by Father Jean-Pierre Ruiz
As Catholics, we believe in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. At every Mass, simple or solemn, Jesus truly gives himself to us in the most holy sacrament of the altar. As I give thanks for this precious gift, I recall two events that deeply reaffirmed my own eucharistic faith.
The first was on March 27, 2020, a rainy evening in Rome, some two weeks after the World Health Organization declared the global COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. With schools moving to remote instruction and public events canceled, even the doors of our churches were closed in the hope of reducing the spread of this terrible disease. Many parishes began to livestream the Mass, as we did at my parish, first with my cell phone camera and then modestly upgrading to my iPad.
That Friday, with St. Peter’s Square eerily empty, Pope Francis presided at an “Extraordinary Moment of Prayer,” offering words that captured well what we were enduring: “Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by … we find ourselves afraid and lost.” After the brief liturgy of the Word, the pontiff ascended the steps of the basilica and prayed before his beloved icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani and before the revered crucifix from the church of San Marcello al Corso, both brought to St. Peter’s for the occasion.
He then entered the portico of the basilica, where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed. After spending time in silent prayer in the eucharistic presence of Jesus, he took the monstrance and, facing St. Peter’s Square, gave the Urbi et Orbi blessing, blessing the city of Rome and the entire world with the consecrated host. I found myself in tears, not of sadness but of hope. There was light — the light of Christ — amidst the darkness!
The second event happened on Oct. 11, 2025, not in Rome but in the Archdiocese of Chicago, where a mile-long eucharistic procession with about a thousand participants made its way from St. Eulalia’s parish in Maywood to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center in Broadview. Following the monstrance were priests with ciboria full of consecrated hosts, which they hoped to be allowed to bring to the detainees being held at the facility. This was a peaceful procession, not a demonstration, with participants escorted by Illinois State Police and other law enforcement agencies—praying the rosary as they went. As the Chicago Catholic archdiocesan newspaper reported, “When they reached the center, a delegation of priests, women religious and laypeople who wanted to enter so that they could give Communion to the detainees were denied entry and they were denied the opportunity to speak with any of the federal agents there.”
Only months later, on May 14, was an agreement reached to provide daily pastoral access to the Broadwood detainees. There, in action, was the outward-facing Church that Pope Francis called for, missionary disciples nourished by the Bread of Life prayerfully seeking to care for their sisters and brothers!
Here and now, the presence of Christ, the real presence of Christ, casts out fear and fills us with hope and with courage, the hope that assures us in faith and the courage that makes it possible for us to go forth to be his witnesses in a world that hungers and thirsts for him!
Father Ruiz is a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, a professor of theology at St. John’s University, and the vice president of the Society of Biblical Literature.