The 2024 U.S. National Eucharistic Congress (July 17-21) drew more than 60,000 people to Indianapolis, IN, to learn about and celebrate the Eucharist. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect for the Section of Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization, celebrated the closing Mass for the five-day event. In his homily, the cardinal focused on the relationship between the Church’s mission and the Eucharist as the gift at the heart of that mission.
“In the fullness of time, the Father sent His eternal Word, who became flesh, through the Holy Spirit,” Cardial Tagle said. “He was present among us human beings, as one like us in the flesh, except in sin. The Son sent by the Father came as a life-giving gift, a gift in the human flesh of Jesus, ‘My flesh for the life of the world,’ Jesus Himself declares. We should note that Jesus’ description of His being sent by the Father is always connected to the gift of His flesh for others, being sent and being a gift.”
Cardinal Tagle reminded the faithful that this Eucharistic gift, both fully human and fully divine, has been distorted, ignored, or forgotten in the modern world.
“We do not see gifts in persons and events,” he said. “And those who do not see gifts in themselves and in others will not give gifts. They will not go on a mission. In fact, I heard that some people prefer to relate with so-called friends or dates generated by artificial intelligence because they do not see gifts in real flesh and blood persons.”
But from the beginning, Cardinal Tagle noted, Christ’s message of the Eucharist as the ultimate gift to humanity was also rejected by many.
“Well, Jesus told his listeners in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, that to receive him, to accept him means first to believe in him, and secondly, to eat his flesh and drink his blood,” the Cardinal said. “The disciples who were initially eager to listen to him started doubting. They said, ‘This saying is hard, it’s difficult. Who can accept it?’”
In rejecting the gift, they also turned away from the promise of conversion through an encounter with and conformity to Jesus Christ, Cardinal Tagle said.
These disciples who rejected Christ’s teaching on the Eucharist “returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him,” he noted. “They returned to a way of life without Jesus. They chose his absence rather than his presence in their lives. Instead of accompanying him, they walked alone. Their rejection of the gift of Jesus’ word, body, and blood meant they would not walk with him.”
Cardinal Tagle asked the faithful present to consider those times when they had been the cause of others deciding not to walk with Christ in their life.
“Is it possible that we, his disciples, contribute also to the departure of others from Jesus?” he asked. “Why do some people leave Jesus when he is giving the most precious gift of eternal life? Why do some of the baptized turn away from the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist? Does our biblical, catechetical, and liturgical formation allow the gift of Jesus’ person to shine forth clearly? Does our Eucharistic celebration manifest Jesus’ presence or does it obscure the presence of Jesus? Do Mass-goers manifest the presence of Christ through their witness of life, charity, and mission? Do our parish communities provide an experience of Jesus’ closeness and caring? Are our families still the primary teachers and transmitters of the faith?”
Yet with the Eucharist and through the liturgy that celebrates it, there is always the opportunity to renew the mission, Cardinal Tagle said, adding that Mass itself is a call to mission—and, at the conclusion of every Mass, the faithful are reminded of this mission.
“Dear friends, when the priest or deacon says, ‘The Mass is ended, go in the peace of Christ,’” we must “Go! Go! Go! And what you have heard, touched, and tasted, you must share with others. We have received the gift of Jesus. Let us go to proclaim Jesus zealously and joyfully for the life of the world.”
–Image Source: AB/Catholic News Agency
