Eucharist called God's 'greatest gift' in smallest form

By Emily Chaffins -

Photography: EMILY CHAFFINS | FC

MIAMI | The Servants of the Pierced Hearts’ “I Will Always Be With You” eucharistic retreat had it all – a throng reaching up towards the Eucharist during adoration, people weeping as sisters and volunteers prayed over them with saints’ relics, and a crowd clapping along with the lively music of women religious playing guitar, tambourine, violin, and more.

About 700 people packed into St. Brendan High School’s gym for the June 10, 2023, retreat, some traveling from as far away as Guatemala, New York, and Jacksonville, Florida. People of all ages were present, from young couples pushing strollers to seniors. The event was bilingual, with translation devices available for both English and Spanish speakers.

Mother Adela Galindo, foundress of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts, explained that the retreat was a response to Archbishop Thomas Wenski’s request that all the parishes host processions on the feast of Corpus Christi, which fell on June 11 this year.

“I said, well, if he’s asking for that, I need to do the retreat the day before, so people can go and live the solemnity of Corpus Christi with a greater understanding and love for the Eucharist,” Mother Adela said.

The feast day marked the start of the second year of the National Eucharistic Revival, taking place from 2022 to 2025. This year, the focus is on fostering eucharistic devotion at the parish level.

The retreat began with praying the joyful mysteries of the rosary to obtain a plenary indulgence, followed by Mass celebrated by Father Joseph Rogers of the Pierced Hearts. He was assisted by Deacon Ismar Martinez, who is assigned to the Pierced Hearts and St. John XXIII Parish in Miramar.

During a Mass throughout which Father Rogers was visibly moved, he compared the day’s Gospel, where a widow donates her last two coins, to Jesus in the Eucharist.

“There is nothing smaller than [the host] – and there’s nothing greater,” Father Rogers said. “There’s nothing more important than the smallness of the gift that Jesus will give us here, because he gives us his body and blood, his soul and divinity, the love of all loves, the gift of all gifts, the mystery that surpasses all mysteries, in something that is even smaller than the two coins that the widow would give.”

“This is the Kingdom of God. It’s the logic of God. It’s the logic of his grace,” Father Rogers said. “Love continues transforming small things into big things.”

After Mass, Sister Evelyn María Montes de Oca, Brother Iñigo Johnpaul Islas, Mother Adela, and Father Rogers gave talks on different aspects of the Eucharist.

One of the main themes was how to be what Mother Adela called “apostles of the Eucharist.”

“Jesus said, ‘I will be with you until the end of time,’” said Sister Evelyn María. “We know by faith that through the Eucharist, we have the opportunity to enter into communion with heaven because we receive heaven in our hearts.”

“Jesus didn’t want to have to make us wait to be in heaven to be with him,” she added.

She also explained that the foundation of Christian anthropology is that “we won’t find ourselves unless we offer ourselves by giving our lives as a Eucharist.”

Brother Iñigo JohnPaul spoke about the example of Blessed Carlo Acutis, a teen and millennial whom Mother Adela called a “social media saint.”

Brother Iñigo recalled Carlo’s famous phrase: “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”

“If we want to be saints like Carlo Acutis was, then we, too, have to come before the eucharistic heart of Christ and allow him to transform our hearts,” Brother Iñigo said. “Carlo took his gifts and talents and witnessed to the love of Christ.”

Carlo’s relics were present at the retreat, along with those of St. John Paul II. Mother Adela called them “two great saints of the Eucharist.”

Rosalinda Hally, coordinator of religious education at St. Peter Church in Big Pine Key, said praying with the relics “brought tears to my eyes. It was very moving to actually be able to touch the relic and pray to Carlo Acutis. He’s very special to me. I love that he was devoted to eucharistic adoration.”

“He gives hope for the future and the youth,” she added.

The retreat culminated in a eucharistic cenacle, where those present engaged in praise and worship, Mother Adela gave meditations on the scriptures, and the Eucharist processed throughout the crowd.

“I’ve loved the retreat,” said Jose Santana, a Florida International University student from Good Shepherd Parish in Miami. “Honestly, I felt God has pushed me through the speakers to go to daily Mass and adoration and that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the faith.”