From north to south, Parish Eucharistic Revival ongoing in Diocese of Salt Lake City

Diocese of Salt Lake City

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SALT LAKE CITY — As the parish phase of the three-year Eucharistic Revival called for by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops continues, parishes in the Diocese of Salt Lake City are finding individual ways to participate in this national movement to restore understanding and devotion to the Eucharist.

At St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Hyde Park, Father Rogelio Felix-Rosas, parish administrator, is offering a bilingual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on the first Friday of every month. The parish provides a booklet for those who wish assistance with Adoration. Every month there is a different theme such as parishioners, young people, vocations and marriage. Currently Adoration is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. but the parish is working toward having a 24-hour vigil, Fr. Felix-Rosas said.

The parish also offers a Holy Hour each Thursday, and it is planning an experience called the Siege of Jericho, which is seven days of prayer and meditation with the mysteries of the rosary. During this week, the Eucharist will be exposed for several hours each day.

Both the monthly Adoration and the weekly Holy Hour are supported particularly well by the Hispanic community, but English-speaking parishioners also participate, Fr. Felix-Rosas said.

In 2024 the parish will participate in a yearlong worldwide celebration of the 800th anniversary of St. Thomas Aquinas’ birth on Jan. 28, 2025.

“We will celebrate the birth of St. Thomas Aquinas; we have a connection with this jubilee and the Eucharist,” Fr. Felix-Rosas said. “We will have talks about Thomas Aquinas and the Eucharist.”

Beginning on Dec. 21 the parish will sponsor monthly talks on such topics as the doctrine of the Eucharist.

“People in St. Thomas Aquinas [Parish] – they have a special place for the Eucharist,” Fr. Felix-Rosas said. “There are people who love to come to the church and pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament. We have people who have expressed a faith in the presence of God, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. It’s important for me because I think the young people in their teenage years, the kids, they need to learn about their parents’ beliefs, and the Eucharist is a special place to learn about our faith.”

Similarly, at St. George Parish in St. George, Father David Bittmenn, pastor, recently gave two presentations on the nature of the Eucharist. The first talk offered a common-sense understanding of the host and wine as Christ’s body and blood, and examined the nature of love. The second lecture looked at the attributes of love and how understanding the love of God helps the faithful understand the gift of the Eucharist.

In the Eastern Deanery, Fr. Arokia Dass David, pastor of Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church, Good Shepherd Catholic Church, San Rafael Catholic Mission and Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Mission, will offer a one-day Ignatian workshop on Feb. 26.

“We are planning to do it in preparation for Lent,” Fr. David said.

The six-hour workshop will be led by Catherine Morgan, a certified Ignatian director, and her husband Ralph Morgan, an Ignatian coordinator. The Morgans have been teaching the Ignatian exercises in the Diocese of Salt Lake City for the last seven years.

“I myself personally have attended an Ignatian retreat; it’s very powerful,” Fr. David said. “So I thought, ‘This is the right time to build our relationship with God through Ignatian spirituality.’ That is the focus: to build a strong relationship with God.”

Participants in the workshop will be asked for a small financial donation to cover the cost of the materials.