Father Jonathan Meyer of All Saints Parish in Dearborn County, Indiana, is causing a stir online with a 33-minute talk he recently gave at a Catholic men's conference on the Sacrifice of the Mass. His message was picked up by the Servants of God YouTube Channel and has racked up over 440,000 views and well over a thousand comments in just a few weeks.
Father Meyer is a prominent preacher in the National Eucharistic Revival that's taking place in part as a reaction to the 2019 Pew Research Study that found that 69% of Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
"But there's a bigger problem than that": Fr. Meyer addresses this staggering statistic at the beginning of his talk by explaining that, in his estimation, "well over 90% of Catholics" do not have a decent understanding of why they go to Mass in the first place. Father Meyer handles this alarming estimate with his typical humorous style and by involving the audience in a lively question/answer exercise.
In the end, Fr. Meyer quotes the Catechism, making it clear that the number one reason why Catholics must participate in the Mass is because it's "the re-presentation of Calvary, the eternal sacrifice of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world."
And the response has been staggering. Not only did the message go viral, but the comments on the Servants of God YouTube page speak for themselves.
For example, @angelahagemeyer398 wrote: "This priest, in 35 minutes, just explained what it took me years to learn. THIS should be played in every RCIA, First Communion Class, Confirmation prep and parish. The lack of this information is truly why our people are stumbling. Praise be to God for this priest."
