From Sept. 15 to Sept. 17, more than a hundred deacons and their wives gathered in Harrisonburg for the annual deacon convocation. The conference included professional development workshops, Mass at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and lectures from various speakers on topics such as chaplaincy, cultural ministry and liturgy.
The keynote for the conference was titled “The gift and challenge of the Eucharist,” given by Jesuit Father Thomas Gaunt, executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).
Father Gaunt opened the lecture with the story of Servant of God Walter Ciszek, an American Jesuit priest who spent more than 20 years in Soviet prisons and labor camps. In his two books, “With God in Russia” and “He Leadeth Me,” Father Ciszek chronicled his experience secretly serving as a priest to his fellow prisoners and described how access to the Eucharist provided strength to those who gathered in the prison for Mass.
Father Gaunt used the story of Father Ciszek to commence discussion about the Eucharist, which he described as “overwhelming to ponder.” Emphasizing the self-giving love present in the Eucharist, Father Gaunt connected this to the ministry of charity that is fundamental to the role of the deacon.
“The self-giving love of the deacon through his ministry of charity builds the body of Christ, and it makes real and tangible the self-giving love of Christ in the Eucharist,” said Father Gaunt.
Father Gaunt presented data from CARA surrounding the modern Catholic Church in America, such as belief in the Real Presence, Mass attendance and overall population. A 2019 Pew Research Center survey in which 69% of those who self-identify as Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of the Eucharist raised concerns in the Catholic community.
Citing data collected by CARA to supplement the Pew findings, Father Gaunt presented a deeper reality: Only 50% of adult Catholics know what the Church teaches about the Eucharist, but 63% of adult Catholics believe in the Real Presence. This means that one in six Catholics believe in the Real Presence but do not know the Church teaching about the body and blood of Christ.
Illuminating an area lacking in the Pew report, the priest accounted for this statistic by returning to the overall premise of his lecture.
“Knowledge is not just about knowing what is written in the catechism – knowledge is also what is experienced,” said Father Gaunt. “Walter Ciszek’s fellow prisoners in the labor camps may not have known the catechism, but they did know and experience the self-giving love of the Eucharist in the ministry of Walter Ciszek who accompanied them in their sufferings.”
Father Gaunt invited the deacons to use the National Eucharistic Revival as an opportunity to focus on their ministry of charity.
“Pay attention to making the self-giving love of Christ that we experience in the Eucharist present to those on the peripheries – the aged, the disabled, the prisoner, the alienated, the struggling, those on the margins of the Church,” he said.
Father Gaunt reminded the deacons of the value found in their personal witness: “Our individual actions speak louder than words. Let us strive to journey together with our brothers and sisters on the peripheries manifesting our eucharistic community.”