Now that the Eucharist28 website is live, I certainly hope you have all been filling your abundant spare time by watching this month’s podcast with Professor Tracey Rowland, reading the playbook to your children, and otherwise revelling in the marvel that is informative and engaging content provided free of charge: “Freely you have received, so freely give.” (Mt 10:8)
Speaking from personal experience, my 18-month-old daughter loves the ‘Playbook’ and takes great delight pointing out “Jesus” when asked to do so.
Similarly, we have had very positive feedback on the materials designed for primary and secondary schools, which are being rolled out in classrooms across the country each month for the next three years.
But we cannot expect our Catholic schools to do all the “heavy lifting” in preparation for Eucharist28 in a vacuum.
We too, like John the Baptist, must all “prepare the way for the Lord”. (Matt 3:3)
To that end, I would encourage all parishioners to consider how they might best employ the monthly “Sunday School Text” or podcast video or shorter clips in their own communities.
We typically tend to think of teenagers as those for whom “loss of faith” is an issue, and so many of our evangelical efforts are directed to that demographic.
Yet in light of a study that I read some years ago, we ought not to omit younger children from our catechetical concern.
The researchers behind the study just mentioned were tasked with polling a large group of Catholics who had “lost their faith” at some point.
The respondents were asked to identify the age at which they first decided they did not believe what they had long been taught.
The age most often named was not 15, or 17, or even 21.
It was 11.
When I attended the religious education classes of 11-year-olds as a ‘guest speaker’ in years gone by, I never failed to be astonished at the depth of the questions the students themselves posed.
I am not surprised that they start to lose the faith if the trickier quandaries they would like addressed are simply avoided or dismissed.
We have been careful in crafting the catechetical schema for Eucharist28 to ensure that it engages all aspects of the human person, at all ages for people of all walks of life.
In addition to the academic text that serves as the foundation for the material of any given month, we have ensured that it is connected with the moving story of a life of heroic virtue from the history of the church: St Teresa of Avila, St Ignatius of Antioch, St Oscar Romero and so on.
There should be something there for everyone, as the saying goes.
Appealing to head and heart; faith in prayer and action.
Belief in Christ manifest in the most dramatic ways: from the beauty of sacred art and music, to the theological profundity of scholastic saints, the treasures of the church’s history and faith have been unpacked and re-wrapped in the most engaging way possible.
But we know from experience that, unless a community is gathered around each of those painstakingly-prepared resources and that community then unpacks the materials as a group, the resources themselves will have about as much impact as throwing paper at a brick wall.
So, the task now lies with you. Ask not what Eucharist28 can do for you…
I would ask each of us to reflect on what the Lord is asking of us each, personally, during this year of prayer and eucharistic renewal.
How can we become more faith-filled and devout, such that we can cry alongside St Catherine of Siena: “Father, I am hungry, for the love of God give this soul her food, her Lord in the Eucharist!”
How can we live more eucharist lives such that we truly appreciate the call of St Teresa of Calcutta: “Every Holy Communion fills us with Jesus and we must, with Our Lady, go in haste to give him to others.”
How can we as a community live intentionally as the Body of Christ, broken and given up for others?
I can ask the questions, but the response is up to you.
If you would like more information on Eucharist28, or to be added to the mailing list for updates, please visit our website: eucharist28.org
