor. I want to publicly declare that I was wrong.
While I retain my criticisms that this ultimately won’t increase the percentage of Real-Presence-Belief much above 33% (which was the impetus for this whole thing), and that ultimately the only true Eucharistic Revival will only come from a unilaterally-implemented nation-wide reform of the liturgy back to traditional liturgical praxis… I will say that a major fruit has grown from this Revival: a renewed interest in large-scale public Eucharistic Processions. This is very needed in our time here in the US, and I think the numbers of some of those crowds inspired people. And seeing those photos of Lucas Oil Stadium were awesome.
Praise God that the Faith is not dead yet here in the US, and in fact American Catholicism is more-or-less carrying the Global Church right now.
It’s true what they say: “it takes a very handsome man to admit when he’s wrong”
Edit: Goodness. Mike gives me a compliment, I play into it with a cheeky lil tongue-in-cheek comment at my own expense… and so he rescinds his compliment, takes a swipe, and deletes his comment? I just like to have some fun. “The angels can fly, because they take themselves so lightly”
Humor is difficult over a text medium, especially when you’re joking with people who don’t know you. I’m glad for your insight about Eucharistic Processions.
Born with a congenital disorder, Merrick uses his disfigurement to earn a living as the "Elephant Man." Treves brings Merrick into his home, discovering that his rough exterior hides a refined soul, and that Merrick can teach the stodgy British upper class of the time a lesson about dignity.
(I post this with Maddox's comment ringing in my ears) :)
If the concern is that American Catholics won't top more than 33% in affirming a belief in the real presence, then there's good news on that front.
In a September 2023 CARA report, a random survey of adult Catholics found that 64% of those surveyed “provided responses that indicate they believe in the Real Presence.” And a June 2024 Vinea Research report found that 69% of Catholics believed that "Jesus Christ is truly present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist."
And those were just from random samplings of Catholics. In the CARA survey, "95% of weekly Mass attenders believe in the Real Presence" and 80% of those who attend less than weekly but at least once a month believe" in the real presence. This was similar to the Vinea Research survey, which found that around 80% of montly/weekly Catholics believe in the real presence.
Imagine the ars celebrandi of the average American Catholic parish. Since these surveys looked at average American Catholics, we can see that--even with that average ars celebrandi and without a "nation-wide reform of the liturgy back to traditional liturgical praxis"--Eucharistic belief is still high.
I loved the whole thing and am so grateful I was able to go. I hope the bishops feel more boldly about trying new things going forwards. Each morning after mass the bishops and cardinals got a huge round of applause. You could see how much it meant to them. I wonder how often they get thanked for their service.
My favorite moment was a surprise Eucharistic procession on Friday. I was watching a live podcast recording when I heard the bells. They paused the show and everyone knelt while only 3 priests walked by with a monstrance around the convention center hallway. They did the same thing on again that afternoon while I was in line for the Shroud of Turin exhibit. They really kept Jesus as the center of everything.
My pitch: A "program" (not the right word), encouraging complete with instructions, how a Eucharistic Congress at the deanery level, or diocesan level, could happen. I loved getting to be a part of the Nat'l Eucharistic Pilgrimage that came near enough to be in driving distance. It was so fabulous to walk with other Catholics belonging mostly to 3 different parishes within 6 miles of each other total.
My pitch: A Congress every 10 years — time enough to recover from one event before whetting people's appetites for another — and a big single-route pilgrimage every two years so a pilgrimage year can coincide with the Congress year.
Counter-pitch: Diocesan-level Eucharistic procession every year. Far fewer resources needed, and it starts treating processions like they are *normal*, not special.
Parish-level, for that matter. It doesn't take that much prep to walk around your church grounds (if you have them) for a bit. It's literally just walking.
My parish has done an annual Eucharistic procession for years now, but the National Pilgrimage was very effective in mobilizing interest in our community when it came through and bringing lots of people out who hadn't participated in the past. I think one of the big fruits we will see from the national event is an increase in local events, because people got to "practice" having these events that maybe felt intimidating when they'd never done it before, and because lots of people now have an experience of doing it and will be interested.
I'd like to see the national pilgrimage be less-than-annual, because I think what made it effective was that it was special, and if it happen every year, even though on different routes, it will cease to be special. But I think there is lots of room for both national and local, and they can help each other.
If it has any fruits at all, it will have to have local fruits. And I very much hope it does. Possibly one of the best things it did was declare to every Catholic that at least most of the bishops in the US consider Eucharistic Processions to be a normal Catholic thing, not a museum piece from the past or something only weird or super-pious Catholics do. But that declaration will go by the wayside if there aren't local fruits.
I think you could have it be an every-other-year event and still be special. Just don't do the same route. The one they took this year was well over a day's drive away for many people, which is a lot of people who couldn't do anything beyond read about it - press coverage certainly is something you get more of when you do things infrequently.
I will ask St Mary Magdalene to pray for us, as we are sent out to tell folks the good news of Christ (I think this is evangelization in words of one syllable.)
“How do we scale up? How do we learn from this [Congress], and how do we keep the momentum going?” Shanks asked. “How do we pull together as a Church, at least in the infrastructure, so that not everyone is working in silos?” he asked.
I don't get this attitude. The Church has always thrived through subsidiarity, first in the family, then in the local parish. This is not "everyone working in silos".
Hopefully it won’t use the “scale up” templates of CCHD, Peter’s Pence, Treasury of the Vatican Secretariat State, etc. perhaps some university level training in Finance, Controlling, and Asset Management would help?
You’re right, but also the church has often attempted and completed projects much greater than the parish level. Cathedrals, Universities, Missions, etc. I think the Eucharistic Congress is inherently missionary in nature, in the same way that the 3 festivals in temple Judaism held together the Jewish faith and culture.
I was struck by the power of silence in the stadium — there was no music, no preaching, for a few minutes, there was just silent prayer.
Why not strengthen local communities? Make the TLM more widely accessible. There the faithful can experience the profound silence in the liturgy, the devotion to the Eucharist, kneeling before a communion rail, the priest saying the Eucharistic prayer in a very low voice, copious incensing of the Eucharist. And it does not cost millions of dollars and organizational and logistical obstacles, and it would be accessible to everyone, not those who can afford the time and expense to travel long distances.
The Lord was not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire but in the still small voice. 1 Kings 19: 11-12
Re: “kneeling before a communion rail” ==> As long as tyrannical parish priests can’t use that communion rail as a barrier to deacons and extraordinary lay ministers of the Eucharist ministering in the sanctuary. Fortunately we have SOME good bishops and parish pastors who are preventing this and other retro-traditional passive aggressiveness. Otherwise have at it with anything that saves the US church. 🙏 🙏 🙏
The TLM communities just get stronger as the naysayers try to shut them down. It helps that many of those interested in the TLM are young and will outlive the older folks who for whatever reason seem to be hung up about it.
Powerful witness, Mr. Vasek.
I’ve been very vocal over the past two years (including in the minor fiefdom of The Pillar comment section) that the Revival is a fruitless endeavor. I want to publicly declare that I was wrong.
While I retain my criticisms that this ultimately won’t increase the percentage of Real-Presence-Belief much above 33% (which was the impetus for this whole thing), and that ultimately the only true Eucharistic Revival will only come from a unilaterally-implemented nation-wide reform of the liturgy back to traditional liturgical praxis… I will say that a major fruit has grown from this Revival: a renewed interest in large-scale public Eucharistic Processions. This is very needed in our time here in the US, and I think the numbers of some of those crowds inspired people. And seeing those photos of Lucas Oil Stadium were awesome.
Praise God that the Faith is not dead yet here in the US, and in fact American Catholicism is more-or-less carrying the Global Church right now.
It’s true what they say: “it takes a very handsome man to admit when he’s wrong”
Edit: Goodness. Mike gives me a compliment, I play into it with a cheeky lil tongue-in-cheek comment at my own expense… and so he rescinds his compliment, takes a swipe, and deletes his comment? I just like to have some fun. “The angels can fly, because they take themselves so lightly”
Humor is difficult over a text medium, especially when you’re joking with people who don’t know you. I’m glad for your insight about Eucharistic Processions.
Thank you.
Don’t worry, I’m very unpleasant on the eyes.
Born with a congenital disorder, Merrick uses his disfigurement to earn a living as the "Elephant Man." Treves brings Merrick into his home, discovering that his rough exterior hides a refined soul, and that Merrick can teach the stodgy British upper class of the time a lesson about dignity.
(I post this with Maddox's comment ringing in my ears) :)
I like your sense of humor!
If the concern is that American Catholics won't top more than 33% in affirming a belief in the real presence, then there's good news on that front.
In a September 2023 CARA report, a random survey of adult Catholics found that 64% of those surveyed “provided responses that indicate they believe in the Real Presence.” And a June 2024 Vinea Research report found that 69% of Catholics believed that "Jesus Christ is truly present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist."
And those were just from random samplings of Catholics. In the CARA survey, "95% of weekly Mass attenders believe in the Real Presence" and 80% of those who attend less than weekly but at least once a month believe" in the real presence. This was similar to the Vinea Research survey, which found that around 80% of montly/weekly Catholics believe in the real presence.
Imagine the ars celebrandi of the average American Catholic parish. Since these surveys looked at average American Catholics, we can see that--even with that average ars celebrandi and without a "nation-wide reform of the liturgy back to traditional liturgical praxis"--Eucharistic belief is still high.
I loved the whole thing and am so grateful I was able to go. I hope the bishops feel more boldly about trying new things going forwards. Each morning after mass the bishops and cardinals got a huge round of applause. You could see how much it meant to them. I wonder how often they get thanked for their service.
My favorite moment was a surprise Eucharistic procession on Friday. I was watching a live podcast recording when I heard the bells. They paused the show and everyone knelt while only 3 priests walked by with a monstrance around the convention center hallway. They did the same thing on again that afternoon while I was in line for the Shroud of Turin exhibit. They really kept Jesus as the center of everything.
My pitch: A "program" (not the right word), encouraging complete with instructions, how a Eucharistic Congress at the deanery level, or diocesan level, could happen. I loved getting to be a part of the Nat'l Eucharistic Pilgrimage that came near enough to be in driving distance. It was so fabulous to walk with other Catholics belonging mostly to 3 different parishes within 6 miles of each other total.