“Go and share what you have touched and felt”

The stream of priests, bishops and cardinals would not end – more than 15 minutes did the entrance procession of all clerics last. A choir and solo singers, accompanied by the Indiana Symphonic Orchestra, provided beautiful liturgical songs. And Cardinal Luis Tagle, the Papal delegate, brought the greetings from Pope Francis. The pope gave him one phrase on the way: “Conversion to the Eucharist.”
 
In his homily, he pointed the 60,000 faithful in the congregation to the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, where Jesus explained that he would give His flesh for the life of the world. “My Father gives you the true bread from heaven (Jn 6:32) and “I am the Bread of Life” (Jn 6:35). “He is sent to be given to others.”
 
However, in our society, we could overlook the aspect of gratitude: “Do we look at life as a gift, or do we see our achievements?” Self-affirmation could lead to oppression and individualism; “some people even prefer to go on dates with Artificial Intelligence characters instead of a real person.” He asked poignant questions to reflect on: “Husbands and wives, do you see your spouse as a gift or a problem?” The same could be asked of children or parents. And: “Priests, do you see your bishop as…?” – he didn’t need to finish the phrase.
 
Instead, each faithful is sent to be Eucharist for others. “Every poor person, a homeless, someone who differs from us – we just need to be present.”
 
His second point was, “Is Jesus a gift or a problem for you?” The disciples faced the same challenge when people said that Jesus’ teaching was hard. " Many returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him—they chose his absence rather than his presence.” As Catholics, we need to ask ourselves, “Do we contribute to the departure of others? Do our parishes transmit Jesus’ closeness and caring?”
 
Cardinal Tagle recalled Simon Peter's answer to Jesus’ question if the apostles wanted to leave, too: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). Jesus asks each one of us” the cardinal continued. He doesn’t impose himself. Faith and conviction are our gift to Jesus.”
 
Like the apostles, Jesus sent every participant of the National Eucharistic Congress: “Go and share what you have touched and felt—share Jesus’ gift of reconciliation and peace with others … a Eucharistic people is a missionary and joyful people.”
 
At the end of the solemn Mass with more than 200 bishops and cardinals, almost 1,200 priests, over 600 deacons, over 600 seminarians and more than 1,200 religious, Bishop Andrew Cozzens announced that, along with another pilgrimage in 2025, the next National Eucharistic Congress could be held in 2033 – marking the 2000 anniversary of Jesus’ death and resurrection.