“You become what you love.”
St Catherine of Siena has a way of cutting to the heart of things.
St Thomas Aquinas said the same thing of course, but (if the Angelic Doctor doesn’t mind me saying so), his phraseology is less memorable: “It is the nature of love to transform the lover into the object loved.”
We know this intuitively: we have all met couples who seem to become more like one another the longer they are together.
And so it would make sense that time spent in Eucharistic Adoration, time spent with Jesus, would eventually have the same effect; it should help slowly transform us into his likeness.
On 1 March 2026, every parish in the country – having received their “Eucharist28 Starter Kits” with prayer cards and posters – is being encouraged to spend an hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, following the conclusion of Mass that Sunday.
This national hour of prayer is intended to serve as the foundational moment that begins our spiritual preparation for the International Eucharistic Congress in 2028 (“Eucharist28”).
After all, we are “seeking the Lord” and find him in the Eucharist. (Isaiah 55:6-7)
Thanks to the Eucharist, in which Jesus comes to us under the appearance of bread and wine, we learn to look beyond the visible and the obvious, and to recognise Jesus in the most unexpected of places: the poor, the hungry, the lonely and the lost.
Pope Francis once noted that the Eucharist “heals us from the blindness inflicted by the horror of the cross and renders us capable of seeing the Risen One.”
Without the Eucharist, we remain partially blind, unable to perceive the reality of the resurrection.
It is precisely this perspective of faith, fired by a eucharistic imagination, that has inspired many saints to devote their entire lives to the service of the poor and needy: “When then you see a poor believer, think that you behold an altar: when you see such a beggar, not only insult him not, but even reverence him.” (St John Chrysostom)
These years ahead of Eucharist28, as much as the event itself, are designed to help us all to do exactly that: to renew our eucharistic eyes and imaginations and revive our personal faith, as well as that of our local communities and the country more broadly.
Being a Catholic in public has not been easy over the past few years.
Yet it was precisely in such a context as ours that Eucharistic Congresses were first established. In the mid-19th century, following the convulsions of the French Revolution and in response to the rapid changes in society brought about by the Industrial Revolution, many Catholics felt the need to foster initiatives aimed at promoting reverence for the Eucharist.
The aim was to unite devotion to the Eucharist with large gatherings of the faithful.
In this way, people would be made more sensitive to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, while also recognising that they were not alone in their faith; that there were in fact vast numbers of Catholics who were committed to the same Eucharistic Lord.
Eucharist28 will serve to remind us that we in the twenty first century are still called to be “salt” and “light”, that we are still called to share Christ with the world – and that we are not alone. (Matt 5:13-16)
In our own age of artificial intelligence and “fake news”, where nothing is considered real, true or holy, the counter-cultural contrast of the Jesus in the Eucharist is truly an indication of “the hidden wisdom of God”. (1 Cor 2:7-10)
The commands of Christ, which always seem so extraordinary, are possibly precisely because we are united to him in the Eucharist: we become what we consume, the Body of Christ.
Eucharist28 will enable us to renew our appreciation of this fact, and to gather as that united body.
Let us join in prayer on 1 March 2026, united in our common desire to fall in love once more with Jesus in the Eucharist.
As we journey towards 2028 and beyond, we must never lose sight of the fact that, through the gift of the Eucharist, Christ transforms us, both as individuals and as a community, so that we can live as “tabernacles with feet”, becoming the daily bread of salvation for the world.
If you would like more information on the International Eucharistic Congress in 2028, to be added to the mailing list for updates, please visit our website: eucharist28.org
