19th Annual Eucharistic Congress kicks off

‘He is with us always’

CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte's annual Eucharistic Congress began Friday night at the Charlotte Convention Center. Bishop Peter Jugis opened the two-day celebration with the diocese’s prayer for the success of this year’s congress.

This year’s congress theme is “I am with you always,” which comes from the Gospel of Matthew 28:20.

“Why do we have a Eucharistic Congress?” Bishop Peter Jugis asked those in attendance at the opening ceremonies. “First, it is to honor our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, whom we love with all our hearts. And to demonstrate our love for Him by giving a witness for that faith we have in Him by coming together from all our parishes across the Diocese of Charlotte, to bear witness to His Real Presence in the Eucharist.”

The 19th annual Eucharistic Congress – a free, two-day event celebrating our Catholic faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist continued Saturday with a day full of events.

“The congress brings together the whole diocese as one diocesan family,” Bishop Jugis said Friday night. “I know at our smaller parishes or at smaller campus ministries, it might feel like only a small number of Catholics. But when we get together at this congress, where we will have over 10,000 Catholics expressing their faith in the Blessed Word and the Holy Sacrament tomorrow, it does something to your faith. You realize, ‘Wow, there are a lot more of us here.’ And that strengthens our faith, to know we are not alone.”

After the bishop's opening remarks, seminarians from St. Joseph College Seminary led Solemn Vespers. Then Kris Frank, from the National Eucharistic Revival and emcee of this year’s congress, welcomed attendees and gave a talk entitled “The Necessity of Intimacy," which expounded on our need for the Eucharist in our lives.

Priests, religious and faithful from across the diocese prayed and stayed for the Friday night tracks, beginning the congress something like a special family reunion.

“After having been here as a kid, and then as a seminarian, working and serving during congress, and now this my first year as a priest it is truly special,” said newly ordained Father Peter Rusciolelli, parochial vicar of St. Leo the Great Parish in Winston-Salem. “Every day as a priest, to be able to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is amazing. To have that intimate relationship with our Lord, and to come here and share in it now with the whole diocese is a very special thing.”

Friday night’s events also included a track for college students, where students from campuses across western North Carolina came to hear talks, share in fellowship, and then later spend the night in Eucharistic Adoration at St. Peter Church next door to the Charlotte Convention Center.

“This is my first year at the Friday night track, and I am so excited to be here with friends and so many new people,” said Roy Nunez, a Belmont Abbey College senior. “It’s exciting to see a bunch of Catholics come together and just share the faith. It really strengthens your faith, and it’s just so exciting to see everyone come together like this.”

Speaking to those gathered in the ballroom where the college track was held, Bishop Jugis further explained this year’s congress theme and the underlying beauty of the congress.

“This year’s theme comes from the final instructions of Our Lord to the disciples,” Bishop Jugis said. “Where He tells them, ‘Go out to the whole world and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And teach them to observe everything I have commanded you, and know that I am with you always, until the end of the ages.’ And this can be applied very beautifully to the Eucharist. Jesus is with us. He will never abandon His Church.”

“Some people will say that the Eucharist is just a symbol,” Bishop Jugis added. “But that is not what Jesus says. The Eucharist is Jesus Himself. He is the Eucharist. He is substantially present in that Blessed Sacrament. He is with us always.”

— Spencer K.M. Brown. Photos by Spencer K.M. Brown and Christina L. Knauss.