Cardinal Tagle: Eucharistic Congress was a ‘blessed experience’

By Christopher Wells

The National Eucharistic Congress in the United States was “a blessed experience for me,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle told Vatican Radio upon his return from the event, which he attended as the personal representative of Pope Francis, known as the “papal legate.”

The Pro-Prefect of the First Evangelization Section of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Cardinal Tagle, said: “It was palpable that people were responding to a call from God who sent his Son Jesus in the flesh and whose presence remains among us in the Eucharist.” And he added: “It sent the Holy Spirit to touch their hearts through the voice of their pastors and their religious orders and their lay movements or groups, to come and respond to the call and express now their faith in the presence of Jesus among us.”

Regaining a sense of wonder

Noting that it was customary for the pope to entrust his legate with a personal letter, Cardinal Tagle said: “It was very clear that the Holy Father wanted first to encourage people to rediscover a sense of wonder, of amazement at the gifts, the spiritual gifts that the Eucharist brings to us, again, a sense of wonder.”

“The Holy Father immediately added that after receiving the gift, one must transmit to others the beauty of this gift – the missionary dimension of our Eucharistic devotion, so that our Eucharistic devotion does not end up being a closed relationship between Jesus and me, and I forget the world and others.” On the contrary, the cardinal explained, “if you have received the gift, then we must go on mission to proclaim the good news that we have seen, that we have tasted, that we have received.”

Interview with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

Papal Legate to the National Eucharistic Congress

Vatican Radio: Your Eminence, Cardinal Tagle, thank you for joining us this afternoon. You have just returned from the United States, where you were papal legate, representing the pope at the National Eucharistic Congress. Can you tell us about your experience at that event?

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle: Well, first of all, it’s a blessed experience – and a blessing – a blessed experience for me. And I thank the Holy Father for sending me as his representative to the National Eucharistic Congress. You know, it’s given me, first of all, once again, the experience of a church in the original sense of the word, a gathering of people, but not just a gathering because they wanted to celebrate or just because they had a common interest, but a gathering that is really a response to a call.

And it was palpable that people were responding to a call from God who sent his Son Jesus in the flesh and whose presence dwells among us in the Eucharist. And that sent the Holy Spirit to touch their hearts through the voices of their pastors and their religious orders and their lay movements or groups, to come and answer the call and express their faith now in the presence of Jesus among us.

So it is a wonderful experience for me to see the Church come together in the name of Jesus, in prayer, in the desire to learn more about the Word of God through the talks, through the catechetical events and especially through the testimonies of people transformed by their Eucharistic life and their spirituality. I consider this a blessing for me.

Q. You were Pope Francis’ representative at the National Eucharistic Congress. Can you tell us what was the message you brought from the Holy Father to the American faithful?

Speaker 2: Well, the Holy Father wrote me a letter – and it is customary for the Holy Father to write a letter to the person he sends as a delegate to any event, and in this case, to the National Eucharistic Congress. And in addition to the letter, I had the opportunity to speak with him before I left.

But in the letter it was very clear that the Holy Father wanted above all to encourage people to rediscover the sense of wonder, of wonder at the gifts, the spiritual gifts that the Eucharist brings us, again a sense of wonder. That is why I emphasized in my homily the sense of the renewed vision of receiving gifts, the sense of wonder at having been the recipient of this immense gift, which is not just anything, but the presence of Jesus who fulfilled his mission of love by coming as one of us, except in sin. His mission is therefore fulfilled in being a gift in the flesh. And now he gives us his flesh as food, as a pledge of eternal life.

The Holy Father therefore hopes that people, not just those who attended the Mass, but everyone, especially the United States, will rediscover this feeling of wonder and gratitude for the gift received.

But the Holy Father immediately added that after receiving the gift, one must transmit to others the beauty of this gift – the missionary dimension of our Eucharistic devotion, so that our Eucharistic devotion does not end up being a closed relationship between Jesus and me, and I forget the world and others. No. If you have received the gift, then we must go on mission proclaiming the good news that we have seen, that we have tasted, that we have received.

So I simply highlighted these two important aspects of the message that the Pope gave me, and I thought he wanted me to convey it to all members of Congress.

Q. And in fact, the idea of ​​going out on mission and sharing the gift that we have been given is part of the ongoing national Eucharistic renewal. That was the general context of the Eucharistic Congress, and it is still ongoing. What fruits – given your experience in recent days and years – what fruits do you hope to see in the Church in the United States as a result of the Congress and the Eucharistic renewal?

Of course, we rely on the gift of God, the Holy Spirit who touches people’s hearts, and we rely on the power of Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist to produce these fruits.

But I can also say, with hope, that after listening to the people who participated – even at the airport, I met some of them who were also leaving from Indianapolis – I already see the beginnings of the growth of the fruits sown during the Congress.

First of all, I saw the joy to be gifted by the Lord. And I hope that this joy will be spread by people. Because I think the Holy Father emphasized that Evangelii Gaudiumthe joy of the Gospel, yes, our life as Christians, our Eucharistic practice are not only obligations imposed on us, but they are gifts that we must receive with gratitude and with joy.

And I’ve seen a lot of joy, a lot of joy, and I hope that it will be a fruit that will show people that following Jesus is a joyful thing. It’s true. Yes, it will have challenges. We will carry the Cross, but we will carry it with joy. Not with a lonely and regretful heart, but with joy.

And secondly, the fruit is also to encourage people to come together, to come together for Mass. Because I have heard that there has been, since the Covid pandemic, a decline in Mass attendance, in physical Mass attendance. I hope that this great gathering will encourage people to come back to church in their parishes and experience the totality of the Eucharist, that Jesus gathers us together as his Body. We listen to the word of Jesus in the liturgy of the Word, we gather the gifts of the earth, the fruits of human labor, which will become the body of Christ. And then having received it, we go out on mission, but before we can go, we must be gathered together.

And I hope that this Congress has encouraged the viewers, those who are following the Congress, to come out and return to the church, to be with the community, to experience being the Body of Christ and also to go out on mission together.

Q. One last question for you. You are the pro-prefect of the section of the Dicastery for Evangelization that deals with early evangelization and the new particular Churches. How can renewed Eucharistic devotion, not only in the United States, but perhaps throughout the Church, contribute to early evangelization?

You know, there is what you call an intimate connection between the Eucharist and evangelization. First of all, when we look at the experience of the early Church after the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord, we see that the first Christian communities gathered to listen to the teachings of the apostles, to break bread together, and they shared their goods, their properties to share in common, especially with the poor. And according to the Acts of the Apostles, this gathering around the Word of God, this gathering around the breaking of bread, this gathering in charity, which is very Eucharistic, attracted the attention of many people, and many converted to the Catholic faith.

So the Eucharistic gathering is in itself a proclamation in action of the good news of what Jesus can do to a community, of this new life, of this new life that Jesus brings to a community gathered in the Eucharist.

So we hope, we hope that, and I have to testify that in many parts of the world where Christians are a very small minority, Christians are impatient. They walk miles and miles, sometimes days, to join the community in the celebration of the Eucharist. And in that gathering, they renew themselves and give a witness of the good news to non-Christians. Sometimes it is the Eucharistic assembly that arouses the curiosity of non-Christians, what I call this holy curiosity. They ask why? Where do you meet every Sunday and why do you share songs? Why do you even share your food with one another? They open the doors for us to proclaim what we have seen and heard and touched Jesus in the Eucharist.

Q. Cardinal Tagle, thank you again for taking the time to speak with us. I know you have had a long journey. Is there anything else you would like to share as we conclude our interview?

Well, I just hope that people who have left from different parts of the United States – because there were pilgrimages to Indianapolis – now the expectation is from Indianapolis, will there be a movement back to different parts of the country? It is where we must be open to the Holy Spirit, who will lead us to bring Jesus where He wants us to go.