Starting a fire, not a program - the National Eucharistic Revival has just begun!

“Beautiful, just beautiful.” Jaime Reyna, who just returned from Indianapolis, is still tired from the intense days but filled with joy about the successful National Eucharistic Congress that many deemed a “Mission Impossible.”
 
“This is setting the tone for future congresses,” he says. It attracted different generations, it was family-friendly, “and we tried the hardest to be diverse and include different cultural groups.” The feedback that the team got was overwhelmingly positive.
 
The music ranged from Gregorian chants to modern Praise and worship; there was a stage in the Convention Center where different groups performed. Participants could pack meals for charities, be creative or go on a scavenger hunt, which was appealing to families. There was adoration, confession and catechetical talks. Mariachis and Matachines were present, as were Christian Bluegrass bands.
 
Jaime Reyna thinks the mixture worked: “I heard a lot that it was one of the few gatherings where the main focus was on Jesus.” The production team at the Lucas Oil Stadium was accommodating and creative, too, with their light show and projections that recalled cathedral windows.
 
His team provided American Sign Language and other translations, but there were still things that could be improved next time: “The registration line on Wednesday was very long,” he says. And the tickets were expensive.
 
How will the next Eucharistic Congress be? “We won’t repeat the exact same thing,” is his opinion. Maybe there will even be a congress before 2033, and a pilgrimage from Indianapolis to Los Angeles has already been announced for 2025. “Bishop Andrew Cozzens said, ‘We wanted to start a fire, not a program’ – that sums it up.”
 
In the numbers, the National Eucharistic Congress was impressive. Sixty thousand people attended the gathering. Father Christopher Sullivan, Master of Ceremonies in Lucas Oil Stadium, confirmed that the total number of hosts consecrated throughout the Congress was 200,000. For Mass and adoration, 12 cases of wine, 400 charcoals for incense, a gallon of incense and 30 cases of water to purify vessels were used.
 
The 750 ciboria (the vessels that hold consecrated hosts) were borrowed from ministries or neighboring dioceses. It isn’t clear yet where the huge monstrance created for the occasion will be used.