Peace in the Eucharist - Reflection on the 2024 USCMA Conference

Daniel Lizarraga​​Attending the 2024 United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA) conference was an enriching experience that deepened my understanding of the central role the Eucharist plays in mission. 
The theme, The Mission of the Eucharist: Gather. Unite. Send., invited participants to reflect on how the Sacrament, as the heart of the Church, is also a call to action in the world. 

Through inspiring keynote addresses, Conversations in the Spirit, Mass, and Eucharistic adoration, the conference illuminated how the Eucharist not only nourishes our faith but propels us into mission, reconciliation, and nonviolence.

One of the keynote addresses was by Jesuit Fr. Abdon Rwandekwe, titled "Eucharist, Mission, and Reconciliation," was particularly poignant, focusing on how the Eucharist serves as both a symbol and a tool for reconciliation in the world. Fr. Abdon’s remarks reflected on the healing power of the Eucharist, especially in the context of conflict and division. 

One of the most moving examples discussed was the reconciliation process in Rwanda following the 1994 genocide. The Church’s role in facilitating healing between former enemies—often through the Eucharist—was highlighted as a powerful testimony to the Sacrament’s ability to heal even the deepest wounds. 

The Eucharist, which unites us to Christ, also calls us to bridge the divides that separate us from one another. It empowers the Church to be a living witness of reconciliation, offering peace in places marked by hatred and violence.

Fr. Abdon’s talk resonated deeply with my own experience during a visit to Rwanda several years ago, where I witnessed firsthand the profound power of reconciliation in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. I had the privilege of observing how the Church, alongside local communities, facilitated healing through prayer, dialogue, and shared Eucharistic celebrations. 

In one instance, I witnessed survivors and former perpetrators of violence gather together at a diocesan-sponsored retreat, focused on forgiveness and reconciliation—a living testament to the healing power of the Eucharist. This experience deeply echoed the Fr. Abdon’s message that the Eucharist can be a transformative force in the process of reconciliation, enabling people to cross divides of fear, hatred, and mistrust, and build new, peaceful communities.

This message of reconciliation has also allowed me to see it realized with the work of Maryknoll Lay Missioners, a Catholic mission-sending community committed to nonviolence through prevention, intervention, reconciliation, and restoration of all creation. 

While I was familiar with Maryknoll Lay Missioners, I recently have come to learn more about it as I commenced my work as a staff member with them several months ago. 

Maryknoll lay missioners live out the call to be agents of “justice and peace, working to resolve conflicts through dialogue, mutual understanding, and active nonviolence.” These efforts to create peace are grounded in the Eucharist, which continually sends them into the world to transform it with the love and peace of Christ.

Of course, the USCMA annual conference also provided for me to learn about other mission endeavors and to connect with others and to develop relationships. Through this experience, we were gathered, united, and sent!

Daniel Lizarraga is Mission Services Department Manager for the Maryknoll Lay Missioners.