In support of the Church’s National Eucharistic Revival, two New York City gatherings featuring street processions with the Blessed Sacrament are planned in coming weeks.

On Saturday, May 27, the Spanish/English Pentecost Vigil at St. Patrick’s Cathedral will be preceded by a street procession from Times Square (7th Ave at West 47th St., Father Duffy Square) to the cathedral. Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Espaillat and members of the Charismatic Renewal of the Archdiocese of New York will lead the procession. The mission is to “Renew New York.” The procession starts at 3 p.m.; vigil at 7 p.m.

Also, on June 11 Corpus Christi Sunday, a Eucharistic Procession will take place along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, southbound starting at 202nd Street and ending at 151st Street. Bishop Espaillat and the pastors of the West Bronx Parishes will lead this event, with the procession beginning at 4 p.m.        

Prayers and songs in the processions will be in Spanish and English.                     

“It is a testimony of our Catholic faith; we are completely sure that walking with the Eucharist in procession is to bless the people of God,” Juan de la Rosa, director of the New York archdiocesan Catholic Charismatic Renewal, told The Good Newsroom last week. “The Lord is in the Eucharist…This is about shouting out, ‘God is with us.’ In the middle of all that is happening today in society, this procession is a hope.”                             

De La Rosa noted a Blessed Sacrament street procession will be added this year to the annual Spanish/English Pentecost Vigil at the cathedral “because of the call from the (United States) bishops for a Eucharistic Revival… For those who do not have hope, here is the hope – Jesus.” As for the Corpus Christi Sunday procession, he said, “This is for all parishes in the Bronx…God is with us.”    

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) launched the three-year National Eucharistic Revival on Corpus Christi Sunday in 2022. At the time, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens, chairman of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, announced the mission and vision of the Revival:

“Mission: The National Eucharistic Revival: ‘My flesh for the life of the world, John 6:51,’ seeks ‘to renew the Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.’”  

“Vision: ‘A movement of Catholics across the United States, healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist – and sent out in mission ‘for the life of the world.’”  

The USCCB put forth the three-year plan to “revive our understanding of and devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist! The Eucharist is the ‘source and summit’ of our faith. It is the saving Sacrifice of Christ our Lord, made present to us in the celebration of the Holy Mass, and communicated most intimately through the devout reception of Holy Communion.”     

Throughout the U.S., diocesan and parish Eucharistic revival gatherings have been part of the National Eucharistic Revival. The New York State Eucharistic Congress will be held from Oct. 20-22 this year in Auriesville. The National Eucharistic Congress is set for July 17 to 21, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana.     

“I remember when I was at World Youth Day in 1993 in Denver, Colorado. Pope John Paul II (now Saint John Paul II) challenged the young people with these words that still move me almost 30 years later: ‘Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into public places, like the first Apostles who preached Christ and the Good News of salvation in the squares of cities, towns, and villages. This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel,’” Father John Higgins, pastor of Holy Cross parish in the Bronx, told The Good Newsroom.   

Fr. Higgins noted that with the planned Midtown and Bronx processions, “we are fulfilling his (St. John Paul II) exhortation.’”