Christ the Cornerstone

Join the call to share our eucharistic faith with the world

The Lord has invited the Church in the United States into a season of profound renewal in and through the holy Eucharist.

In November of 2021, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved the National Eucharistic Congress as the milestone moment of a National Eucharistic Revival. The revival officially launched in June 2022 with the goal of rekindling a living faith in the hearts of Catholics across America, and this movement has already borne life-changing local initiatives, pilgrimages and unprecedented gatherings inspired by the Holy Spirit.

We believe the Holy Spirit continues to ask Catholics across America to respond to four invitations. The first invitation calls us to a renewed encounter with WHO we worship. The second invitation calls us to discover in greater depth WHY we worship Jesus in the Eucharist and what this incredible gift means. The third invitation calls for a renewed attentiveness to HOW we worship. The fourth invitation focuses on WHAT we do in response—acting on our faith, bringing Christ to others, and spreading the flame of revival.

This fourth invitation—WHAT we do in response—is the focus of the current “mission” phase of the National Eucharistic Revival. It involves our commitment to carry out the mission that we received at our baptism and that is renewed each time we receive the Lord Jesus (body and blood, soul and divinity) in the holy Eucharist.

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress was a defining moment for our generation. It was also the beginning of a new chapter for the Church in the United States.

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis was honored to host this awesome gathering of more than 50,000 missionary disciples. For the first time in nearly a century, the Catholic Church from every corner of the United States assembled in one place. More than just a retreat or conference, the National Eucharistic Congress was a pivotal moment in both American history and in the legacy of the Catholic Church.

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress was the continuation of the living faith that built the Catholic Church in the United States. Now that it has been successfully accomplished, we can, and must, continue the work of sharing the greatest gift humanity has ever received. The congress was a high point within the National Eucharistic Revival, and this work continues now with renewed enthusiasm and great joy.

Last summer, members of our Catholic family from the four corners of our nation and beyond gathered to experience profound and personal renewal through the power of Christ’s love. Like a new Pentecost, this transformation flowed out from Indianapolis to revive our local communities as the whole Church affirms her first love—the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith and our vocation to missionary discipleship. At the conclusion of the Eucharistic Congress, we were sent out on a mission to listen to, and accompany, our sisters and brothers as we share our eucharistic faith with the world.

As beautifully stated by Pope Francis in his message for World Mission Day 2024, which was on Oct. 20:

“The mission for all requires the commitment of all. We need to continue our journey toward a fully synodal and missionary Church in the service of the Gospel. Synodality is essentially missionary and, vice versa, mission is always synodal. Consequently, close missionary cooperation is today all the more urgent and necessary, both in the universal Church and in the particular Churches.”

The congress offered its participants life-changing encounters with Jesus. It also provided incredible opportunities for formation from trusted voices in the Church, speakers who represented the gift of diversity that is the Church in the United States.

Together, we shared our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and we were reminded in many powerful ways that our Lord gathers us, nourishes us and then sends us out to proclaim his message of salvation and hope to all nations and peoples.

The Eucharist is our mission. It is the great gift-of-self that we receive from Christ. It is the treasured gift that we are invited to become as we conform our minds and hearts and bodies to Christ. And the Eucharist is the transformational gift that we are commanded to share generously with everyone we meet—those who are far away from us (“on the peripheries”) and those who are closest to us in our families and local communities.

As we continue this final, mission-directed phase of the National Eucharistic Revival, let us pray for the grace to receive this great sacrament with reverence, to allow it to transform us, and to commit ourselves to reaching out to others as missionary disciples—Spirit-filled evangelizers who are on fire with God’s love. †