Washington, D.C, May 2, 2022—In support of the multi-year National Eucharistic Revival leading up to the USCCB National Eucharistic Congress to be held in Indianapolis July 17-21, 2024, a team of “National Eucharistic Preachers” has been formed. This new initiative was established with the overall goal of awakening a desire among the faithful to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist and to cultivate personal devotion and relationship with Him in a way that bears fruit in works of charity.
A diverse group of diocesan and religious priests serving in (arch)dioceses around the United States that span a variety of years in the priesthood, ministerial experience, ethnicity and culture, the National Eucharistic Preachers gathered in fraternity and prayer at The Mission of Our Lady of the Angels on the west side of Chicago for a retreat April 3-6 that was truly “Pentecostal,” according to Sr. Alicia Torres. Sr. Alicia is a Franciscan of the Eucharist of Chicago who not only helped plan the retreat but also was instrumental in the formation of the National Eucharistic Preachers initiative.
“The Real Presence of Jesus was experienced in a powerful way at Mass, where Christ’s sacrifice is daily renewed, and in the profound silence of Eucharistic Adoration,” noted Sr. Alicia. “The priests not only looked inward with Jesus, but also outward toward Jesus as they encountered Him in the Eucharist, and then in each other and in the poor, whom they took time to love and serve during the retreat.”
The grace-filled retreat featured Mass and a special message from Cardinal Blase Cupich along with inspiring presentations by Bishop Andrew Cozzens, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, Archbishop Peter Sartain Archbishop Emeritus of Seattle, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Bishop Robert Lombardo of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Fr. Mike Schmitz of the Diocese of Duluth, and Dr. Tim O’Malley of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life.
Fr. Manuel Dorantes of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Aleteia Editor-in-Chief Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P., and 56 others, comprise the National Eucharistic Preachers. Over the next three years of the Eucharistic Revival, representatives from the group will be available to preach at various events including gatherings for diocesan and parish leaders, special diocesan masses and Eucharistic holy hours, clergy convocations, diocesan Eucharistic congresses, youth and young adult events, and more. The National Eucharistic Preachers seek to affirm the great work done in the dioceses by clergy and lay faithful. Dioceses around the country will be invited to identify local preachers–both ordained and lay–who can help multiply the efforts of the National Eucharistic Preachers on a local level to amplify the impact of the Revival.
“A renewal of Eucharistic preaching is an important focus of the three-year Eucharistic Revival happening in dioceses and parishes across the United States. There is an invitation from the bishops of the United States to ignite our faith in the Eucharist in a way that flows from and returns to the Eucharist.” said Fr. Jorge Torres, a priest of the Diocese of Orlando and staff member dedicated to the Eucharistic Revival at the USCCB. Cardinal Cantalamessa, preacher to the papal household, spoke about this invitation in his first lenten sermon: “Some local and national churches have decided to dedicate the current year to a special catechesis on the Eucharist, in view of a desired Eucharistic revival in the Catholic Church.”
To learn more about the National Eucharistic Preachers or find out how they can be scheduled for local events, visit https://eucharisticrevival.org/eucharistic-preachers/.
To schedule an interview with Sr. Alicia Torres or Fr. Jorge Torres, contact Carrie Kline at media@eucharisticcongress.org.
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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB’s) mission is “to support the ministry of bishops with an emphasis on evangelization, by which the bishops exercise in a communal and collegial manner certain pastoral functions entrusted to them by the Lord Jesus of sanctifying, teaching, and governing (see Lumen gentium, no. 21).” Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens is the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Crookston, MN and serves as the Chairman for the Board of Directors for the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc.
