It has been two weeks since I have returned with my sisters from the Eucharistic Congress. Since then I have found myself often on my knees before the Tabernacle in our tiny chapel here in Alexandria, VA. I was one of almost 60,000 adorers in the evening Revival Sessions at the Congress. Here I am one of six, as my sisters and I pray before Jesus in the Eucharist, the Master who teaches us, heals us, and transforms us by his life-giving love. I think I’m still contemplating how all the magnificence of the liturgies at the Congress is no more amazing than the liturgy and prayer in our little chapel or nearby parish.
In fact, our community began with just one person in prayer before Jesus in the Eucharist. It was before the Tabernacle that our founder, Blessed James Alberione, when he was just sixteen, heard in the silence of Eucharistic adoration the voice of Jesus asking him to bring to him the multitudes of people who were confused, led astray, wounded, and wandering. In that all-night vigil of prayer at the beginning of the twentieth century, the young Alberione sensed the longing of Jesus for all people to come to him. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).
Every Daughter of St. Paul’s heart knows deeply this love of the Eucharistic Jesus who longs for the salvation of everyone.
Blessed James Alberione said that our role before the tabernacle is to be:
“living lamps before Jesus in the Eucharist…
handmaids of honor of the tabernacle and of its Divine Dweller;
angels of the Eucharist who receive and who give;
souls who hunger and thirst for the bread of the Eucharist and the water of his grace;
hearts that share with their Spouse in the Eucharist his desires, his goals, his self-sacrifice for all;
the intimate confidants of Jesus in the Host, listening to every word of life and meditating on it in your heart, as did Mary.”
And in another place Alberione helped us grasp the disappointment of Jesus who so often waits for someone to be with him in empty churches:
“If Jesus is continually present in the Holy Tabernacle, it means we have the duty to visit him. He awaits us. But our God has to always wait in vain for people who are busy with a thousand things and forget the One who is the Supreme Good, the One who said: ‘I will be with you.’ Jesus waits for us.”
Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist in order to share his life with us, and through us, with the world. Sister Marie Paul Curley reflects: “A true encounter with the Master kindles a new passion within. Alight with the love of Christ, the disciple wants to share that light with everyone. As the fullness of God’s love explodes within us and transforms us, we are impelled to radiate God’s love toward others. Jesus wants to work through us to accomplish his mission, and he gives us the joy and energy to respond generously to his call.”
The Eucharistic Congress was not a climactic ending to the National Eucharistic Revival, but the beginning of a new era of the Church in the U.S. being sent out into the world as Eucharistic missionaries. A Eucharistic missionary is someone who has known in the Eucharist the love of Christ Jesus who gave his life that we might live forever, and, now, deeply touched by what they have received wants to tell everyone about the love being offered them in Christ.
After our hunger is satisfied at the banquet of the Lord, we go out to share Jesus with others who are longing to know the truth, to find their way, to understand the meaning of their lives, to receive his mercy and know his love. And really that is the call of every Catholic, of every Christian, of every disciple of Jesus. We are called to go forth and spread this love that we have received. In a particular way, it is the mission of the Daughters of St. Paul.
The ten of us who had the great grace of experiencing the Eucharistic Congress rediscovered the beauty of the Bride of Christ. This impression was so powerful as we prayed and adored and worshipped and even processed together through the streets of Indianapolis. Our hope was restored…hope for the Church and for all of us. As one of my sisters said, “It felt like a new beginning.”
If you feel this same love for Jesus in the Eucharist, the same desire to follow him and to call all people to his heart so that they can find their hope in him, contact us to learn more about the Daughters of St. Paul and the Pauline Family.
“O Jesus, Divine Master, I thank and bless your most loving heart for the great gift of the Eucharist. Your love makes you dwell in the Holy Tabernacle… May I know you, O hidden God! Let me draw healing waters from the fountain of your heart!” (Blessed James Alberione)
