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Marking the close of the US bishops’ three-year National Eucharistic Revival, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles described the movement as a “season of grace” for the American Church.
He preached the homily during a June 22 Mass celebrated by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the US, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Angelus News reported.
“These past three years have been a season of grace for the whole Church in this country,” he said. “We all have come to understand that the Eucharist is the heart of God’s plan of love for human history and his plan of love for each of our lives.”
Drawing from Scripture and tradition, he reminded Catholics that the Eucharist fulfills God’s preparation from the very beginning — prefigured by Melchizedek, the priest and king who offered bread and wine in thanksgiving to “God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth.”
Archbishop Gomez described Jesus as the new and eternal High Priest, who lays down his life “out of love for us, and to deliver us from the enemies of sin and death.”
“Jesus leaves us the Eucharist so that day after day, from East to West, from the rising of the sun to its setting, until the end of ages, his living presence will be revealed, and we will know his promise: that the power of the last enemy, death, has been defeated,” he said.
Recalling the Gospel scene of the multiplication of the loaves, the archbishop linked Christ’s miraculous feeding of the crowds to the Last Supper and to the Church’s ongoing mission.
“Jesus knows that the human heart hungers, not for bread alone,” he said. “We hunger for love, we hunger to know the meaning and purpose of our lives, we hunger for living bread, bread that can give us life without end.”
He said that the work of the Eucharistic Revival must continue in the lives of everyday believers.
“Jesus is counting on us to bring people back to the Church, back to Mass!” he said. “We can never approach the altar without wanting to bring others with us, to know the love that we know!”
Archbishop Gomez called on Catholics to become “Eucharistic evangelists” who bring Christ into their homes, schools, and workplaces.
“Let’s be bold for Jesus,” he said. “Bold like that first generation in the Church, bold like the saints down through the ages!”
