As part of the National Eucharistic Revival initiated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to rekindle passion, understanding and appreciation for the true presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, 50 priests from throughout the country were commissioned to enkindle the flame of devotion as preachers, and two of them reside in the Diocese of Columbus.
Dominican Fathers Thomas Blau, OP, and Stephen Dominic Hayes, OP, from Columbus St. Patrick Priory are among six priests from the order’s Province of St. Joseph selected for this ministry.
Thirty-two of the 50 Eucharistic Revival priests hail from dioceses or archdioceses in various parts of the country, including several who speak Spanish or other languages. Religious orders with multiple priests chosen are the Franciscans with six, other Dominican provinces with five and the Jesuits with three. Five other orders will be represented by one priest each.
Because the National Eucharistic Revival was launched only last month on Corpus Christi Sunday, the program is just getting off the ground.
Year one, which runs from June 19, 2022 to June 11, 2023, focuses on diocesan revival. The second year, from June 11, 2023 to July 17, 2024, is designated as parish revival, culminating with a National Eucharistic Congress on July 17-21, 2024 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. That will be followed by a year of Going Out on Mission from July 21, 2024 until Pentecost 2025.
To help facilitate the Eucharistic Revival throughout the U.S., the 50 priests will be available to dioceses, organizations and groups as well as conferences, parish missions and events lasting one day or longer to preach on Eucharistic themes.
The primary motivation for the bishops instituting the National Eucharistic Revival stems from surveys that indicate a sharp decline in Catholics’ belief that Jesus is truly present body, blood, soul and divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. Recent statistics show that number falling to around 30%, which is gravely concerning considering that remains at the heart of Catholic teaching since the Last Supper.
In addition to the misunderstood belief in the symbolic nature of the Eucharist that some Catholics and other Christian denominations have adopted, Father Blau believes another reason for waning belief in the Real Presence is the notion that “somehow Mass doesn’t affect my daily life. Mass and real life are separate. But, in fact, it should affect your daily life.”
As the Eucharistic revival progresses, Father Blau eventually expects to receive approximately five assignments a year, with requests likely ramping up during the Lenten season.
Fathers Blau and Hayes, a Boston native who has spent more than 30 years ministering in Ohio and Kentucky, are no strangers to preaching. Both priests frequently lead parish missions and give talks at parishes in the diocese and beyond.
So far, neither priest has received an assignment from the National Eucharistic Revival office, which is staffed by Sister Alicia Torres, FE, of the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago under the direction of Bishop Andrew Cozzens, the chairman of the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis.
When an opportunity does come, Father Blau will be ready. He has preached on the Eucharist and the sacraments plenty of times. Earlier this year, the Eucharist was the topic of a four-night mission at Gahanna St. Matthew Church.
“I hit on why (there are) the sacraments before even jumping in to why we talk about the Eucharist, and that is to convey grace,” Father Blau explained. “And grace is the life of God poured in us so that we have a participation in the divine nature.
“The reason that’s important is because if you don’t have the ability to relate to God, for example, as a friend, because if you don’t have a share in the divine nature, you can’t be a friend with God in the way plants and animals cannot rise up and befriend us. So that’s the first thing to say: What sacraments do is, they’re giving us the ability to relate to the divine person.”
And then “the big part is spent in looking at the New Testament texts that deal with what Jesus states over and over, the same thing about four or five different ways,” Father Blau said.
“And the thing that always amazes me, in John 6:6 it says, they no longer believed in Him and they left (after He said) He was going to give them His body and blood. They left for a literal understanding, and they couldn’t handle it.
“If Jesus is a good teacher, and He meant it symbolically, He had an obligation to correct them. He didn’t, and so what’s at stake for us as Catholics is either He meant it literally or He’s a bad teacher because He should have corrected them if He meant it symbolically. Jesus gives us a lot of these either/or moments, and folks don’t realize it.”
The last part of his Eucharistic preaching concentrates on how to get more out of Mass.
“My newest suggestion is to consider getting a Mass journal,” he said. “What was your favorite reading? What was your favorite song? What was the idea the priest gave in the homily? What was he trying to convey? If people do that, they’ll find themselves thinking about and getting more out of Mass and having it be more meaningful to them.”
Father Blau was first assigned to Columbus in 2010 and has been a parochial vicar at St. Patrick Church and chaplain at Ohio Dominican University. He currently serves as the chaplain for the local Order of Malta and Legatus organizations.
Former Bishop Frederick Campbell designated Father Blau as the diocese’s itinerant preacher, and he continues to fill that role while traveling throughout the diocese to celebrate Masses where a priest is needed.
In June, Father Blau offered 35 public Masses, often two a day and sometimes three, at a host of parishes in the diocese on weekdays and Sunday as part of the Barnabas Ministry he founded. The Barnabas Ministry consists of Dominican priests going wherever they’re needed to fill in for a diocesan priest on vacation or retreat.
A Cleveland native, Father Blau was ordained in 1999. Before becoming a priest, he worked at a variety of jobs, left Ohio to do mission work in Honduras and Guatemala and then returned to the state to earn a master’s degree in theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he encountered the Dominicans.
An interest in preaching attracted him to the order.
“People think you must have a great love for the Eucharist and that made you want to be a priest,” Father Blau said. “But it was the preaching.
“When I saw that people made the Eucharist the anchor of the Mass, an anchor in their life, I was impressed by that. Everything else could go crazy, but they know the Mass will be there. And it’s a quiet time before God in the middle of this rat race.
“That’s really what motivated me more – the power of the preacher’s office and then seeing what a good Mass does, leading people in worship, and how it really does change their lives. It’s pretty amazing.”