Advent is a time ponder the mysteries of the Incarnation and Christ's presence in the Eucharist

There is an intimate link between Advent and the National Eucharistic Revival, say priests and lay leaders of the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Advent increases the anticipation and longing for God dwelling among us at the Incarnation, and the Eucharistic Revival increases the anticipation and longing for the risen Lord dwelling within us in the Eucharist. 

The diocese kicked off its participation in the Eucharistic Revival with a eucharistic procession at St. Joseph Cathedral on June 19, 2022, the feast of Corpus Christi. After a year of preparation, the focus moved to a year of revival at the church parish level. On July 17, 2024 there will be a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, followed by a year of outgoing mission until Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2025. 

“Apart from that, the Eucharistic Revival really comes down to the individual person and how they’re going to live a good eucharistic life,” said Father Mathew Dunn, pastor of Christ the King Church and Catholic Center at LSU and chairman of the Baton Rouge Diocesan Eucharistic Revival Committee.  

Father Dunn emphasized that Advent and the Eucharistic Revival invites people to slow down. 

“A revival can’t happen until you slow down and recognize what needs to be revived,” Father Dunn said, “and that’s what the revival focuses on, that wonder of ‘Oh my goodness, this is Jesus in the Eucharist.’ The same thing with Christmas, ‘Oh my goodness, this is the Lord, the Creator humbling himself for us so we should be humbled as well.’ ” 

The Incarnation is part of God’s plan for salvation, according to Father Dunn and lay leaders. 

Dina Dow, director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, referred to paragraph 461 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Taking up St. John's expression, ‘The Word became flesh,’ the Church calls ‘Incarnation’ the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it.” 

Josh Zelden, a third-year seminarian at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, pointed out, “The greatest of storytellers give hints and foreshadowing of the fullness and conclusion of their stories even at the very beginning of their tales. God, likewise, the greatest storyteller of all, whose stories are actually the real-life events of history, also gives us a hint of the conclusion of Jesus’ full story right from his humble beginnings in Bethlehem, at his birth.   

“Jesus, because there is no room in the inn, is born in a humble stable and placed in a manger. Manger — the English word derives from the French word manger, which means ‘to eat.’  How beautiful and fitting. Jesus is literally placed in an eating trough right from his birth. He is born to feed us. He was born to institute the Eucharist, to give his very body, as food and life for the world,” Zelden said.  

Preparing for the Savior’s birth, which is made tangible through the consecrated bread and wine, increases people’s anticipation of it, said Father Dunn. 

He compared this anticipation to the planning of his recent family vacation. 

“We don't just show up at the same place. There's a lot of planning. What clothes do we need to wear because it's gonna be in the mountains of Tennessee in November? What are we going to eat? Who's cooking? When? What are we going to do while we're there?” 

The excitement builds up with the planning of the trip, said Father Dunn. 

“When everyone finally gets there, it's really a big celebration. All the prep work is done, and you get to enjoy and be present and take it all in. Much like a vacation, Advent is a time within the Eucharistic Revival to enter into that preparation so that when the Incarnation actually happens at Christmas, we enter into it in a new way.” 

Zelden recommended attending at least one weekday Mass a week and participating in Eucharistic adoration. 

“Although the Eucharist is meant to be consumed, the great bodily gift of communion with God himself, Eucharistic adoration is a beautiful complement to physically actually receiving and consuming the Eucharist,” Zelden said.   

“Eucharistic adoration gives us the chance to sit quietly and contemplate the majesty and mystery and wonder of this great gift. And then, when we next receive the Eucharist, we can carry an anticipation from our time in adoration, thus making the reception even more intentional and powerful. This anticipation, which makes the experience of receiving the Eucharist more powerful, is similar to Advent as well. Advent invites us to quietly and prayerfully anticipate Jesus’ coming at Christmas, so that the day and event does not sneak up on us and lose its meaning. In Advent, we anticipate the coming of Jesus; in adoration, we anticipate the full reception of the Eucharist.”  

Father Dunn encouraged people during their prayer time to pray with words of the Eucharistic Prayer. This helps them understand the church’s offering of Jesus the Son, through the Holy Spirit, to the Father. They embody what it means to be a Eucharistic people because they “live this out.” 
 

Reading Scripture, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, reflecting on the events leading up Christ’s birth, and receiving the sacrament of reconciliation are good ways to prepare for Christmas, according to Dow. 

The Gospel reading of the Fourth Sunday of Advent invites people to walk alongside Mary at the Annunciation when she was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and conceived Jesus. 

“We have the same thing during Mass when the priest during the Epiclesis calls upon the Holy Spirit, and by the Holy Spirit makes these gifts become the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a powerful parallel,” said Dow. 

All these pieces come together and point to the humble, real presence of the Lord in the bread and wine, which become the body and blood of Jesus, she added. 

Dow shared her own experience on a Christmas Eve when she served as an extraordinary minister of the chalice. 

“As we finished distributing Communion and went to the sacristy to purify the chalice, the choir was singing ‘Silent Night.’ I was enjoying the tune. But when I looked down, I still had precious blood remaining in the cup. I remember thinking, we’re singing ‘Silent Night’ about this baby, and it is the same baby’s blood that is in this chalice. It was a profound Eucharistic moment for me that brought me to tears of gratitude and joy at the same time; that this baby is the Messiah, who later, upon the cross, poured out His blood and ultimately gave His life for us to save us from our sins and reconcile us to God. He is our Redeemer.