Cardinal Gregory reminds faithful to live the compassion of Christ

INDIANAPOLIS —During the five-day National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, some of the most well-known bishops from the United States celebrated Mass to congregations upwards of 50,000 filling Lucas Oil Stadium.   

On July 19, Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, of the Archdiocese of Washington, took to the ambo to speak on the responsibility of the faithful in living out the meaning of the Eucharist. Those who receive Communion, he said, have a responsibility to live out Christ’s mission.

“In charity, in each of our lives authored in service and in care for others, for without that response the sincerity of our earnest reverence for the Blessed Sacrament will fail to capture the essence of why Christ chooses to remain with us by way of this wondrous presence. The most prolonged and profound adoration moments will be inadequate unless they correct us in deeds of kindness for others.

“This eucharistic gift must promise to live as does the compassion of Christ Who chooses to remain in our midst under the forms of bread and wine. The highest forms and acts of charity, the determined pursuit of social justice and the genuine compassionate outcome for the poor and the neglected generated by the belief in and as a response to Christ’s real presence is a spiritual journey.” 

St. John reminds us that we are called to walk in the light of truth and not to continue to gambol in the darkness of sin, ignorance and indifference.

Cardinal Gregory remarked on the many walking pilgrimages that took place, processing the Blessed Sacrament through the streets and among the general population. 

“As people carried the eucharistic drawer traveling though the community of our country, we pray that we might renew our love, our awareness, and our respect for this special gift of His presence,” he said. “We also pray that these journeys have allowed you to see curious onlookers who might have gazed at you or may have directed questions to you about what you are hoping to achieve with this procession. Those chance encounters were also opportunities for you to reflect on the reasons that brought out your participation in that journey of faith, a renewal deepened by the acceptance of Christ’s presence in our midst. Perhaps you witnessed Christ’s presence rekindle the flame of some people who may have watched your spiritual journey. Maybe you even helped some individuals with their own forgotten or neglected heritage. Whatever it might have accomplished, it was well worth the trip. 

“Along the journey, you no doubt came face to face with a number of homeless people who frequently live on the streets and parks, under bridges. They too are a genuine reflection of Christ himself as He reminds us. Seeing them, may our hearts be softened and our eyes open to His genuine presence among the poor.

“Carrying the eucharistic Christ through some of the depressed areas of our nation was also a fourth dimension of the journey that brought so many of us here in this venue in Indianapolis, Indiana,” he concluded.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect for the Section of Evangelization of Dicastery for Evangelization, also celebrated Mass throughout the congress.