Eucharistic Congress: Nationally known speakers present

The Diocesan Eucharistic Congress was held on June 9 and 10 at the Superior Dome in Marquette, with national speakers presenting to those in attendance, with the goal of reviving devotion to the Eucharist. The speakers present were Father Luke Spannagel, Dr. Edward Sri, Father John Riccardo, and Steve Ray, as well as musicians Dave and Lauren Moore.

In one of Fr. Spannagel’s presentations he reflected on the phrase “Offer it up,” which was frequently said in his youth. “’Offer it up’ was one of our common expressions, and as a younger person, I first understood it as another way of saying ‘toughen up, get a little tougher, don’t complain as much.’ …As I grew a little bit older, I started to understand it as maybe a way of spiritualizing hard things,” he said, and then shared that he “had an opportunity to learn about the Mass, to learn about the beauty and the goodness of the gift we have in the Mass, and I learned that mentality, that phrase, ‘offer it up,’ can actually be something really powerful, can actually be something really helpful to us in participating more deeply in the Mass.”

He posed the question of how one participates in the Mass, and said, “We certainly do that by responding to prayers, we certainly do that through our singing, through our listening, and sometimes through other roles,” before quoting Pope Benedict XVI, saying that “’the greatest participation, the deepest participation, is to draw our hearts in deeper union with Jesus through the holy sacrifice of the Mass, to join Jesus in perfect offering.’”

Fr. Spannagel added that sometimes when he was talking with people, they would describe how they were not sure if they prayed well. “Certainly, if we’re left up to ourselves, we might think that we fall short. There’s one place where we should really be able to relax and know that we’re praying well, and that’s in the holy Mass,” he said with a smile. He described the Mass as a perfect prayer, and said it is “because it is the one perfect sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Jesus offers himself to the Father, so if we’re praying with Jesus, and we’re praying along with the perfect prayer, we can be confident that our prayer is great.”

In one of his presentations, Dr. Sri said, “The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross is made present to us at every liturgy in order to transform our hearts so we can be caught up in that paschal mystery of Christ’s perfect love.” He then asked attendees to reflect on the words of consecration and asked, “What do these words mean? What are these words all about? Sometimes when you’re so familiar with something, you can easily take it for granted and you just kind of go through the motions.” He said, “You know it’s important, maybe you bow your head…I want you to imagine hearing these words for the very first time. I want you to imagine being Peter or James or John, one of those apostles, at that first Mass, that first Eucharist, the Last Supper, the night before Jesus died. What would these words have meant to you?”

Dr. Sri said that the words of consecration came in the context of the Passover meal and not any ordinary meal, and shared, “The Passover was the greatest of all the Jewish feasts…they celebrated this Passover ritual as a memorial.” He pointed out, “when we hear the word ‘memorial,’ we might think of Memorial Day…where we remember those who have gone before us, especially those that died in protection of our country, so we think about how we remember them, remember the past, but that’s not what the Jews mean by ‘memorial.’” Dr. Sri said that for the Jewish people, the idea of a memorial was “not just about remembering, recalling.” He said, “It’s about making that original historic event mystically, spiritually present so that we can participate in it.”

In his presentation, Fr. Riccardo said, “Death has been defeated. It can’t hold me. Hell has been defeated; it doesn’t scare me.” He told attendees to “have confidence in Jesus’ lordship,” and added, “There’s no rivalry between Jesus and Satan. [Jesus] defeated him, he’s bound him, he just hasn’t yet destroyed him. So, we need confidence, but we also need his heart…We’ve got to make sure we’re engaging with his heart, which is a heart which is eager that all would be saved. God doesn’t want some of his children home, he wants all his children home.”

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