Catholic Home Missions grant provides support for Eucharistic Revival in the diocese
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah parish, a Newman Center and the Blessed Carlo Acutis apostolate are benefitting from a $10,000 grant from Catholic Home Missions to help with the Eucharistic Revival in the Diocese of Salt Lake City.
Catholic Home Missions is a USCCB subcommittee that provides grants to support missionary activities that strengthen the Catholic Church in the United States, its territories and former territories.
The Catholic Home Missions grant enabled Father Dass David, pastor of Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price and its missions, to purchase a year’s subscription to FORMED for the parish. The service provides online and print Catholic content in both English and Spanish to help parishes, families and individuals explore their faith. Fr. David had wanted to offer this opportunity to members of his parish for some time but did not have the funds, he said.
All of the parish’s missions as well as the RCIA groups and organizations such as Council of Catholic Women and the Knights of Columbus have been using the new subscription, he said.
“People are constantly learning and the more they learn, they discover the less they know,” Fr. David said. “So they want more. People are constantly using it for understanding the beauty of the Catholic faith.”
With the CHM funds the parish was also able to host a Nov. 27-28 Eucharistic Miracles exhibit and provide refreshments for participants. The exhibit was extremely well attended by members the local community as well as the parish, Fr. David said.
The exhibit provided a wake-up call for many of those who attended, he said. “In a special way it triggered them [to think],’Okay it’s very important; this is part of my life. I need to come back, and I need to pay attention to the Eucharist.’”
The exhibit also has had long-lasting effects, with many parishioners visiting the parish website to learn more about the Eucharist, Fr. David said.
On Feb. 24 the St. Jerome Newman Center in Logan sponsored a day of retreat on the Eucharist. CHM funding allowed Father Robin Cruz, chaplain, to pay for the speakers and lunch for the participants.
“The Catholic Home Missions and other donations have been very helpful and important in putting on an activity like this, especially for students who are struggling financially,” said Fr. Cruz, who also is the parochial vicar the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Hyde Park. “Most retreats have voluntary donations collected from the participants but having sponsors such as CHM, we are able to provide a free retreat for students.”
The retreat helped the students understand the Real Presence in the Eucharist, its historical background, the symbols used at Mass and their meaning, he said. “Since our activity was done in the season of Lent, we provided the students with information about the theology of the Eucharist in line with the season. Most importantly, they have been taught that the Eucharist is the highest form of prayer and it is the heart and life of our Catholic faith.”
The Blessed Carlo Acutis Apostolate, which was launched in the diocese in December 2022, has been sponsoring local youth rallies and other events. On April 20 it will hold a retreat at St. Francis of Assisi for up to 1,000 youth from across the diocese. CHM funds will help pay for crucifixes and medals of the Virgin Mary for the participants. Visit https://www.dioslc.org/events/300 to register for the event, which is for youth ages 12 to 18. Parental consent forms are required.
“It is very, very important to get the support because this is how we are able to buy materials; this is how we are able to do stuff for the kids,” said Father Gustavo Vidal, about the CHM donation and other donations.
Fr. Vidal is director of the apostolate and pastor of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. “Also, we run into the problem of feeding the kids, so we can have the money to give them lunch,” he said. “We have to ask different organizations to help us do that.”
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