With less than seven months to go until the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, the bishops of England and Wales have asked dioceses to mark this important event in the life of the Church, with periods of prayer and Eucharistic Adoration in their parishes on the weekends of 10/17 June 2012.
In a podcast on our Catholic News channel, Fr Julian Green, the National Delegate for the Congress, explains why it is so important and who should think about attending:
“Very often people think a Eucharistic Congress is for theologians; priests and bishops – it isn’t – a Eucharistic Congress is for every Catholic. There are certain people for whom it would be particularly advantageous – those who are responsible for our Eucharistic life in parishes, communities, schools – people who dedicate time each week to taking Communion to the sick; people dedicated to catechising young people to receive Holy Communion for the first time or even preparing adults for being received into the Church and people who are dedicated to organising hours and even days of Eucharistic adoration in parishes all the time – these are the people who really would benefit from actually participating in the Congress in Dublin.”
Prayerful support at home:
“Because a Congress isn’t a Conference – people don’t have to attend to be part of it. Because we are all joined together by the bonds of the Eucharist, wherever we maybe, we might be able to support the Eucharistic Congress from afar by those days of prayer.
“It can go further – there are plenty of ways in which we can get involved in understanding the Eucharist better; in revivifying our living of the Eucharist. The present opportunity that it is given to us by the new translation of the Roman Missal is one where we can really engage with the meaning of those words; the richness of the language that is given to us that is used to celebrate the Mass; to be able to pray the Mass better. These are some ways in which all of us can be influenced by the Eucharistic Congress for the good of our parish communities and our own living of the faith.”
The theme of the Eucharistic Congress is ‘The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with One Another’
(cf. Lumen Gentium 7)
It runs from 10 – 17 June 2012 and the Bishop responsible for heading the participation of the Church in England and Wales is Bishop David McGough, Auxiliary in Birmingham.
Fr Julian Green is the delegate to the for England and Wales and is tasked with mobilising English and Welsh dioceses and parishes to support the Congress both in prayer and in presence.
