SALT LAKE CITY — The Eucharistic Revival Rally on July 9 will feature several preeminent speakers, who will address the thousands of Catholics expected to attend from parishes and missions across Utah.
The keynote speaker will be Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas. He will deliver two talks, one in English and another in Spanish, on the same subject: “The Eucharist as participation in the work of Christ.”
Bishop Flores was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Corpus Christi In 1988. He completed work on his doctoral dissertation in sacred theology at the Angelicum in Rome in 2000. In 2006, he was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit. He has been the Bishop of Brownsville since 2009. He is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Doctrine Committee and serves as a member of several other USCCB committees.
Following Bishop Flores’ remarks, Dr. Timothy O’Malley will speak on “Becoming a Eucharistic People.”
O’Malley is the director of education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life and academic director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. He is the author of nine books on topics related to the liturgy, RCIA, the Eucharist, sacramental theology, marriage and family, and liturgical formation.
“Despite the American temptation to reduce the Church to a mere institution, that’s not our deepest identity,” O’Malley said. “Instead, we are those who have been convoked by Christ. Our deepest identity, therefore, is in communion with one another. The Eucharist brings the Church together, breaks us open, to share our flesh and blood lives in our parishes and neighborhoods. A Eucharistic Revival, therefore, must locate the gift of our Lord’s presence in the Eucharistic nature of the Church. Every parish is called to become what they receive in the Eucharist: divine love poured out for the life of the world.”
Periods of Eucharistic renewal in the Church historically “have unleashed new charisms, new gifts of the Spirit, that have lasted for hundreds of years,” he added. “The Second Vatican Council is itself the fundamental Eucharistic Revival, describing the mystery of the Church as a Eucharistic event. It reminds the lay faithful that we are to consecrate the world back to the Father. And that’s our task: to do just that. A Eucharistic Revival, therefore, should unleash new charisms among all the baptized.”
At the same time, Dr. José Antonio Medina will address the Spanish-speaking community on the topic “Eucharist, source of unity in the Church.”
Medina holds an S.Th.D (the equivalent of a Doctor of Divinity degree) from the Pontifical University of Salamanca in Spain. In collaboration with Carmen Cervantes and the Fe y Vida Institute, he has written materials for the U.S. Hispanic Ministry. He has served as coordinator for the office of Ongoing Formation of Priests for the Diocese of San Bernardino. Medina has led several retreats in the Diocese of Salt Lake City and has spoken to the Spanish lay ecclesial ministers group, known as EMAUS.
Following the speakers, there will be a panel presentation on “Sacramental Preparation with People with Disabilities.” This session will review USCCB guidelines on the issue and discuss how Catholics with disabilities in the diocese prepare for and celebrate the sacraments. The panel will be led by Carol Ruddell and Maria Cruz Gray. Ruddell is a lay ecclesial minister who ministers to Catholics with disabilities and their families. Gray is director of the diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry. This session will be presented bilingually, with discussion in Spanish and English.
During the youth rally, Benjamin Acosta will give two talks, both focused on the Eucharist and followed by a question-and-answer session.
“I’m going to talk to them about the story of salvation and how God had set it up from the beginning of time, that he wanted to give us life all the way from the Garden of Eden, how we were always meant to eat from the Tree of Life and now how that translates to the cross,” said Acosta, who has been a FOCUS missionary for the last seven years.
“I hope that this Eucharistic Revival will touch the hearts of all who participate and convince them of the love that God has for them,” he said. “And I hope that, in encountering God’s thirst for them, they will go out and love God and neighbor more.”
Bishop Flores will wrap up the morning by speaking to the youth.
Following the presentations, there will be a break for lunch, then the doors will open at 1:15 p.m. for the Mass, which will begin at 2 p.m.
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