Our Eucharistic Congress brings us together again this year as one family in Christ. The Eucharist makes our unity in Christ stronger, a unity which begins at our baptism. Many though we are, we partake of the one Eucharist, and we are one body in Christ, as St. Paul reminds us (1 Cor 10:17). The Eucharistic Congress is a wonderful expression of the unity of all the faithful of the Diocese of Charlotte.
And this Holy Mass is the high point of the Eucharistic Congress, bringing us together as one to offer the Sacrifice of Christ.
“Stay with us, Lord”: That is the theme of our Eucharistic Congress this year.
“Stay with us.” That is the urgent request the two disciples made to the stranger who joined them on the road to Emmaus, and we make that our prayer to the Lord, too.
“Stay with us, Lord.” It is the prayer of a heart that is reaching out to Jesus; the prayer of a heart that desires Jesus’ presence. It’s the prayer of a heart that desires Jesus’ companionship, His friendship on our journey. It’s the prayer of a heart that desires to stay united to Jesus. Stay, Lord. Do not ever depart. And that is the definition of holiness: a desire to stay united to Jesus: union with Christ.
During this past year, the Holy Father has emphasized holiness as the most effective way to address the abuse scandal in the Church in the United States. And he is right. Everyone must be dedicated to holiness. Everyone must be dedicated to ongoing conversion to Christ.
When you look back to the beginning of this millennium, St. John Paul II already stressed holiness as the urgent pastoral priority as we move into this third millennium of Christianity. He was a prophet! Holiness is what we need! He wrote that holiness means we take prayer seriously as our conversation with Christ; union with Christ is the soul of the Christian life. And the saintly pope also wrote, we must never neglect Sunday Mass. We must not neglect the sacrament of penance. And we must pray the sacred scripture, to make the word of God a living Word in our lives, a living Word that directs and shapes our lives. (“Novo Millennio Ineunte,” 30-40). This was the program for holiness that he laid out for us, in order to give life to the work of the Church.
What he has described is a culture of holiness. In our diocese we have built up a culture of vocations, a culture that is flourishing with many vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life. God is blessing our local Church. Alongside that culture of vocations, we must build up a culture of holiness in our diocese, a flourishing culture of holiness, always emphasizing Jesus, the primacy of Jesus and our union with Him.
And so, we pray in this Eucharistic Congress, “Stay with us, Lord,” because we do desire to stay united to Jesus. We desire holiness.
Of course, Jesus is always with us. He does stay with us. He is always with His Church. He cannot fail to be with His Church, for He said, “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” But you must also want Him to be with you. That is what this prayer is all about: You reaching out to Jesus, praying, “Stay with us, Lord.” You must keep alive a desire for Him in your heart. You must hunger and thirst for the living Lord, Jesus. Do you desire to stay always personally united to Him? That is the secret to holiness: having a heart that wants to be with the Lord Jesus.
Ite ad Eucharistia. Go to the Eucharist. If you want to stay personally united to Jesus, whom you receive in Holy Communion, then go to the Eucharist. The Eucharist and Holy Mass is where the Lord stays with us in a most powerful way: His Real Presence – His Body, His Blood, His Soul and Divinity. Go to the Eucharist; there He is always waiting to stay with you, and waiting for you to stay with Him. The Eucharist is Jesus.
By taking part in this Eucharistic Congress, may you continue to grow in a fervent love for Christ Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. He will change you. He will make you more reverent. He will make you more charitable. He will make you more generous in giving yourself in service to others. He will give a Eucharistic form to your life.
Stay with us always, Lord.
Bishop Peter J. Jugis is the fourth Bishop of Charlotte and the founder of the Eucharistic Congress. He delivered this message for the 2019 Eucharistic Congress Sept. 6-7.