The Marks Post: Rallying for the Eucharist

There were men dressed in capes and funny hats, there was a team of young Vikings from Opelousas, there was random pieces of confetti falling from the ceiling, and there was a large Jack Daniel’s sign hanging on the wall. Where were all of these things taking place, you ask. It was all at the Cajundome Convention Center for the Diocese of Lafayette’s Eucharistic Rally.
The event is part of a national three-year Eucharistic Revival, which includes the 10th National Eucharistic Congress next year in Indianapolis, Ind.
As for the event held here in Lafayette, last Thursday, Fr. Alexander Albert delivered the homily. What stood out to me during the homily was the theme of, “Enough, Lord.”
The first reading of the Mass was about Elijah praying under a broom tree that the Lord would take his life. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors,” 1 Kings 19:4.
An angel of the Lord then appeared, and Elijah found a cake of bread and a jug of water. He ate and was then able to walk 40 days to Mount Horeb.
As Fr. Albert said in the homily, Elijah’s words of despair are also our words of encouragement because the Lord provides all that we need.
The same God who sent down manna in the desert as the Israelites were sojourning for 40 years provided Elijah food for his journey as he was fleeing King Ahab. Then, in the fullness of time, this same God sent His Only Begotten Son into the world.
Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity, came and told those gathered in the Capernaum synagogue, “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world,” John 6:48-51.
The Word made Flesh feeds us and provides all that we need with His body, blood, soul, and Divinity through the Holy Eucharist. I don’t know about you, but Jesus is enough for me.
One other thing that stood out to me about the rally was the date. I don’t know if this was planned, but it was held on the Feast Day St. Faustina and on the eve of the First Friday of the Month. Why is this significant? Jesus appeared to St. Faustina and delivered to her the devotion to His Divine Mercy that first poured out of His Sacred Heart when the lance pierced His side while hanging on the cross.
Dr. Ralph Martin, president of Renewal Ministries, touched on this during his keynote address after Mass. He shared excerpts of St. Faustina’s diary and said what matters most in our salvation is what we do with Jesus’ mercy. He also shared reflections on St. Paul’s words in his First Letter to the Corinthians, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”
The night ended with Adoration and Benediction. The monstrance used was identical to the one which will be used in Indianapolis next summer. I’ll close with these words of the Prophet Zechariah that came to my mind during Adoration, “Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, Humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”