Tens of thousands of people gathered in Indianapolis two weeks ago to deepen their faith in the powerful unique mysterious miracle we call the Holy Eucharist. The Gospel for today couldn’t be better to speak about what this means. Besides the “institution narratives” of the Last Super, John 6 conveys the most profound truths about the Mass, about adoration, about presence and tradition and hope and unity and love.

The place, Lucas Stadium, went wild when the pilgrims from the four cross-country Eucharistic processions finally arrived. Now to say we all went wild, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like the cheers when your team wins the championship. We went wild in the most reverent yet enthusiastic manner. Songs, as if songs of triumph, were sung. Cameras flashed as if their favorite musical artist or political leader entered the building. But of course, we all knew that He who entered tops all these other heroes. He who entered is the same Lord and Savior that multiplied the loaves and fishes 2,000 years ago. He is the one who appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus and to Sr. Faustina (Divine Mercy devotions) and to St Margaret Mary (First Friday devotions) and to Mother Eugenia (The Father Speaks to His Children devotions) and countless others.

Allow me to ask a simple but a profound question about this key belief and practice at the heart of Catholicism. “Why is believing in the real presence of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ in the host so important?” A quote from the wonderful St John Vianney, whose feast day we skip on this Aug 4 because it is a Sunday, has always remained with me. “When I consider my poor soul and the possibility of being sent to hell, I look up at the host and think if I could only hold on to You, my Lord, then even being sent to hell, would not be hell at all to me, for if You be with me, then hell itself would be heaven to me.” When John Vianney was lost on his way to the little town of Ars, he asked a boy to show him the way to Ars. The boy did so, and the Cure of Ars told him, “You have shown me the way to Ars, I will show you the way to heaven.” As he was preaching about keeping holy the Sabbath, he noticed men in the fields pushing and dragging their carts of vegetables and wheat to their barns. St John pointed to them and declared, “Alas, look at those men. What are they carrying in their carts? I will tell you; they are carrying their souls off to hell.”

Mother Eugenia promoted a special devotion to the first person of the Blessed Trinity, that is, God the Father. The Feast of God the Father is to be celebrated today, the first Sunday of August, although it hasn’t reached the final stages of Vatican approval yet. These words of God the Father to Mother Eugenia seem to show the importance of our love for the Eucharist as great as that for the Father. “I come to you to banish the excessive fear that My creatures have of Me, and to show them that My joy lies in being known and loved by My children, that is by all mankind, present and future. I am coming to bring hope to men and nations. How many have long since lost it? This hope will make them live in peace and security, working for their salvation.” Truly, I feel sorry for Catholics who have lost such faith in the Eucharist or those who have never asked God for the grace to believe such a miracle.