The Year of the Eucharist is the name of theliturgical year from October 2004 to October 2005, as celebrated byCatholics worldwide. On 10 June 2004Pope John Paul II announced the dedication of an entire year to theBlessed Sacrament and invited the entire Church to reflect upon theEucharist.
Pope John Paul II stated that the idea came from scheduled events to take place in the following liturgical year. TheInternational Eucharistic Congress was scheduled for 10 to 17 October 2004 and would mark the opening ofYear of the Eucharist. The year would close with theOrdinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held from 2 to 29 October 2005.
He stated that theWorld Youth Day 2005 was another consideration in his decision of the dedication. He said, "I would like the young people to gather around the Eucharist as the vital source which nourishes their faith and enthusiasm."
Specifically how the year was to be celebrated was left to the particular Churches. However, Pope John Paul II offered some basic guidelines. Suggestions were also presented by theCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In the United States, many dioceses encouraged local parishes to conduct celebrations, to examine the place of the Eucharist in parish life, to encourageEucharistic adoration separate from the Mass, and to evaluate how Eucharistic adoration is conducted locally. Many Bishops took the time to encourage their local parishes to institute 40-hour devotions.
Pope John Paul II made several suggestions to the Church in order to help the faithful benefit from theYear of the Eucharist. He called on Catholics to understand the Eucharist as "an urgent summons to testimony and evangelization," providing the necessary strength to carry out the "charge" given at the end of each Mass to spread the Gospel. John Paul II also asked for a commitment to a "culture of the Eucharist," i.e. a commitment to providing witness to God'sreal presence in the world.
Another reflection offered by Pope John Paul II is that of the meaning of the wordEucharist:Thanksgiving. John Paul II said, "In Jesus, in his sacrifice, in his unconditional 'yes' to the will of the Father, is contained the 'yes', the 'thank you' and the 'amen' of all humanity." He asked for a commitment to giving thanks to God, which he called a "'Eucharistic' attitude."
Among the many reflections published in honor of the year, Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes' of theArchdiocese of New Orleans wrote, "On this side of heaven, one cannot experience a more substantial or intense communion with Christ's presence than in the Eucharist."[1]This year also saw the death ofPope John Paul II on 2 April 2005 (the one who established the year itself), and the subsequent election ofPope Benedict XVI on 19 April 2005.
There was anEucharistic Congress in theBasilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on 25 September 2004, thehomily was given by CardinalFrancis Arinze,prefect of theCongregation for Divine Worship.[2] The closing Mass was attended by 3,000 Catholics.
