By Fr. Adam Sughroue
Seminarian Formator: St. Gregory the Great Seminary
Pastor, Presentation Parish in Bellwood and St. Francis (Center)
I can remember getting ready for my Mass of thanksgiving (first Mass) as a newly ordained priest in 2011. There was a lot of work to plan the Mass, the meal afterwards, and get through finals, all leading up to my ordination to the priesthood.
Standing in the sacristy of St. Patrick Church in McCook, I remember this thought hit me right before we started the procession: “I’m about to hold the body of Jesus Christ in my hands for a longer time than I have ever before.”
Now, this was not the first time I had this thought, but there was something that struck me before my first Mass. I have been told that I elevate the Eucharist longer than most priests. I do not know exactly why I do this, but bringing people’s attention to the Real Presence is one thing the priest is called to do.
We are all called to evangelize, and thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are well-equipped for this mission. It may not mean spreading the Gospel in a foreign land or going door-to-door with the Good News—and it may require overcoming some fears—but the Lord is asking each of us to step out of our comfort zone and evangelize one-on-one.
There is someone in your life right now whom Jesus longs to call to himself. He wants to spark a relationship with them and bless them with his sacraments. In this Year of Mission, Catholics across the U.S. are saying “yes” to a special form of heart-to-heart accompaniment called the “Walk With One” initiative. This is your opportunity to be God’s instrument in the life of another person. Imagine how our families, neighborhoods, and country will be transformed if every active Catholic answers this call!” (Learn more at Eucharisticrevival.org/walk-with-one.)
In 2019 the Pew Research Center published a survey that said most self-described Catholics do not believe the core teaching (that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life). The study goes on to say that nearly 7 in 10 Catholics say they personally believe that during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine used in Communion “are symbols of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.” This error is why the Bishops of the US planned the National Eucharistic Revival.
During Advent, Christina Podolak, a member of Presentation Parish in Bellwood (Marietta), came to me and asked if we could give the parishioners a new Matthew Kelly book called “33 Days to Eucharistic Glory” for Christmas. This is how it came about.
“After attending the Eucharistic Congress with the Diocese of Lincoln group,” she said, “there were several of us on the pilgrimage from rural small parishes. We each were inspired in our own way from Bishop Cozzens’ closing remarks to take the message of the Eucharist back to one person in our lives. Being in a rural area, we (pilgrims) knew that was a unique challenge for us because our parishes are small. We knew who would show up to anything extra we tried to do, like a bible study. We wanted to reach everyone, not just some.
“That was in July. We took it to prayer, prayed with it for several months. I remembered a book my friend told me about, ‘33 Days to Eucharistic Glory.’ In October, I finally went through the book.”
The Holy Spirit, Christina, and I had a conversation about how best to use the book for the benefit of the parishioners. We came up with the idea of using the book during homilies each week. I would highlight from the week’s readings.
I ordered the books and we gave them out at Christmas. Christina had done the math to figure out what day we needed to start on, and she sent out a Flocknote to let people know the day to start reading the book. We started Jan. 1 and finished Feb. 2, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus.
Flocknote was a great tool in helping the parishioners to know where they should be in the book. The book has a page to a page and a half for each day, a lesson, and a prayer. The book is very easy to follow. It was exciting and interesting to hear how people were including the book in their day-to-day lives:
“We read a passage of ‘33 Days to Eucharistic Glory’ as a family every evening,” said Colleen Storm, a member of St. Francis Parish in Center.
It led us on a journey to the heart of our faith, the Heart of Christ, the Eucharist.”
“I read ahead a lot. I did not want to put the book down. This was a very good thing for our parish!” said Butch Hain, a member of Presentation.
Roberta Adamy of Presentation said: “Just want to say thanks. We both enjoyed learning more about our faith. So glad (Christina) suggested it to Father.”
“I found the book to be very enlightening and reflective,” said Todd Hilfiker of St. Francis Parish. “The content was easy to comprehend but challenged me to deeper thought on each day’s reflection. I also enjoyed the way Father incorporated the book into his weekly homily.”
The old and true saying that “God works in mysterious ways” came through with the book and the consecration for many of the people in the pews. We ordered a total of 300 copies of the book for both parishes. We gave them to parishioners and visitors alike, and we do not have any copies left. Since the consecration, I have heard already how the book and the consecration have impacted people’s lives. The stories are from both parishioners and visitors.
“The goal of reading the book was to get people to think about the Real Presence, to pause every day from the worldly noise and reflect on how God is speaking to them personally,” Christina said.
As a pastor you desire your parishioners to have a deep faith and love of God. You usually only get them for 10 minutes (homily) once a week to teach about the Faith, that they have a loving and devoted Father in Heaven who desires to spend eternity with them. When we prayed the Consecration Prayer all together, my pastor heart grew and deepened. To hear more than 300 people pray the prayer of consecration to Jesus in the Eucharist was incredibly holy, awesome, and edifying.
I look forward to seeing and hearing how the Lord will continue to work through this consecration. The parishes in Butler County are filled with good, salt of the earth, loving people. We walk together in good times and in bad and everything in between. God is guiding us and loving us and not from a distance, but from our hearts.
