Thoughts on the National Eucharistic Congress

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First, a confession that I maybe shouldn’t say publicly: I wasn’t particularly looking forward to attending the National Eucharistic Congress. I knew it was going to be three 14-hour days in a crowd of 50,000 people, bookended by another two long days of the congress mixed with travel. It would be almost a week of pure stress, with the added pressure of interviewing Utahns who attended and then spending several hours writing the story.

So, no. Not my idea of a good time.

On the other hand, I know from experience that these types of events can be immensely fruitful, and the stories that those who attended bear this out. You can read about some of the pilgrims’ stories on pages 12-13 of this issue; Bishop Oscar A. Solis shares his reflection on p. 11.

For me, the inspirational highlights came from the questions posed by the speakers, so many of whom had wonderful stories. An example is Sister Mary Grace Langrell SV, who told of inviting a man to Mass. His response was that if she knew how he spent his day she wouldn’t invite him. She nevertheless invited him again, and he proceeded to tell her what he did, then asked if she still would welcome him. She said yes, and then challenged those of us who were listening: Would we be willing to do the same? She didn’t need to remind us Catholics that that is what Jesus did.

Msgr. James Shea gave a brief history of the Eucharist, and said the central question of our life is, “Where will I go for my sustenance?” – will I seek the bread of the world, or the bread of heaven? We are famished for God, he said, adding that we need to tell people that we have found where the food is.

Another of the speakers, whose name I didn’t catch, suggested we need to ask ourselves what is the lie that holds us back from knowing God’s love, that makes us think that Christ can’t love us because of what we have done.

Sister Josephine Garrett pointed out that we human beings have a long history of struggling with hunger; that we run toward opportunities to be falsely satisfied. She asked whether we can live with the hunger of this world while we await the blessings of the next.

There were other wonderful speakers, including Paula Umaña, who urged us to “run to Jesus,” and many whom I didn’t have the chance to hear. Amid all these,  I also had the suffering of Jesus’ Passion brought home to me through the Shroud of Turin exhibit. Among the other items in the exhibit was a life-sized cast of the man whose image is imprinted on the shroud. The cast clearly shows the wounds inflicted by the scourging; these wounds cover the entire body. I’ve heard the story of the Passion hundreds of times, and I know intellectually that it was an excruciating experience for Christ to have undergone, but seeing those wounds with my own eyes gave me a visceral appreciation for the suffering Christ endured.

Those who weren’t able to attend the Congress can still hear many of the presentations; just search online for recordings. I’d also like to encourage local Catholics who are hungry for spiritual enrichment to attend the Utah  Catholic Conference, which is scheduled for Sept. 21. It will be a day of faith formation that will include the opportunity to share fellowship and stories of our own journeys. These are stories worth telling, and worth hearing; as Sr. Josephine said, ordinary and simple encounters can also be profound.

For information on the Utah Catholic Conference, visit www.dioslc.org.

Marie Mischel is editor of the Intermountain Catholic. Contact her at marie@icatholic.org.