Bring the Eucharistic Revival Home Challenge

Welcome to the Bring the Eucharistic Revival Home Challenge! As you likely know, the Catholic Church is in the middle of a big, multi-year Eucharistic Revival. We want to do all that we can to support and spread this revival. Most of all, we want to help you BRING this revival home, to your children and to your own heart!

To do that, we have come up with 15 fun, easy, and meaningful activities that you can do as a family. Each is designed to teach you a little bit–but more importantly–pull you closer to our Eucharistic Lord.

And, just to help you engage in the challenge and accomplish all 15 challenges, we are offering prizes! Yay! Take a look! 👇

To get started, make sure to print out your playing card:

Then, follow along and accomplish challenges as you are able. When you are done, please snap a picture of your completed playing card (with all 15 boxes marked off, and submit it at the link below. We will be randomly drawing winners on October 1st!

Okay, whose ready to start completing some challenges?

To do so, listen to this audio lesson:

To accomplish this challenge, we encourage you to watch this little video from Fr. Mike.

EVERY saint was dedicated to the Eucharist, so you can pick any saint, but here are the three we recommend. Ask this saint’s intercession as you come closer to the Eucharist as a family.

1. Mother Teresa
2. JPII
3. Blessed Carlo

We must make sure that we are in a state of grace when we come and to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Therefore, think about how long it has been since you (and your children) went to confession. It is a good practice to go once a month.

Here is a great guide that can help you prepare children and adults to make a good confession:

At various points in history, God had made it clear through miracles that the Eucharist really and truly IS His body and blood. Therefore, take a few minutes to learn about a few of these miracles. Search on the internet, or just watch this video:

As a young adult, I got pretty lazy with the hour-long Eucharistic fast. I told myself I only needed to fast 1 hour before Communion…which for an hour-long Mass meant I just couldn’t eat on the drive to Mass….but I think we all know that’s not really fasting.

So why do we fast before receiving Jesus in the Eucharist?

I thought this explanation from Catholic Answers was pretty helpful:

“The eucharistic fast is in place to help us appreciate what we are receiving in the Blessed Sacrament. Our body and soul are united, thus this simple fast helps us to hunger for the Bread of Life.”

God is God, and the Eucharist is Jesus, no matter what we do. We don’t fast for God, we fast for ourselves. When we come forward during Communion, do we really HUNGER for Jesus? Is our soul starving for Jesus? It should be!

We allow our bodies to be hungry so our soul properly CRAVES the True Bread.

And so, along with your kids, discuss your own Eucharistic fast. Are you observing the hour-long fast? Can you do better (or do it with a better attitude)?

In the Gospels, Jesus explains clearly that indeed, the Eucharist IS His Body and Blood. This was not symbolic. And, when some of His followers found this hard to believe, HE LET THEM LEAVE!

The heart of Jesus’s explanation of the Eucharist can be found in the 6th chapter of John’s Gospel. Therefore, you are challenged to go, find a Bible, and study scripture along with Fr. Mike. He does and excellent job taking us through verse by verse and (as you can read in the comments) his explanation of the scripture is so powerful that it has brought several people home to the Catholic Church!

What does your family do on the way to Holy Mass? Put on your shoes? Stare out the window? Scream and fight with each other (or is that is my family?).

Well, what if you used the time on the way to Holy Mass to PREPARE to receive Jesus? A beautiful way to prepare for Mass is to say a prayer together as a family. Don’t know a prayer? No worries! You can simply speak what is on your heart, or you can listen to this prayer I wrote and read for you here:

HOW do you come forward and receive Jesus? What is your posture like? What are you wearing and what are you thinking about?

Today we simply challenge you to THINK ABOUT ALL OF THESE THINGS! Why? Because when you come forward to receive Jesus in the Eucharist you are approaching and receiving GOD! So everything you do should be deliberate.

Also, have you ever considered receiving on the tongue? There is nothing wrong with receiving on the hand (I did for YEARS), but receiving on the tongue is so powerful and really helps many (including me!) realize the awesome things we are doing when we receive.

Want a few more thoughts on receiving on the tongue and a practical how-to? Check out this video from Fr. Mark Mary.

Every part of the Mass is important. But a SUPER DUPER important moment is when the Priest elevates the Body and the Blood. For centuries Catholics have taken this moment to say a special prayer to Jesus. Discuss this as a family and pick a prayer that you will try to remember to say at this moment. Here are a few ideas for you:

1. My Lord and my God!
2. O Sacrament most holy! O Sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.
3. Jesus, I believe you are here! Increase my faith!
4. Jesus, I love you!

Attending Mass on a day when you don’t have to (i.e. a weekday that is not a Holy Day of Obligation) is a beautiful way to show Jesus that He matters. Often we have to wake up early, eat supper later, or make other changes to our schedules to attend daily Mass–so do that once this month!

A pilgrimage is a spiritual journey. Perhaps you have heard of people making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to worship Jesus in the places where He once lived. Maybe you or someone you know has made a pilgrimage to a place where a saint lived or died. These are both great things, but you don’t have to travel very far to make a pilgrimage! After all, Jesus, the Lord of the universe is waiting for you (right now) in the Tabernacle or Adoration chapel at your parish church!

And so, find time to make a pilgrimage to visit Jesus. Prepare yourself by cleaning up and making sure your appearance is orderly. Then, quiet all of the noise and distractions in your life. Turn off your phone, and enter into the silence. Then, come to Jesus, face to face in the Eucharist. Say you are sorry for your sins, thank Him for all of your blessings, and offer Him praise.

All beautiful things come from God–including music! Therefore, fill your home and your mind with songs that praise Jesus in the Eucharist. We put together this Eucharistic Playlist for you! Enjoy!

There is no better place to discuss the Eucharist than in the family. And so, make time to discuss these questions. The best place to discuss them in over a meal!

1. Why do we believe that the Eucharist IS Jesus’s Body and Blood? (answers: Jesus told us it is at the Last Supper and in John 6, the Church since the very beginning has been saying Mass and worshipping the Eucharist, Eucharistic miracles).
2. Do you sometimes find it hard to believe that the Eucharist Is Jesus’s Body and Blood?
3. How does Jesus show us His love for us through the Eucharist?

After we receive Jesus in the Eucharist we (our very bodies!) become little Adoration Chapels! Jesus is inside of us and when we leave Mass we are called to bring Jesus to others!

Therefore, for our final challenge you need to do something a little scary: become and evangelist. Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist: we can’t keep that to ourselves! And so, as a family, you need to invite at least one person outside of your family closer to the Eucharist. Here are some ideas to do this:

1. Invite a friend to Mass or Eucharistic Adoration
2. Share what you believe about the Eucharist with a non-Catholic friend or extended family member.
3. Engage in a conversation with a friend who is struggling with doubt about the Eucharist.

It’s okay to be nervous as you complete this final challenge (how do you think Peter and Paul felt as they offered their lives to spread faith in the Eucharist!?!) Just know that Christ dwells inside of you and He desires to love ALL people.

Thanks for being part of this challenge, and don’t forget to submit your completed playing cards after you finish all of the challenges!!!

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy