Dear Father: I see that Bishop Earl Fernandes seems to be encouraging Eucharistic processions. I thought that all that Eucharistic worship was done away with by Vatican II. Is this some kind of throwback in our diocese? Shouldn’t we be going forward with new things in the Church? – S.T.
Dear S.T.: You are correct that Bishop Fernandes, and with him many other bishops of our country, is encouraging attention on Eucharistic worship. In fact, he has been carrying the Eucharistic monstrance (which contains the consecrated Host) in processions himself.
He has wanted to lead our diocese closer to Jesus through the nine days leading up to Corpus Christi, the annual feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.
In fact, the U.S. bishops are encouraging a renewed focus on the centrality of the Eucharist through a three-year National Eucharistic Revival. It began in 2022 as a movement within the Catholic Church, led by our bishops, to “renew the Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.” (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis)
Eucharistic processions serve several purposes. First and foremost, they help us to give glory to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Who is present in the Eucharist carried at the head of the procession. It’s like a divine parade for everyone, especially Catholics.
The Eucharistic procession allows us to bring our Lord through our streets and near our homes and businesses. As we praise and adore our Lord with hymns and prayers, He blesses us and our dwelling places.
To address your concern that Eucharistic processions, and Eucharistic Adoration in our churches and Adoration chapels, is a throwback to pre-conciliar days, the Second Vatican Council itself insisted on the centrality of the Eucharist.
This is especially obvious in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, which urges that we not be silent and passive spectators but real worshippers of God. We are active at Mass when we lift up our souls to God, offering Him worship not just with our voices but also with minds and hearts aflame with the Holy Spirit and with knees bent in adoration.
Carrying the Blessed Sacrament in procession is another obviously “active” way we participate in the worship of Christ. When we process with the Blessed Sacrament, we are participating in a sacramental walk with Jesus. Sometimes we wish we could have walked with Christ in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago. But we can walk and speak with Him now because He is present in the Eucharist.
When we adore Christ present in the Eucharist, we are simultaneously opening ourselves to the healing work He desires to accomplish in us. I can only imagine what healing occurs in the lives of those who are touched by Christ during Eucharistic processions, even those who observe us from a distance.
Here is what we read on the website eucharisticpilgrimage.org: “Jesus doesn’t want us to walk alone. At the Incarnation, Christ entered directly into our human experience, allowing him to accompany us through life in a more intimate way. But physically walking with Jesus is not a privilege restricted to Christians from the first century!
“When Jesus gave us the gift of the Eucharist, he gave us a new way to walk alongside him. Catholicism now has a vibrant history of Eucharistic processions! In this tradition, the Eucharist is carried through the streets, accompanied by the faithful. We walk publicly with Our Lord so that others may encounter him personally, just as they did 2,000 years ago.”
Jesus does not want us to walk alone! Eucharistic processions are not just our walking with Jesus, but Jesus walking with us. The desire of His Sacred Heart is to be present in every situation of our lives, every moment of every day. Our Eucharistic processions remind us that Jesus desires to be present in even the seemingly mundane moments of life, as well as the painful experiences we all have.
You mention moving forward with new things in the Church. I wonder what this means. Sadly, for many, “moving forward” is identified with progressivism. We must take care that moving forward does not entail jettisoning our Catholic traditions. The only thing we should jettison is sin.
Eucharistic processions and pilgrimages are hardly a backward move to outdated practices. Christ is never old or old-fashioned. He is ever bringing us forward as we walk together with Him leading and guiding us, day by day, to our new pilgrimage site: heaven!