Lent is a solemn religious observance in the Christian liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert before he began his public ministry, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is a season of grief marked by fasting, prayer and penance, which begins on Ash Wednesday (March 2) and ends approximately six weeks later on the evening of Holy Thursday (April 14) with the remembrance of the Last Supper and Christ’s passion and death on Good Friday (April 15) and a great celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter (April 17).
Since its founding nearly 2,000 years ago, the Church has believed that the bread and wine offered at Mass are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ as the priest prays the words of consecration, derived from Jesus at the Last Supper when he gave his disciples bread and wine during the Passover meal the night before he was crucified.
Today, the Church’s teachings are being challenged by a lack of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. According to an August 2019 study by the Pew Research Center, only 31 percent of Catholics believe the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ are present in the Eucharist.
In response to the declining belief, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has instituted a three-year Eucharistic Revival, which will begin on June 18 with the solemnity of Corpus Christi and culminate with a National Eucharistic Congress in 2024.
This year, Arkansas Catholic is focusing its Lenten special section on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In it, readers may discover how the Real Presence has touched the lives of priests and lay people, examples of Eucharistic miracles, Lenten activities at parishes across the diocese, how to show proper respect and reverence with our hearts and actions ready to match an encounter with Jesus and how fasting and abstinence during Lent prepare us for the Easter celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, victory over death and promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
