Angelus News | July 29, 2022 | Vol. 7 No. 15
On the cover: A pilgrim walks on his knees outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2019. For our special pilgrimage issue, on Page 10 Mike Aquilina writes on how the urge to leave everything and travel afar is as old as Christianity itself. On Page 14, Elise Ureneck recounts the unexpected graces of her last pilgrimage with her late mother, and on Page 16, California historian Stephen Binz points the way to the pilgrim path in our own backyard. On Page 20, Pasadena native Jenny Gorman Patton tells of finding the healing she needed, rather than the one she wanted, at the Marian shrine of Lourdes, France.
On the cover: A pilgrim walks on his knees outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2019. For our special pilgrimage issue, on Page 10 Mike Aquilina writes on how the urge to leave everything and travel afar is as old as Christianity itself. On Page 14, Elise Ureneck recounts the unexpected graces of her last pilgrimage with her late mother, and on Page 16, California historian Stephen Binz points the way to the pilgrim path in our own backyard. On Page 20, Pasadena native Jenny Gorman Patton tells of finding the healing she needed, rather than the one she wanted, at the Marian shrine of Lourdes, France.
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NEW WORLD OF FAITH<br />
ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ<br />
The eucharistic revival begins<br />
The eucharistic revival is beginning.<br />
In a Mass and procession<br />
celebrated last month at the cathedral<br />
on the feast of Corpus Christi, we launched<br />
the National Eucharistic Revival,<br />
an initiative of the U.S. Catholic<br />
bishops. This revival will go on for the<br />
next two years, closing with a National<br />
Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis,<br />
in <strong>July</strong> 2024.<br />
On Aug. 13, we will hold our<br />
archdiocesan Eucharistic Congress at<br />
the cathedral.<br />
I hope many of you will join me.<br />
The daylong event is free for everyone.<br />
We will have Mass and Exposition<br />
of the Blessed Sacrament, along with<br />
presentations from top speakers, in<br />
English and Spanish.<br />
I am praying that our Eucharistic<br />
Congress will be an encounter with<br />
Jesus that renews us and transforms<br />
our daily lives.<br />
This revival is about restoring the<br />
vision of the Eucharist to the heart of<br />
Catholic identity and to our experience<br />
as followers of Jesus Christ.<br />
In the mystery of the Eucharist, we<br />
witness to our worldview as Catholics,<br />
the beautiful truth that our world is<br />
created and sustained by the love of<br />
God.<br />
In the Eucharist, we proclaim the<br />
truth that this creation has a loving<br />
Creator, and that each one of us receives<br />
our life as a gift from the Creator.<br />
We proclaim that the Father loves<br />
each one of us so much that he gave<br />
his only Son, who offered his body<br />
and blood, who poured out his life<br />
on the cross, who died and rose again<br />
for us for the life of this world that he<br />
created.<br />
In the Eucharist, we remember that<br />
Jesus loves us to the end, that he gave<br />
everything he had for us on the cross.<br />
He became flesh in the womb of the<br />
Virgin Mary in order to offer his flesh<br />
and blood on the cross. <strong>No</strong>w, he gives<br />
his body and blood to us, to be our<br />
daily bread, to nourish and strengthen<br />
us, as we walk with him on our journey<br />
through this world.<br />
When the priest speaks the words of<br />
consecration at the altar, we proclaim<br />
Jesus’ death, and he comes to us<br />
again, and speaks to us of his love. In<br />
these words, the Lord is telling us:<br />
This is my body, broken and given<br />
for you and your salvation. This is my<br />
blood, poured out for you, and for the<br />
life of the world.<br />
And as Jesus humbled himself to<br />
share in our humanity, in the Eucharist<br />
he calls us to share in his divinity.<br />
Jesus wants to live his life in us, and<br />
he wants us to live our lives through<br />
him, in him, and with him.<br />
These are mysteries beyond words.<br />
But these mysteries give our lives a<br />
direction and shape, a purpose.<br />
The offertory prayer that we make in<br />
every Mass — “Lift up your hearts /<br />
We have lifted them up to the Lord”<br />
— this is how we should live now,<br />
offering our life back to our Creator.<br />
This gift that we have received, we<br />
should give back to him in gratitude,<br />
in remembrance of his gift, his sacrifice<br />
for us, and for our salvation.<br />
The Eucharist makes our lives as Catholics<br />
a prayer, something beautiful<br />
that we offer to God, that we offer to<br />
our brothers and sisters.<br />
Just as the bread and wine we offer in<br />
the Mass is transformed into his body<br />
As Jesus gave his life for us, he calls us now to<br />
walk with him and to follow him. He calls us to<br />
love as he loves, and to give our lives for others,<br />
in works of mercy and love.<br />
and blood, so our lives are meant to<br />
be transformed through our partaking<br />
in the Eucharist.<br />
As Jesus gave his life for us, he calls<br />
us now to walk with him and to follow<br />
him. He calls us to love as he loves,<br />
and to give our lives for others, in<br />
works of mercy and love.<br />
We have a beautiful opportunity in<br />
these next two years, to revive and<br />
renew our personal love for Our Lord<br />
in the Eucharist and to rediscover his<br />
love for us.<br />
Pray for me and I will pray for you.<br />
And let us pray for the Holy Spirit to<br />
bring many hearts back to the Eucharist<br />
and to Mass in these coming<br />
months.<br />
May our Blessed Mother Mary, in<br />
whom the word became flesh, help all<br />
of us to make the Eucharist and the<br />
Holy Mass the center of our lives.<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>29</strong>, <strong>2022</strong> • ANGELUS • 3