I spent my Easter Sunday with the Indonesian Catholic Community, rejoicing with their exemplary choir during Mass and feasting upon their delicious Ikan and Ayam afterwards.
During Mass, my 18-month-old daughter engaged in her usual Sunday routine: using every available pew and kneeler as just another piece of gymnastic equipment.
As I chased her up and down the nave of the church each time she managed to escape our pew, I was afforded a great view: a sea of Batik and other elements of traditional Indonesian dress crowding the church that Sunday.
And I was able to reflect on how wonderful it will be to see each of Sydney’s many Catholic communities – from around the world – attired in their traditional dress, singing hymns in their language, during the epic Eucharistic Procession led by Pope Leo XIV through the streets of the CBD in 2028.
As we all process to the altar on that day, I am convinced that it will be a sight of truly biblical proportions and imagery: “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Rev 7:9)
There will also be opportunities throughout the course of the week for each of our different ritual and migrant communities – the Maronites, Melkites, Syriacs, Chaldeans, Samoans, Tongans, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Indonesians, Italians, etc. – to showcase the best of their liturgical prowess and culinary hospitality.
Each group will be offered the opportunity to receive pilgrims on a given day in their local communities, and welcome them as fellow members of the Body of Christ.
Sydney during that week will hum to the sound of a hundred Catholic Choirs, trained and prepared for this event; our churches will be beautified to showcase the very best that we have to offer; our people will be well-formed to appreciate our celebration of the Mass as a pledge of the heavenly liturgy at the end of time.
But the preparation for that spectacular cannot wait until 2028.
It must start now.
Working in the Chancery is an object lesson in one truth universally acknowledged: the mills of God grind slowly (but they grind exceedingly small).
We will get there in the end, and Eucharist28 will be marvellous.
But we are under no illusions as to how much time we have to build grand visions in the sky: we must rapidly begin preparing people and places for this extraordinary encounter with Christ in the Eucharist.
Case in point, it is essential that we order the hundreds of chasubles for the bishops and thousands of stoles for concelebrating priests that will visit in 2028.
And we must do it – tomorrow.
They are not created by an army of religious sisters overnight.
We have already started inviting speakers, presenters and performers – diaries fill up quickly and 2028 is not so far away in the minds of our famous international invitees.
All of this is by means of segue: how are you helping to prepare yourself and your community for Eucharist28?
2026 is designated as the “Year of Prayer” – we need your spiritual support to make the biblically epic vision outlined earlier a reality.
And if you are wondering what to pray for, the answer is contained in the mission statement for Eucharist28: “That our Lord Jesus Christ in his Eucharistic Mystery be ever better known, loved and served.”
If you think people don’t yet know Jesus, you should see the looks on their faces when I mention Eucharist28!
We need your help: to spread the word about Eucharist28 and what an encounter with Christ will do to transform our people and our nation.
We need your support: to pray for eucharistic renewal and revival in our country.
We need your presence: whatever your background, language, or ethnicity, we want you to be part of the festival of faith that will be Eucharist28.
The theme of Eucharist28 is “This is My Body, Given for You.”
How do those words of Christ apply to you, in your context and your community, and how will they change what you pray, do and say over the next three years?
If you would like more information on Eucharist28, or to be added to the mailing list for fortnightly updates, please visit our website and register your interest: eucharist28.org
