St. Mary’s to host eucharistic revival parish mission

Intermountain Catholic

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WEST HAVEN — As the year of the parish phase of the national eucharistic revival draws to a close, Saint Mary Parish in West Haven is holding a three-day mission that will focus on the Eucharist. The speaker will be Father Thomas Czeck, OFMConv., the national spiritual assistant of the Militia of the Immaculata.

The Militia of the Immaculata, or MI as it is often referred to, is an international organization founded in 1917 by St. Maximilian Kolbe, OFMConv. that “is open to Catholics, of all walks of life, and encourages all people of good will to develop a trusting relationship with Our Lady. The aim of the MI is to win the whole world for Christ through the Immaculata, Mother of God and of the Church,” according to the organization website,  https://militiaoftheimmaculata.com.

Fr. Czeck will address a different topic each night of the mission. On June 17 his presentation will be on “Intention during the Eucharist in the Life of St. Maximilian Kolbe.” On June 18 he will talk about “Love in Adoration.” On June 19 the title of his talk will be “The Eucharist Empowering the Consecrated Life.”

Maximilian Kolbe is “one of the most Eucharistic saints, and I’m going to try to break that open, what that means,” Fr. Czeck said, adding that during his presentations he will look at aspects of the saint’s life that reveal his Eucharistic devotion and “his love of our Lord, and how that is also central with his love of the Blessed Mother and how the two are connected.”

Fr. Czeck said he will base his material on the book For the Life of the World: St. Maximilian and the Eucharist, by Jerzy Domanski.  

The purpose of the mission is to give people some tools that will teach them “how to prepare your heart, how to enter more into Adoration; I want to give them some Franciscan prayers” and also “how our Blessed Mother can help us to understand the mystery of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and connect with the love of God in the Sacred Heart.”

The Eucharist is one of the four pillars of the MI, said Donna Masek, a St. Mary parishioner who is a member of the Militia Immaculata National Council. During the mission, Fr. Czeck will focus on the Eucharist within the particular spirituality of the MI, she said.

In addition to the public presentations, Fr. Czeck will meet with members of the local Militia of the Immaculata at a potluck reception on June 20, and “provide a formational talk specifically for those who are already consecrated to Our Lady within the MI spirituality,” Masek said.

Those planning to attend the reception are asked to contact the parish office.

Fr. Czeck has a warm and cordial character and, as a former parish pastor, is “very familiar with the parish reality,” said Masek, who hopes that those attending the mission will “continue to appreciate the Eucharist and feel Christ’s presence among themselves as the one Body of Christ.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called for the three-year national Eucharistic Revival to unite Catholics “once again around the source and summit of our faith in the celebration of the Eucharist,” states eucharisticrevival.org.

The revival will end with the national congress in July. However, St. Mary Parish plans to host a mission in October with two Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, as well as one in December with a Capuchin friar who will speak on the Eucharist.

Father Oscar Picos, pastor of St. Mary Parish, “is continuing to expand on developing our understanding and appreciation of the Eucharist until the end of 2024,” said Masek, who is helping to organize the parish missions.

WHAT: Eucharistic revival parish mission

WHEN: Monday-Wednesday, June 17-19; 7-8:30 p.m. each night

WHERE: St. Mary Catholic Church, 4050 South 3900 West, West Haven

Free and open to the public.