The news in 2019 about fundamental Catholic belief in the Eucharist was saddening. According to a Pew Research Center survey that year, most self-described Catholics did not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus under the appearance of bread and wine.
The poll cited fully 69 percent of Catholics as saying that they believed the elements consecrated during the Mass were merely symbols of the body and blood of Jesus. A 2023 report from Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate was only slightly more encouraging.
While it indicated that almost two-thirds of Catholics believed in Jesus’ Real Presence, it also reported that only 17 percent of adult Catholics physically attend Mass at least once a week. Unsurprisingly, it also found a high correlation between faith in the Eucharist and weekly or monthly Mass attendance.
This alarming evidence of erosion in belief and practice spurred the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops launched on June 19, 2022. The third year begins with the National Eucharistic Congress, the first to be held in over eight decades, which will meet in Indianapolis July 17–21.
One product of the revival is the feature-length documentary “Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist” (Fathom Events). The film will be given a three-day theatrical release June 4-6, during which it will be showing twice daily.
The movie is written and directed by Tim Moriarty. It’s executive produced by Deacon Steve Greco of the Diocese of Orange, California, which co-sponsored the project along with a ministry Greco founded called Spirit Filled Hearts.
In a move that pays off handsomely, the filmmakers open and close their narrative with eloquent clips of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the nation’s leading Catholic broadcaster of the 1950s and 1960s. He begins by pointing out that those who saw Jesus in person during his earthly life would have needed faith to perceive his divinity.
Likewise, those who observe the Eucharistic species need faith so that their eyes can pierce through to the reality underlying them. Speaking of the reception of holy Communion, Sheen – who died in 1979, aged 84 – concludes, “This is as close as we’ll ever get to our Lord on this earth.”
The story of the resurrected Christ’s appearance on the road to Emmaus, as described in the Gospel of Luke, is also cited. During this event, Jesus’ identity is initially hidden from two of his disciples. They eventually recognize him, however, when they gather for a meal together and he blesses and breaks bread.
Speaking of this passage, which the Church has always understood with reference to the Eucharist, Marian Father Donald Calloway says: “He broke the bread. And there he is. It’s like the veil has lifted from their eyes. Then, he disappears.”
One of the more unusual expressions of devotion to the Eucharist featured in the movie is a nine-foot-tall, hand-carved monstrance – considered the world’s largest – at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Chicago. The philanthropist behind its creation is Oscar Delgado.
A former Latin American bureau chief for NBC News, Delgado produced the 2022 film “St. Michael: Meet the Angel.” Since 1998, however, his primary focus has been on sponsoring the construction of adoration chapels.
The film also highlights two of the many Eucharistic miracles recognized by the Church, one that took place in Lanciano, Italy, in the eighth century and another that occurred in Sokolka, Poland, in 2008. In both cases, the Eucharistic elements became physical flesh and blood – portions of which were subsequently analyzed by scientists who confirmed their transformation.
Speaking of such phenomena, Delgado says: “People need proof for whatever reason, so I hope this gives (them) something to hold onto.” Even for believers, though, the scientific proof of the miracles was, he affirms, “eye-opening.”
Still, the filmmakers’ broader goal was to bring attention to wondrous events that happen far more frequently and are daily accessible to people all over the world. Deacon Greco summarized that aim succinctly in an interview with OSV News: “We wanted to focus on the miracle of the Mass and the power of adoration.”
