We all have a role in the new Pentecost
August 6, 2024 at 12:00 a.m.
Over the course of our lives, many of us have the rare and privileged opportunity to witness or even participate in an extraordinary event in connection with our Catholic faith. These experiences might inspire and deepen our faith; they could empower and equip us to fulfill some critical mandate, or they may be a monumental and historic time in the life of the Church and her people. Sometimes these experiences are nothing short of life-changing.
Each of us likely has our own set of impactful memories that led us to a clearer understanding of the Church and our part in it. It could be a papal visit, a summer service trip, a national conference or a pilgrimage to a beautiful shrine or basilica. Perhaps it was the time spent alone in prayer afforded us by a retreat; the words of a moving homily or a compelling speaker at a parish gathering.
There can be no question that the National Eucharistic Congress was just that sort of experience for the 30 representatives of the Diocese of Trenton, as well as the 60,000 others with whom they just shared five days in Indianapolis. It surely checked all the boxes that make for a life-changing faith experience, and even more importantly, it furnished them with the inspiration and motivation they needed to carry it back to their home parishes.
Mindful that no stories, collection of photos or streams of videos can ever truly replicate what it was like for the participants of the Congress . . . I still encourage our readers to spend some time with the special coverage (beginning on page 9) prepared for you this month. I especially recommend the reflections shared by some of our local people who went. I would like to formally thank them for their generosity in sharing these moving experiences.
While we may not fully appreciate what it was like to be there, we can take heart that those who were there are committed to sharing their experiences and telling their stories. In keeping with the signs that were displayed at the Congress, they fully understand that “Revival can’t stay here.”
And that’s where we all come in. As Greg Erlandson wrote in our Viewpoints column this month (see page 28), “Indianapolis may have been a good start. But the parish is where such formation must take place, because it’s where the people are.”
Whether we were Congress participants or interested observers, we are the keepers of the revival in every parish of the Diocese. We all have a role in the “new Pentecost,” that was ignited in Indianapolis.
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Over the course of our lives, many of us have the rare and privileged opportunity to witness or even participate in an extraordinary event in connection with our Catholic faith. These experiences might inspire and deepen our faith; they could empower and equip us to fulfill some critical mandate, or they may be a monumental and historic time in the life of the Church and her people. Sometimes these experiences are nothing short of life-changing.
Each of us likely has our own set of impactful memories that led us to a clearer understanding of the Church and our part in it. It could be a papal visit, a summer service trip, a national conference or a pilgrimage to a beautiful shrine or basilica. Perhaps it was the time spent alone in prayer afforded us by a retreat; the words of a moving homily or a compelling speaker at a parish gathering.
There can be no question that the National Eucharistic Congress was just that sort of experience for the 30 representatives of the Diocese of Trenton, as well as the 60,000 others with whom they just shared five days in Indianapolis. It surely checked all the boxes that make for a life-changing faith experience, and even more importantly, it furnished them with the inspiration and motivation they needed to carry it back to their home parishes.
Mindful that no stories, collection of photos or streams of videos can ever truly replicate what it was like for the participants of the Congress . . . I still encourage our readers to spend some time with the special coverage (beginning on page 9) prepared for you this month. I especially recommend the reflections shared by some of our local people who went. I would like to formally thank them for their generosity in sharing these moving experiences.
While we may not fully appreciate what it was like to be there, we can take heart that those who were there are committed to sharing their experiences and telling their stories. In keeping with the signs that were displayed at the Congress, they fully understand that “Revival can’t stay here.”
And that’s where we all come in. As Greg Erlandson wrote in our Viewpoints column this month (see page 28), “Indianapolis may have been a good start. But the parish is where such formation must take place, because it’s where the people are.”
Whether we were Congress participants or interested observers, we are the keepers of the revival in every parish of the Diocese. We all have a role in the “new Pentecost,” that was ignited in Indianapolis.