May 4, 2023

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As you are no doubt aware, the Church in the United States is engaged in a three-year grassroots revival of devotion to and belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. This National Eucharistic Revival began on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in 2022 with a Year of Diocesan Revival. Next, we will embark upon a Year of Parish Revival, followed by the National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024 and a Year of Going on Mission ending on Pentecost of 2025. (See the complete timeline here).

I am writing to share some practical details about the Parish Year of this National Eucharistic Revival, which will begin on Sunday, June 11, 2023—the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The goal for this year is to “foster eucharistic devotion at the parish level, strengthening our liturgical life through eucharistic adoration, missions, resources, preaching, and organic movements of the Holy Spirit. These local efforts will help convert hearts and minds to fall more deeply in love with Jesus Christ, truly present in the Holy Eucharist.”

Here in the Archdiocese of Detroit, we ask each Family of Parishes to discern and coordinate how they will live out this special year. The parishes within each Family are welcome—and encouraged—to develop individual plans. Still, these plans should be coordinated at the Family level to ensure that all the faithful have ample opportunity to participate and renew their love for Jesus in the Eucharist.

To begin, we ask that each Moderator and One Pastor name one point-person for their Family of Parishes to oversee their Family’s observance of the Parish Year. This point person can be your Family Director of Worship or another staff member or volunteer. The Department of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship will share regular updates and new resources with these point persons throughout the year ahead. Please use this brief online form to share the name and contact information of your Family’s point person no later than June 1, 2023.

Many resources from the National Eucharistic Revival team and the Archdiocese will be available to help parishes and Families of Parishes live out this next year of the Revival.

From the National Eucharistic Revival:

• The National Eucharistic Revival website and newsletter, eucharisticrevival.org.
• A playbook with ideas and resources: eucharisticrevival.org/lead
• Representatives of each parish are invited to register with the National Eucharistic Revival to receive updates through the Year of Parish Revival. You can register for English here and for Spanish here.

From the Archdiocese of Detroit:

• A dedicated page on aod.org, aod.org/eucharisticrevival, with resources for clergy, religious, parishes, schools, and laity. This page will be continually updated throughout the Parish Year to highlight new resources and events. 
• Priests, FOP Mission Directors, and Eucharistic Revival FOP point persons will receive a monthly email newsletter highlighting resources that parishes can use during the year to promote Eucharistic devotion and teach about the Mass and the Eucharist.
• For priests and parish representatives, a free copy of Becoming Eucharistic People: The Hope and Promise of Parish Life by Dr. Timothy P. O'Malley.
• Homiletic resources for an Advent preaching series on the Eucharist (coming in Fall 2023).
• Local Eucharistic preachers
  • These priests will be available to visit parishes to preach and teach on the Eucharist.
• Small group resources to foster an increased understanding of the Mass (available Fall 2023) based on the book What Happens at Mass by Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, OSB.

We encourage each parish or Family of Parishes to consider opening the Parish Year with a Eucharistic Procession on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 11. Bringing Jesus out of the church and into our communities is a very effective tool for promoting devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

Sr. Esther Mary Nickel, RSM, Director of Sacred Worship for the Archdiocese, will be the primary contact from the Archdiocese of Detroit to answer questions and provide guidance. She can be reached at nickel.esthermary@aod.org or (313) 237-4697.

The Eucharist truly is the source and summit of our faith, and as disciples of Christ, we are called to lead our communities to rediscover all that Jesus offers us in the Eucharist. We have already seen this happening, through God’s grace, during this first year of the National Eucharistic Revival. I am confident that if we come together in prayer and commit the necessary resources to this effort, we will be rewarded with many more abundant blessings for years to come.

Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your support and dedication to this important work.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Gerard Battersby

Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit