Invited to the table

 Having just completed the Walk with Christ event in Sydney yesterday it gave me time to ponder how we are all called to become pilgrims. What stood out for me is how reverently people participated in this event and how it became a time of prayer where we stood in communion with each other. Archbishop Anthony Fisher spoke the following words that witness to how the Eucharist is central to our Catholic Faith.

"Communion with God and each other is not achieved by force of arms, by walking the corridors of power or wealth, by utilising spinners and influencers, by synods, negotiations or other human efforts. To unite us as His company or communion, Jesus gives us His substance in “Holy Communion”.

In 2022 the Plenary Council of Australia reaffirmed “the pre-eminent role of liturgical worship in the life of the Church” and pointed out that “our communal worship witnesses to unity and hope in a fractured world increasingly hostile to public acknowledgement of God”. Today you have very publicly acknowledged God. Today you have witnessed to unity and hope. The Plenary Council thought the time was ripe for “renewal in catechesis, formation and devotion to this Sacrament”. To that end, it reverberated our request and that of the Bishops Conference to the Holy Father “that the 2028 International Eucharistic Congress take place in Australia.”

This would allow for “a time of prayerful preparation for the People of God”. But how are we to prepare? The Plenary Council called on dioceses to “commit to planning and promoting communal public events that focus on the Eucharist, in service of forming Catholic belief, culture and identity. These might include feast day celebrations, Eucharistic processions and adoration, and the development and performance of music well-suited to worship.” Today, my dear friends, you have done as the Council asked and helped prepare this city and country for that event we devoutly hope Pope Francis will grant us in 2028.

My dear people, you have just proclaimed to our city the gift of redemption in Christ Jesus. Not through robust argument, clever rhetoric or special effects, but simply by Walking With Christ whom you love. You have formed a chavurah, a minyan, a communion, not of ten but more like ten thousand! Like a priest calling down the Spirit upon the elements of bread and wine to change them into Christ’s Body and Blood, you have exercised your priestly power as the baptised to call the Spirit down upon this city to change it into God’s kingdom. That His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as in heaven, you brought Sydney our daily Bread, the Bread of Life. You proclaimed that Christ lives in our city, our communities, our hearts. He has given us His all, His very Body and Blood, all His substance and reality, all His spirit and grace, so no one would be left behind. Give Him your all in return!"(https://www.sydneycatholic.org/addresses-and-statements/2024/ferverino-for-benediction-after-walk-with-christ-3/)