Transcript

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A family wasn't Catholic, and they wondered what these crazy
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Catholics were doing with going across the country on this
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pilgrimage. And they started following it
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and then decided they got to come to the Congress.
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They came to the Congress and then the whole family joined the
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Church afterwards. And that's one of many stories
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of restoration and healing. I would say the other fruit that
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I saw was almost a revival of the presbyterate and the
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episcopacy in a certain sense. This is Virtuous Leaders, the
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podcast for based Catholics who will speak truth, do good or die
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trying. Here's the show.
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So hey, Jason Shanks, thanks for joining today.
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Happy to be here, thanks for the invitation.
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You're the former president of our Sunday Visitor Institute,
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current president of National Eucharistic Congress.
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Can you just give us rundown about what you do?
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Yeah. So, so previously on our Sunday
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Visitor Institute was this really neat division within our
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Sunday Visitor that looked at, say, innovation in Catholic
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ministry, in particular trying to find the methods of
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evangelization that can help move people forward, draw people
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to Christ in his church. And one of those ideas that we
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got involved with was the National Eucharistic Revival.
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And as you know, that's a three-year initiative led by the
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Catholic Bishops of this country.
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And as that initiative moved forward, they decided let's
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start a separate organization called the National Eucharistic
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Congress. And that's what put the Congress
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on in Indianapolis a last summer.
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And part of that was the pilgrimage, the Congress.
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And that entity was also the ones that were helping in the
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background on some of the revival were related to parishes
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and diocese. As that work as move forward, I
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got more and more involved to the point that I now left our
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Sunday Visitor Institute and I'm full time working to take what
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was this moment of Congress into a movement.
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How do we carry the revival, the Eucharistic revival forward in
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our church to go beyond just, you know, a three-year
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initiative to something more regular and ongoing and looking
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to, you know, Congress's ahead? I wonder if you can fill us in
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on the successes you've experienced so far, especially
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to the conference, the actual Congress itself at the
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convention. And then what is your plan for
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the next furthest to fill out the next three years?
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Yeah, so the the successes were so surprising to me in a certain
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sense. I remember walking with the
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pilgrims and turn going around a particular corner of a
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Eucharistic procession and there were just lines and lines of
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people as we did this pilgrimage across 4 routes of our country.
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And I remember texting Bishop Andrew Cousins and saying is it
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possible that revival was really here?
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And you saw just the outpouring of support in healing and
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devotion across our country as that pilgrimage travelled
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around. And then, of course, the
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Congress, the numbers were tremendous as people gathered in
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Indianapolis. And the number of stories that
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we've heard are related to conversions, to healings, to
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even physical healings. I have been asserted out of this
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world. There was one story where a
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family wasn't Catholic. And they they wondered what
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these crazy Catholics were doing with, you know, going across the
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country on this pilgrimage. And they started following it
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and then decided they got to come to the Congress.
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They came to the Congress. And then the whole family joined
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the church afterwards. And that's one of many stories
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of, of restoration and healing. I would say the other fruit that
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I saw was almost a revival of the presbyterate and the
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episcopacy in a certain sense, right?
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Like we were a church wounded in some cases, you know,
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self-inflicted wounds with scandals and, and a variety of
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things. And, and you saw sort of the
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boldness of the bishops across the country and the different
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diocese and then the love and support and that you saw at the
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Congress, I think was really, you know, healing in many ways
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for the leadership of the church.
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So it was a moment of restoration and healing.
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You know, the revival, I think, sort of started with this idea
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of a need for greater catechesis and knowledge on the real
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presence of the Eucharist. And I think that's certainly was
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a part of the last three years. But also what I saw was sort of
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a, a sparking and a fire starting of maybe apathy and
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indifference towards the Eucharist.
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So you had people that intellectually maybe understood
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the real presence, but devotionally and in the heart of
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hearts, maybe became a little bit lukewarm.
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And so this was a nice opportunity to sort of revive
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our, our commitment towards Jesus and the Eucharist.
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And, and you see that and you just continue to see that going
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forward. So your other question was what
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happens now, right. And, you know, if you go to a
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football game, people don't go to a football game and say, wow,
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oh, gosh, they really run a really great huddle.
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Like when they get in the huddle and they start talking about the
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plays, it's fantastic. Like, look at them huddled up.
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What they come to a football game is to see what happens
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after the huddle, right? And so in many ways, the
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Congress itself was a ginormous, a huge opportunity for the
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church to huddle up. But now the world wants to see
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what you can do now. And part of that is, is becoming
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Eucharistic missionaries, what we're calling Eucharistic
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missionaries. I'm reminded he's reading an
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article today of stories of early Catholic missionaries even
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coming to the United States and how they would lead with the
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Eucharist, right. They would bring Eucharist into
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like Saint Peter Claver would bring the Eucharist into the
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bowels of the slave ships, right.
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Like this idea of leading with the Eucharist.
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It's, it's both our motivation. It's both the, the, the thing
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that strengthens us to go out. But in certain senses, what you
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saw was us, you know, having a, a Eucharistic first
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evangelization strategy. And so we're inviting
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Eucharistic missionaries that this is a sort of a self
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commitment for people to have particular holy hours, go to
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Mass regularly, heart and hunger for the Eucharist, but also
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helping to walk with others. Do you have a certain sense of
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mission to bring people to Jesus and the Eucharist both at Mass
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and and you know, in adoration? And so the next immediate phase
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is starting coming up here at Pentecost.
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We're going to have about a 30 day formation period for people
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who feel called to be a Eucharistic missionary and their
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family eucharistic missionary in their parish and neighborhood.
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And then at Corpus Christi Sunday, we will do a
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commissioning, if you will, a sort of an annual commitment for
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the next year and collaboration with that.
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We're also launching A pilgrimage again for us to be
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able to sort of bring the graces of the Eucharist across our
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country. We're going to launch from
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Indianapolis to Los Angeles. When we get in Los Angeles,
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we're going to have a Mass and a Eucharistic procession on Corpus
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Christi weekend, followed by a festival.
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So if you're, you're listening and you're, you're out that way
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or you want to fly out, come and register, you got to register to
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come to the Mass, be a part of the procession through the city.
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And of course, the neat festival that's going to be at the
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cathedral in Los Angeles. And it's sort of going to be a
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opportunity to give Thanksgiving and, and praise to the Lord for
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all what he's done for the last three years.
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And then that is the same weekend that we're commissioning
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these Eucharistic missionaries. What we're doing there after
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then is we're going to keep forming and keep the revival
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going, right? We're going to continue.
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We're having a prayer series launching coming up in the fall
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that people can do in small groups in the parish.
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We're starting to look at what this ongoing revival look like,
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Eucharistic revival look like in our parishes and our diocese.
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And there's going to be more and more content in materials,
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especially working through these Eucharistic missionaries across
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the country. We're going to continue to do
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our pilgrimage year after year after year.
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We're looking at some really special interesting events next
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year that I think will continue to light the fire and and bring
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spark to revival in our country. But also we have an eye towards
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when the next Congress is. So this November, we're looking
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to go to the bishops, the United States with another city and
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date. Right now we're proposing 2029
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to do the next, you know, even large national Eucharistic
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Congress would be the 11th. And then and just to continue to
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move these, this Congress movement forward that
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historically has always been like, wait, in the in the past
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you would have a Congress every four to five years.
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So even right now, we're already looking at what the next big
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city is for the Congress of the future.
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Well, and that sounds like a lot of work and planning.
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So what what is your role as the executive here?
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How do you accomplish those goals on a like practical
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administrative level? Yeah.
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Well, we have a great team and this was in, this was a huge
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team effort with a lot of collaborators and partners that
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brought the revival to fruition. And those are some of the full
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time staff. I mean, when at the height of
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the Indianapolis, we were up to 16 full Time Team staff down,
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we're about 7:00 or 8:00. But there is a lot more
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collaborators from all the sponsors to all the partners to
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people who you know, frankly, it was amazing to watch everybody
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come together. You know, you, you see even in
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the Catholic space competition and the like.
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And it was nice to see our Sunday visitor, Knights of
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Columbus, Relevant Radio, you get PTN, Augustine Institute and
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many, many more all working together for a common goal.
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And it wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for for all these
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apostolate sponsors. And of course, you've got the
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leadership of the bishops who made it possible at the diocese
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level, perish point people at our parishes, which we have
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11,000 parish point people across the country.
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So sometimes my role is just to get out of the way and let
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people and let the Lord and let the Holy Spirit do its work.
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You know, it's a the process of the last three years has been
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one of a lot of discernment and surrender to what does the Lord
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asking? What does the Lord want?
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You know, the thing of that's interesting to me about the
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Eucharist is, you know, Jesus could have just rose from the
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dead, ascended into heaven and said, great.
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I mean, I'm a I'm a convert and he could have said, great,
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that's it, you know, have a relationship with me.
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He chose to come under the appearance of bread and wine and
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to humble himself and to self empty himself to be there with
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us every time Mass is said. And then of course, to stay with
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us in the Tabernacle after that is the spirit of docility and
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humility that we need to have. And that's what I think a
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Eucharistic life looks like. And so we as leaders of this,
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hopefully through our prayer life and others, really try to
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think about what is the Lord's want for this revival?
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What do we need to do? And so that's a big part of what
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I try to do in collaboration with the board and and Bishop
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Cousins on a day-to-day level. It's a matter of rolling up my
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sleeves and do whatever I need to do.
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I mean, if that means I got to, you know, we have a small team,
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but a mighty one and I'll do what it takes to to help get
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things done and move things forward at the Congress.
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Sometimes that was, you know, welcoming people as they
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arrived. It was diving into particular
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problems. It was staying in the background
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where needed. And so day-to-day, it's a lot of
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continuing to put a vision out there, ask for support from
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donors and others, working with the bishops of our country and
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really listening to them. This is a Bishop driven, Bishop
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LED initiative and I want to be, you know, obedient and docile
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to, you know, what is it that they hope not only had happened,
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but what it looks like going forward.
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You had mentioned self-inflicted wounds.
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How many of those self-inflicted wounds came about as a result of
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COVID-19 84? Yeah, I mean COVID was an
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interesting period and I, I probably look at COVID as a
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little more up, more optimistic than most.
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Just as an aside, I, I've had a COVID, I was sedated for 45 days
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and intubated, right? And so I, I was one of the worst
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of the worst in, in terms of needing medical attention during
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COVID. But I, I do know in terms of, if
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you also remember at that time, we didn't know what we didn't
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know. There's a lot of speculation on
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a variety of things. And so the best, the bishops
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were making decisions with the best information.
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Maybe they had, I know there's some that lament the fact that
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parishes and things were closed, but what was the Lord telling
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us? What was the Lord teaching us in
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a certain sense? You know, I remember I was
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Easter during COVID, we had to watch stuff on television.
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So I washed my kids feet, right? I lit a fire outside and we, you
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know, lit candles outside. It really is an interesting
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moment where you sort of went back to this domestic church and
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I, there's some things that I, I think the Lord was speaking to
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us about. But to your point, I think the
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other thing that COVID did is it it really shook people up in
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terms of their isolation, loneliness, ask deeper
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questions. And I think you're seeing some
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of that and what this happened with the revival, right?
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People as we're going across the country, people are like, let's
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get outside, let's get back out there, let's go to Indianapolis.
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And I even think the conversions that you're seeing at Easter,
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the OCI numbers are up. And I've been asked, is that
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related to the revival? Well, partly, but I also think
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COVID, it's also related partly to COVID.
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You've seen a lot of young people becoming Catholic and I
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think the COVID experience sort of plays into them asking some
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questions that otherwise they might, they sort of shook us out
13:33
of our slumber a little bit. And now they are, they're
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defining the Catholic faith. And it's just God's Providence,
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right? That right after COVID, this
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revival started and becoming a lot more maybe public about
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bringing the Eucharist out into the public square and
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conversations and small group studies going back to sort of
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our roots of who we are. We're people of the Eucharist
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being sent forth by the Eucharist to bring glory to God.
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And so, yeah, I could see where you could think, you know, COVID
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was a self afflicted wound in a certain sense, but God is even
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working through that, I think, to do mighty things to the
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Church. So.
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You're doing a lot of different initiatives that have had a lot
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of positive results. You know, I wonder if there's
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something just like very simple that could have very big results
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in terms of people's belief in the real presence and respect
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veneration of it. So something as simple as just
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three things. So receiving kneeling down on
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from the hands of a consecrated person from the hands of someone
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who has consecrated hands like a priest or Deacon, what would
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impact do you think that would make?
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I think you're already seeing what I have noticed as I go
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across the country already. A greater reverence for the
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Eucharist in art liturgies, whether mandated or not.
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What I'm seeing is is more and more people are approaching the
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Lord with a greater depth of reverence.
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Part of the Eucharistic revival from the that I part of the
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mission, if you will, of the Eucharistic revival from the
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very beginning was greater reverence in Mass.
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And I think you're seeing, and I mean, to your point, as these
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processions were going across the country, what I noticed was
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people were dropping to their knees right as it's going across
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the street or down the street, people on the sidelines, which
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are up to the knees because Jesus was passing by.
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And so I do think that you are definitely seeing a greater
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sense of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.
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And as you know, you know, posture of and liturgy is
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commutative to the soul. It teaches us it, it forms us.
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I mean, again, as an evangelical Protestant, you know, I was
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like, why are these Catholics kneeling and standing and doing
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all these different postures? But we are we are incarnated
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body and soul. And so I think they're the
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postures do do matter. And I think across the country
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you're seeing already through this revival greater, greater
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and greater expression in that. And that's work will continue to
16:07
to emphasize and work. And in do our mission is not
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really to mandate liturgical aspects for Mass.
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I mean, that's up to the bishops of the particular diocese in the
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USECB. Our role more is to direct
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people's time, attention, understanding to Jesus and the
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Eucharist properly understood. And again, how we dress at Mass,
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how we, our postures at Mass, all sort of help help that
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greater devotion, reverence and understanding.
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So if people want to get more involved in this, what what
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should they do? Yeah, so believe it or not, we
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have like 3 websites. It's crazy.
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They can go to nationaleucharisticrevival.org.
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You can go to the National Eucharistic congress.org.
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That's mainly going to talk a lot about the Congress that
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happened. And if you'd like to join us on
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the route in the pilgrimage and be a part of LA, go to
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nationalpilgrimage.org. I would also offer that we have
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an app that's called Manna MANNA.
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You can download the app. There's a free side that has a
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lot of the talks from the Congress and if you haven't went
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and seen or you haven't seen the new Carlo Kudis film that's out.
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We have a 10 minute bonus feature that I think would
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motivate, inspire and and people be excited about.
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If you would like to be a Eucharistic missionary, there's
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information and sign ups there on the revival website.
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And so I'm grateful for people check us out.
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There's multiple ways to find us and and you're most welcome.
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Well, I hope you do the next Congress in Houston.
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Houston. I love Houston.
17:42
Yeah, I got a lot of friends in Houston.
17:44
That would be, that would be great.
17:45
You just got a new Archbishop down there, right?
17:48
Joe Vasquez, that's his real name.
17:50
Joe. That's his name.
17:52
Yeah, he's Joe Vasquez. Yeah, that's great.
17:55
Yeah, Houston would be great. There are a lot of good things
17:57
happening in Houston. I think so.
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It's growing good families. Very good families, Yeah, so
18:04
very good. Well, thanks for your work
18:06
Jason. Really, it's inspiring to hear
18:08
about the all the positive effects of this.
18:09
And it's like going to continue to grow as you as you put your
18:12
put your mind and strength to it.
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I pray for us, I'm really grateful for you and I hope we
18:17
can do this again and we'll check in and down the road and
18:20
do some more updates and, and follow the conversation.
18:22
Be great. That's it.
18:23
Yeah. Maybe you can give me a front
18:25
seat to the Congress. I know it's really big.
18:26
You're already reserving your seat for 2029.
18:29
I love it. That's good.
18:30
Yeah, I know. If you want to come to LA, I'll
18:32
get you. I'll get you a seat.
18:34
No. Problem appreciate.
18:35
It talk to you soon, my friend. Have a good day.
18:37
All right. Thanks.
18:38
Thanks for listening. Please like, subscribe and share
18:40
with your friends. See you next time.