Students and staff of Holy Spirit School in Indianapolis prepare pre-packaged meals for Indianapolis-based Million Meal Movement in the school’s gym on Nov. 19, 2024. (Submitted photo)

When the bishops of the United States called for a National Eucharistic Revival, they laid out a three-year, three-themed vision.

Year one focused on diocesan revival. Year two focused on parish revival.

Year three, which began in June 2024 and ideally never ends, focuses on the theme of mission: “sending out every member of the Church to spread the good news—sharing the gift of our eucharistic Lord with those on the margins” (eucharisticrevival.org).

Catholic schools throughout central and southern Indiana are striving to instill this third-year revival theme of mission in their students. The methods are many.

Here, principals from four archdiocesan schools share with The Criterion how they’re helping students embrace the importance of mission.

Call ‘to live out the Gospel values’

Serving those in need—even when not in person—is one way of sharing Christ’s love.

The National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis last July offered a service project led by Million Meal Movement. The Indianapolis-based organization set up stations for participants to create pre-packaged meals for those in need in Indiana.

“After the congress, there were still funds available for more meals to be put together,” says Gina Fleming, principal of Holy Spirit School in Indianapolis. “The [archdiocesan] Office of Catholic Schools contacted several schools to participate in making more meals.”

She accepted the opportunity for Holy Spirit. On Nov. 19, older students were grouped with younger ones in shifts to participate in the project in the school gym.

“We were able to engage our kindergarten through eighth-grade students in packaging over 17,000 meals that will be distributed to local pantries and organizations in central Indiana,” Fleming says.

The students did not simply show up for the activity. Gatherings were held “leading up to our Million Meal Movement day where we talked about Jesus calling us to feed the hungry. We tied it in with the Beatitudes and with his call to all Christians to live out the Gospel values,” Fleming explains.

“We shared with students the fact that over a million individuals in our state don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and that one in five children fit that [description], and that moved them.”

Fleming recalls fourth-grade students asking if the school could hold another Million Meal Movement day.

“When I explained we would have to raise money, they were asking how we could do fundraisers to do [the project] again, and you could see the wheels turning to help tackle hunger in central Indiana.”

‘To live as Christ taught us to live’

It’s easy for students of St. Rose of Lima School in Franklin to recite what’s important at school and in their lives. All they need to do is look at the school name, ROSE: R-Respect for all, O-Obedience to Christ, S-Service to others, and E-Excellence in education.

The first three values tie in perfectly with the revival’s third-year focus on mission, says St. Rose principal Kim Tekippe.

“The students are told to respect everyone, no matter if there’s a difference in family, education or even faith,” she says, noting 50% of the student population is not Catholic. “We tell them respect for all means to act as Jesus did, to treat each other the way you want to be treated.”

That message ties in with obedience to Christ, “to live as Christ taught us to live,” says Tekippe.

“We emphasize the importance of also being obedient in prayer. We pray at the beginning and end of the school day and before and after lunch, and we have weekly Mass.”

This year, Tekippe added taking part in the parish’s weekly day of adoration to the school schedule.

“That’s how we’ve been keeping the revival mission alive,” she says. “In this hustle and bustle world, people don’t take time for prayer. I think it’s crucial for the kids to learn that.”

When it comes to service, students are taught that it is “not just getting out of class—it’s doing good. It’s bringing Christ to others and being Christ for others. We teach them that service can be a canned food drive, and it can also be as simple as opening the door for someone.”

Students practice service throughout the year, from writing letters to residents at a nearby senior community, to penny drives for child cancer patients, to pairing with the parish’s respect life committee for toy and coat drives.

The ROSE values are reviewed each week during a school gathering.

“Focusing on those values, the students can know how to go out into the community and share their faith,” Tekippe says. “We tell them to ‘go out into the world, making sure you’re a rose.’ ”

‘Christ as the source and summit’

During each year of the National Eucharistic Revival, the students of SS. Francis and Clare of Assisi School in Greenwood have focused on a specific theme.

“This year’s theme is ‘Embrace the Source and Summit,’ ” says principal Rebecca Stone. “It’s about embracing Christ as the source and summit of our lives and how to live that out.”

The theme is emphasized through looking at saints as models of Christ-like behavior and by recognizing students and teachers who do the same.

“Every class is learning about one saint a month, learning about their lives and how they can lead us closer to Christ,” says Stone. “We use them as role models. They recognized Jesus as the source and summit of all that’s good, so how can we model ourselves after them?

“We talk about how, when we embrace Christ as the source and summit, it is across our lives—morning, noon, night.”

To encourage such behavior, one student and one teacher are recognized each week for modeling Christ-like behavior, whether in big or small ways.

“One student received the award for owning up to a mistake,” says Stone. “Because it’s important to know that we’re not perfect, that it’s OK to admit that, and that God loves us the same.”

Each receives a picture of Christ with children to hang on the wall outside of their classroom for the week.

“It’s a way of noticing the little and big things we do to embrace that Christ is in us and how he should influence all the things we think, say and do,” says Stone.

‘I look for it to become a tradition’

Prince of Peace Schools in Madison have embraced new traditions during this third year of the National Eucharistic Revival.

“For years, we did adoration in the junior/senior high,” says Curt Gardner, principal of Father Michael Shawe Jr./Sr. High School and assistant principal of Pope John XXIII Elementary School. “We increased our frequency when the revival started. Our goal is for each student to go at least once a month.”

This year, adoration was added to the schedule for upper-level students at the elementary school.

“They went from zero to weekly,” says Gardner. He credits the elementary school’s principal and fourth- and fifth-grade teachers with starting the new tradition.

He also credits Pope John XXIII staff with planning the two neighboring schools’ first eucharistic procession in memory.

The procession was held the day before the schools’ Thanksgiving break and was led by Father Christopher Craig, pastor of Prince of Peace Parish in Madison.

“All of the grades lined up, K-12,” says Gardner. “As the procession passed, they went to their knees then joined. They were so respectful and reverent. I look for it to become a tradition that later, people will say, ‘They’ve done this forever.’ ”

He also said the staff has “used the revival as a way to refocus on the students’ charitable giving. We looked at how to help them better understand the charitable side of what we do when we bring up the gifts [during Mass], that they represent what we give to Christ.”

Now for the offertory procession during school Masses, students “bring in items for the charity we’re supporting that month and place them by the altar. It helps them see how we’re supposed to be sacrificing our own gifts with Christ’s sacrifice.” †
 

Read more stories from the Catholic Schools Week Supplement