Brian Jordan, OFM
Brian Jordan, OFM, was featured as part of an article, Eucharistic Revival seen as chance to minister with Latino Catholics, in the Dec. 23, 2022-Jan. 5, 2023 edition of the National Catholic Reporter.
Brian, who is pastor at the multicultural Parish of St. Camillus in Silver Spring, Maryland, planned and presided at a communal wedding Mass on Dec. 11 at the church’s 12:30 p.m. Spanish-language Mass. Brian’s inspiration to organize the Mass was the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative by the Church in the U.S. to restore understanding and devotion to the divine invitation as a way of reviving Sunday Mass attendance, which still hasn’t recovered from pandemic lows.
As part of this initiative, Church leaders are using the opportunity to address a particular challenge – a tendency of Latino Catholics in the U.S. not to receive Communion when they attend Mass. Only 21% receive Communion, compared to 56% of white congregants, according to Pew research data.
The Eucharist, says Brian, is the source and summit of our faith.
“It was a joy to have the celebration of the sacrament of marriage, and to have the couples be able to receive the body of Christ for the first time in years – in some cases, the first time ever,” Brian said of the special communal wedding Mass for Hispanic congregants.
The eight Hispanic couples that participated were led in marriage preparation by St. Camillus parishioners Patricia and Marco Mejia, who noted that the couples had been joined civilly in marriage (some for many years), but had not had sacramental marriages because of financial limitations.
“They finally got married in the Catholic Church and are now receiving Communion. This was a creative way to encourage people, post-pandemic, to come back to church and receive the Eucharist,” Brian said.