Parishes live out Eucharist Revival ‘Year of Mission’

“People belong there. Jesus is waiting for them,” said Father Alex Nevitt, administrator of St. Bonaventure Parish in Paterson, about the importance of spending time in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament of Jesus.

Father Nevitt, also a leader for the Eucharistic Revival in the Paterson Diocese, traveled with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and pilgrims to the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July.

The group will meet this month to discern how the Lord is calling them to share the graces from the historic event for this, the third year of the national revival, called the “Year of Mission.”

“We want to encourage those who went on the pilgrimage to promote Eucharistic adoration in their parishes. This cannot and will not succeed solely based on clerical input,” Father Nevitt said.

The National Eucharist Revival aims to re-center the Church in the United States on Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament — “to heal, renew and unify the Church and the world.”

Father Nevitt will work with point persons at parishes for the national organization. They are working with their pastors to implement the “Year of Mission” to share the gift of the Eucharistic Lord with others to prepare for the 2025 Year of the Jubilee.

“The Gospel invites us in, and then we go out,” Father Nevitt said.

Some parishes in the diocese are expanding their Eucharistic adoration offerings to help parishioners experience more deeply the love and joy that comes from the source and summit of the Catholic faith.

St. Paul Church in Clifton holds exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for nine consecutive Wednesdays from 6 to 6:55 p.m. before the 7 p.m. Mass.

Ida Uri, a parishioner at St. Paul’s, said the idea for the Holy Hour came from her Catholic Filipino faith group that prays a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Wednesdays.

“We wanted to do something in response to the Eucharistic Congress,” said Uri.

The group, along with Father Francis Conde, chaplain at St. Joseph University Medical Center in Paterson who serves the Catholic Filipino community, discerned through prayer and decided to fast on Fridays and ask to start the Holy Hour.

With the start of religious education and new altar server training, St. Paul’s is “intensifying” its push to provide more education to children about the sacraments and the importance of being close to the Lord, said Father Leonardo Jaramillo, pastor.

“This is the center of our life. Our faith is Jesus Christ and His body, and His blood,” said Father Jaramillo.  

St. Anthony Parish in Hawthorne holds first Friday adoration from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. so the whole parish, all age groups, can participate. Participants say they enjoy it, said Father Francis Lennie, St. Anthony’s parochial vicar.

“Jesus always went off to pray by himself. If He needed to do it, we need to do it,” Father Lennie said.

The Order of Malta will hold a Eucharistic procession as part of its “Rosary Coast to Coast” event on Sunday, Oct. 6, at St. Vincent Martyr Church in Madison.

The monthly Young Adult Praise and Worship evenings with Bishop Sweeney continue this year. The next events will be Sept. 18 at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison and Oct. 11 at St. Therese Parish in the Succasanna neighborhood of Roxbury Township.

Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Branchville hosted a Eucharistic adoration night for more than 43 teens, parents, youth ministers, and catechists around the diocese on Aug. 23.

“It was phenomenal,” said Father Philip-Michael Tangorra, Queen of Peace pastor.

The older teens compiled a 60-page book for the younger teens and spent a half hour explaining Eucharistic adoration to them. Father Tangorra hopes other parishes in Sussex County will support a rotation of monthly teen adoration.

St. Bonaventure holds a Cenáculo in Spanish on the last Wednesday of the month to pray for priests. It previously included the rosary and has expanded to include Mass and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

“Jesus is waiting for you. People think the solution is a new thing. The solution is going back to what Christ taught,” Father Nevitt said. “You can’t contain the Eucharist. It is for teens, young adults, and people who are dying. The Eucharist is for everyone.”