Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • August 16, 2024 7 As a diocese, we have been super committed to making disciples, so it has been kind of an easy tran- sition to making disciples in the Eucharist. One thing we know is that, if you fall in love with the Eucharist, you never leave the Church. That enables us to share the faith, hope, and love that we have in Jesus Christ and especially as He gives us His body and blood in the Eucharist. It really is a wonderful statement of faith for us. GPC -- What does it do for you personally to be surrounded by 50,000 plus people who are so on fire for the Eucharist? Bishop -- My hope, when we started this three years ago, was that the statistics that we had all seen about the diminishing level of belief in the True Presence in the Eucharist would shift in a significant way after this Congress and the entire National Eucharistic Revival. The love that people have for the Eucharist has been tremendous. We are probably going to have 60,000 people here in Indianapolis by the time we get to Sunday (the final day of the Congress) and that love will just continue to grow. The hope is that we will bring the love we have encountered here back to our communities and real- ly set the world on fire with love for the Eucharist. GPC -- The last National Eucharistic Congress was held 83 years ago in Minnesota. Do you think it will take another 80 years to have the next National Eucharistic Congress, or do you think this experience will ignite that fire of which you spoke? Bishop -- I think it is going to light a fire. There is already some discussion to have another Congress in 2033. That has not been brought before the entire body of bishops, but at least it has been voiced. From here moving forward, it just means that we need to be a missionary Church and, thus follow the Great Commission of Jesus within the context of the Eucharist. GPC -- A lot of planning has gone into the Eucharistic Revival on a local and national level. What would you like to say about those efforts? Bishop -- I have been very pleased with the planning that has gone into the National Eucharistic Revival, including the planning that has taken place on the diocesan level, and the spirit of renewal and revival that has taken place all over the coun- try, but especially in our diocese. Our diocesan planning committee, which offered suggestions to our parishes and schools and other entities of the diocese in order to enable revival, has been a tremendous help. They have done an out- standing job. Also, the resources and support we have received from the national office have been extremely helpful in aiding our local efforts. The five days that the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage was in our diocese were faith changing for us as a whole diocese. We had moments in which families, who were going to the beach for the Blessing of the Sea, knelt down together in prayer. We had a police officer who was directing traffic kneel down in reverence for the Eucharist. There was a lady who was passing the pilgrimage in her car who parked her car, ran ahead of the Blessed Sacrament, and knelt to pray as the pilgrimage was passing by. One of the things that was really moving about the Congress was that as the pilgrims from all four routes entered St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis on Tuesday evening, they were all in tears. Very powerful. GPC -- What is your message to the people of our diocese as this 10th National Eucharistic Congress wraps up and the pilgrims return home? Bishop -- I am really hopeful that the missionary spirit that we have been building in the Diocese of Biloxi in our parishes, ministries, and schools will continue to flourish and that we will continue to make disciples of Jesus in the Eucharist. I also pray that we will continue to share our faith, share our love of Jesus Christ, and share what it means for us to receive Him in Holy Communion. SEE BISHOP’S SPANISH COLUMN, PAGE 6 Bishop’s Q and A From page 3 Obispo -- Tengo muchas esperanzas de que el espíritu misionero que hemos estado construyendo en la Diócesis de Biloxi en nuestras parroquias, ministeri- os y escuelas continúe floreciendo y que sigamos haciendo discípulos de Jesús en la Eucaristía. También oro para que sigamos compartiendo nuestra fe, nues- tro amor por Jesucristo y lo que significa para nosotros recibirlo en la Sagrada Comunión. Preguntas y Respuestas del Obispo en Español De la página 6 Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (Prayer for Peace)