The Church must shine in peoples’ lives

A river of ink has been used to tell us about the abuse scandals, Vatican leaks, and failings of Pope Benedict XVI in recent times.

Yet, I recently found myself among 1m people in Milan for the Church’s Seventh World Meeting of Families and the atmosphere among those participating, on the Family Day, seemed to be a different experience than that portrayed by the media.

I also had the same experience in Madrid at World Youth Day in August last year when more than 1m young people seemed to be interested in what the Pope and the Church had to say to them.

I also hope the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin will be remembered as a precious moment for all the people of this country, both young and old, and I’m not just speaking about those who attend Church regularly, but I’m thinking especially of the large groups of Irish people who will today gather around TVs, watching in adoration the Ireland v Italy game.

Surely the aim of the congress is to make evident for these people the presence of Christ and how he acts in their favour every day.

The question today is: Will the Eucharistic Congress make a difference to people’s lives? To answer yes to this question we must understand why there is a Eucharistic Congress and how precious the eucharist is, and can be, in the lives of people. In penal times people risked death to receive the eucharist. Why?

Simply, the Church is born from the eucharist. It’s the place where the risen Christ calls together the faithful, just like after his resurrection he gathered the apostles together. The eucharist, in fact, produces the Church which is the visible body of Christ risen who gives freely this spirit of resurrection. This same spirit is offered to everyone in the eucharist and has the power to transform the lives of the faithful and give us a hope that doesn’t fade away.

We can’t fault people for choosing to watch a soccer match over the eucharist. The point is we need to make faith arise in people’s hearts so that they, themselves, may be able to forgo a match and be happy to be gathered by the one who saves them and appeases them.

Today, in Ireland, there a crisis of faith or spiritual recession that is much worse than the economic situation. So the Church cannot be a theory or religion or a set of rules and regulations for the person of today. The Church must be good news. The Church must be a light that shines in the darkness of peoples’ lives.

My hope is that the Eucharist Congress will be a new exodus for Ireland and that we can experience as a people, in the midst of all our doubts and difficulties, that joy and hope exists because God exists and that he is with us.