Sunday was the closing of the National Eucharistic Congress — and the beginning of the next stage of the National Eucharistic Revival. I am positive that every one of the 54,000 people who attended feels a little bit like St. Mary Magdalene this week. “Jesus, now what?” That was the first thought on my heart when I woke up yesterday. Then I sat down to pray with my Magnificat and realized it was the feast of St. Mary Magdalene. There are no coincidences with God!

This reflection, this exhortation, is for those who attended the Congress, but especially for those who did not. I would like to share what I saw and heard and offer some suggestions for carrying the revival forward.

We arrived at the Eucharistic Congress a little bit late with all six of our children ages 14 to 1 after giving a family retreat in Wyoming. We dropped out of the sky from nothing but tumbleweeds to 54,000 people. We went from Mountain Time to Eastern Time, but we thought we were in Central Time — who knew Indianapolis was on Eastern Time!

Trying to prepare our heads and hearts to receive all that the Congress had to give was our priority. We sat all the kids down and shared with them our hopes and dreams for these days together.

“Yes, people know us here as a ministry, but we’re also (and more importantly) here as a family. Two of you are receiving Confirmation this year, and one of you is receiving First Communion this year. This is a beautiful opportunity for us as a family with other families to fall more deeply in love with Jesus.”

A year ago we prayerfully discerned that God was not asking us to give a talk at this event or to have a booth at this event. It seemed counterintuitive, but God was clear: No talk and no booth. It felt strange. Everyone asked us, “Where is the Witness to Love booth? What time is your talk?” but we knew we were here as a family. We are always giving at these events and we wanted to receive as a family. On the second day, a priest told us that our family was our booth. We could see what God was doing! So often in the Church, there is this overly-organized, glossy graphic, almost commercialized approach to sharing the Gospel. This is not the New Evangelization.

The New Evangelization (and the old evangelization, whatever that means) is not pamphlets and videos — it is you living your gospel witness exactly where you are.

It might be changing diapers. It might be driving kids to school. It might be caring for your elderly parents or grandchildren. It might be a kind word to your ornery next-door neighbor. It might be praying and fasting for that family member who doesn’t know Jesus. It might be signing up for a Holy Hour at your parish. It might be starting Eucharistic Adoration at your parish. It might be getting involved in marriage formation. It might be serving families who’ve lost a child. It might be starting a small group at your parish. It might be inviting others to your home to pray the Rosary on Sunday. It might be volunteering at your local soup kitchen or food bank.

Eucharistic revival means bringing the newness and the fire that has been fanned as you ”remember your first love, Jesus.” It means removing all the “fire extinguishers’’ that are putting a damper on God’s flame of love in your life, as Father Mike Schmitz so emphatically reminded us. If this Congress was simply a large gathering with great people and great speakers, then nothing will change. However, if everyone goes home and looks at their life through the lens of St. Mary Magdalene, we can change the world and set it on fire for Jesus.

A little bit about what I saw. The first thing I saw as we turned the corner with our Uber driver into the downtown area was a young priest on rollerblades, trying to navigate crowds and traffic. Then we saw the immense crowds and I have to say that, with six kids, I slightly panicked. How were we not going to lose them in that crowd?

We got to our hotel and checked in and then tried to find some food. We went to Chick-fil-A and got in line behind 20 Nashville Dominicans. We were certain Chick-fil-A would run out of food. While we were waiting for our order, the Chick-fil-A worker kept yelling, “Padre, your order is ready. Padre, your order is ready.” After she yelled for two minutes, it dawned on me: It was probably the sisters’ food, because there was so much food. Someone got the priest’s attention and it turns out he had treated the sisters to their dinner. What a beautiful sight!

From that point on we realized that, even though there were long lines and big crowds, there was a palpable sense of the joy of Easter Sunday. There was the joy of the Upper Room, there was the joy of the Wedding at Cana. There was a sense that Jesus was everywhere and in everyone and delighting in everyone. This overflowed as a gift, not just to those who attended the Congress, but to those who worked at the event center, the homeless, the restaurant workers, the Uber drivers, everyone. You could see the smiles on the faces of the workers and the bystanders as they tried to understand what this was all about.

I saw a young priest late at night blessing and praying with and crying with a homeless man. I clearly saw Jesus both in the priest and in the homeless man. They were one and the same. I saw young sisters and older sisters running (and I mean running) after Jesus in the procession. What joy! In their joy, I saw Jesus. I saw Witness to Love mentor couples, clergy and coordinators at almost every turn who stopped us to share their witness of how God was working in their parish. What hope for the future of the Church! I saw speakers who spoke to great crowds overwhelmed and humbled to speak to this crowd. And in their tears and humility, I saw Jesus.

I saw a young mom wearing a newborn baby in the front, a toddler in the back, pushing a preschooler in the stroller, and holding another preschooler’s hand and she was running and smiling. Running to get a good seat for her children to see Jesus. And in her joy and determination, I saw Jesus. I saw hundreds of seminarians and saw that the Church is alive! I saw 54,000 people young and old on their knees in complete silence before the King of Kings and saw that we have an obligation to share the Good News of God’s incredible sacrificial love for each person.

The themes that continue to come back to me in my reflection are the themes of joy, delight, urgency, renewal and determination.

“Jesus said to her, stop holding onto me, I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went to announce to the disciples, I have seen the Lord.” (from Monday’s Gospel reading).

As Bishop Robert Barron said, “The Eucharist is not for us as a private little possession … our Christianity is not for us.” All of us are called in our own ways to “stop holding on” and “go to our brothers.”

If you have a chance, go back and listen to some of the talks from the Congress. Father Mike Schmitz’s talk on the Eucharist in Scripture, Curtis Martin’s talk on praying and fasting for family members who have left the faith, and Sister Josephine Garret’s exhortations to the Church were unbelievable.

This morning we are waking up in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Madison, Wisconsin, surrounded by corn and mist and birds singing. It feels a little bit like Easter morning and as we pray with St. Mary Magdalene, we are encouraged by the Scripture reading: “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.”

This week we will be giving Date Nights and Family Reflections on our recent book, The Road to Family Missionary Discipleship: Sharing the Joy of the Gospel, and we are renewed and encouraged today knowing that so many others are going out two by two to share the Gospel with joy and with urgency.

Please pray for us and for all those who have given their lives to share the joy of the Gospel in today’s world!