Connect in Eucharistic friendship as you continue your Walk with One journey

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

Over the last four editions of the Messenger readers have been guided through a Walk with One journey, where they have chosen someone in their life and have walked with them closer to Christ. This initiative, from the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress, is an effort of evangelization that can be accomplished by anyone.

So far, readers have completed the first two steps, they have identified who they will walk with in a spirit of humility, and they have interceded for that person in communion with the Holy Spirit. The third step is to connect with that person in Eucharistic friendship. This uncommon term, ‘Eucharistic friendship,’ is often hard to define, giving people cause for frustration.

Tanner Kalina, project manager for the National Eucharistic Congress, said “Eucharistic friendship has two arms. On one, is friendship with the Lord, your own friendship with the Lord…really nourishing yourself and your friendship first and foremost with our Eucharistic Lord.” This is an essential step, as there cannot be an outpouring of love of Christ, if participants themselves are pouring from an empty cup.

Mr. Kalina continued saying, “The second branch is being a Eucharistic friend to someone else as opposed to being a regular friend or even a spiritual friend. A Eucharistic friend is really willing to sacrifice for the other person. I think the element of sacrifice is essential for a Eucharistic friendship, and willing to unite all the sufferings and joys and angst and anxieties in your own life to the Eucharistic sacrifice for the blessing and deepening conversion of the person you are walking with.”

While the idea of sacrificing for another person is daunting, Kris Frank, Vice President of Growth and Marketing for the National Eucharistic Congress, said, “If you feel nervous, that is probably a good thing. It can be challenging to talk about important things, specifically things that have a stigma around them and I think is one of those things. No one wants to be rejected, nobody wants to step on someone else’s toes and make them feel uncomfortable, or guilty or shame filled, and we definitely don’t want to say the wrong thing and make someone walk away having a bad taste in their mouth of Jesus or the faith.”

There are ways that you can connect in Eucharistic friendship, that are recommended by the National Eucharistic Congress. Meeting up for coffee, sharing lunch together or planning a weekly phone call, are all ways to connect in Eucharistic friendship.

“Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers and if they listen to teachers its because they’re witnesses. All we’re trying to do is share what God has already given us. We don’t need to quote the catechism or knock somebody over the head with the scriptures. There might come a time where we get to share the catechism or open the scriptures with somebody but at the end of the day, we’re sharing our heart and what god has done for us and again, it might be a bit scary, but all the best things usually are,” said Mr. Frank.