The New York State Eucharistic Congress is scheduled for October 20-22 at Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville. The Eucharistic Congress will take place over 40 hours, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration will take place each night from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. the following morning.

The event’s principal Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Dolan at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Eucharistic Congress will conclude at the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, celebrated by Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of Albany. There will be a Eucharistic procession Saturday afternoon.    

Among the event speakers is Father Dave Dwyer, CSP. A best-selling author, Fr. Dwyer’s topic is “Understanding What We Are Doing: Toward a More Active and Prayerful Participation in the Mass.”                          

“I’ve noticed a lot of grassroots efforts happening in parishes around New York State,” Fr. Dwyer told The Good Newsroom in an interview. “I’ve been involved in conversations about the revival since the launch (last year). This seems like the perfect time to gather people together to move it to the next phase.”                     

Fr. Dwyer serves as the First Consultor on the presidential board of the Paulist Fathers. He is the executive director of their media ministry Busted Halo, and the best-selling author of “Mass Class: Your Questions Answered” from Paulist Press. For more than 16 years, Fr. Dwyer has answered questions about the Mass and other Catholic topics on “The Busted Halo Show,” his live radio show (five nights a week) on The Catholic Channel (Ch. 129), SiriusXM.  

He co-hosts the weekly program “Conversation with Cardinal Dolan” heard on The Catholic Channel and seen on multiple Catholic television stations. The Catholic Media Association bestowed on Father Dwyer its inaugural Gabriel Award for Personal Achievement (2021). He has been the recipient of The Catholic University of America’s Alumni Achievement Award for innovation in Catholic media. He was featured in the book “New York Catholics: Faith, Attitude and the Works!” alongside Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Dorothy Day, and Regis Philbin.

As for participation in the Mass, his speaking topic, Fr. Dwyer said people “really have a desire to understand more about the Mass, and to appreciate what it is we do.” He said inquiries often include: why we should be going to Mass; Christ’s presence in the Eucharist; liturgical actions and rituals; and particular wording in the prayers. “The Mass is really the thing that we have most in common as Catholics,” he said.

A native of Long Island, Fr. Dwyer earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from Syracuse University. After college, he worked at HBO, MTV, and Comedy Central, producing and directing television programs. Fr. Dwyer’s vocation to the priesthood was stirred at World Youth Day in 1993 in Denver. He entered the Paulists in 1994 and earned his Master of Divinity degree from The Catholic University of America. He was ordained a priest on May 27, 2000.  

From 2000 to 2004, he was a Catholic campus minister at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Fr. Dwyer lives at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan. For more information, visit his pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Also of interest:  https://www.paulistpress.com/Products/0666-0/mass-class.aspx.