VOLUME 31 NO. 3— FALL 2022
NCCS embraces USCCB’s National Eucharistic Revival The 2021-2024 strategic plan for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) centers on the theme 'Created Anew by the Body and Blood of Christ, Source of our Healing and Hope,' and a key priority of this plan focuses on a National Eucharistic Revival with the overarching goal of renewing the Catholic Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. To kick off this movement, plans are in motion in hundreds of dioceses and parishes nationwide for Eucharistic processions to take place on the Feast of Corpus Christi, observed this year on June 19. The National Catholic Committee on Scouting is embracing this initiative and Tim Glemkowski,, Executive Director of the National Eucharistic Congress, will speak at our April membership meeting at the Embassy Suites at the airport in Kansas City, on Saturday, April 22, 2023. Most recently, he was Director of Strategy in the Archbishop’s Office for the Archdiocese of Denver, assisting with initiatives focused on building for a time of apostolic mission. He is the former founder and president of L'Alto Catholic Institute and Revive Parishes. He authored Made for Mission: Renewing Your Parish Culture, which was released in Fall 2019 through Our Sunday Visitor. He is an international speaker who has also consulted for many groups,
organizations, dioceses, and parishes. His writing has appeared in numerous print and web -based theological and catechetical publications. Tim cherished his experience and the lessons learned through growing up as a Boy Scout. Tim and his wife, Maggie, live in Lakewood, Colo. with their three young children The National Eucharistic Revival will have a strategic threeyear focus for formation and discipleship beginning at the grassroots level in individual parishes and dioceses and other Catholic institutions:
Year One (June 2022-June 2023) will be the Year of Diocesan Revival in which U.S. bishops respond to the Lord’s personal invitation and empower their presbyterates and parish leaders to host events with a Eucharistic focus. These events include Eucharistic Congresses and designated days for formation and reflection. Trained pastors comprising the Eucharistic Preachers initiative have also been commissioned to speak at diocesan events.
Year Two (June 2023-June 2024) is planned as the Year of Parish Revival. Individual pastors will engage their staff and parishioners with community-specific activities and events such as catechetical formation on the Real Presence of Christ, opportunities to better understand and enter more deeply into the Paschal Mystery through the celebration of the Mass, and extended opportunities for Adoration and Reconciliation. Year Three is the Year of the National Eucharistic Congress and Missionary Sending and commences with a National Eucharistic Congress set to take place July 17-21, 2024, in Indianapolis. The USCCB voted overwhelmingly at its semiannual general assembly in November 2021 to advance plans for a National Eucharistic Revival. The National Eucharistic Congress will be the first one in the United States in almost 50 years and expects to draw more than 80,000 Catholics, by way of pilgrimage, into an event of preparation, equipping the faithful as “Eucharistic missionaries” to go out to the existential and physical margins of society emboldened with the flame of divine charity to be the hands, feet, and heart of Christ in the world.