INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana | Priests and lay people talking with the homeless, nuns praying on the sidewalk, a stranger sharing his conversion story on a curb, smiling crowds singing prayers in the streets – it was the Eucharist alive in downtown Indianapolis.
The hope is the lasting effects of the National Eucharistic Congress, July 17-21, are carried home by each person who participated.
Ricardo and Ana, along with their two children Isabella and Isaac, traveled from Altamonte Springs, where they are parishioners of St. Mary Magdalen. They are already taking what they learned to heart and sharing it with others.
Ricardo and Ana’s love for the Eucharist goes back to their childhoods. Ana recalled the first time she felt Christ’s unconditional love during Adoration at age 13. Then, 18 years ago, her first date with Ricardo included a stop at the tabernacle to pray before dinner. Ricardo said they traveled to the Congress as a family “because we also want the children to have that deep love for God in the Eucharist and to encounter Him.” They also wanted them to experience the diversity and vibrance of the Church in all its splendor.
Mornings began with the celebration of Mass and “impact sessions” designed to open pilgrims’ hearts to what the Lord wanted to share that day. Talks for everyone from beginners to the theologically advanced, youth and families to clergy were catechized, and evening “revival sessions” closed the night with powerful Catholic speakers like Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and founder of Word on Fire Ministries, Father Mike Schmitz, director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, and Newman Center chaplain at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and Sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth Josephine Garrett, an author and host of the Hope Stories podcast. Beautiful music enhanced evening Eucharistic Adoration.
There was so much to grasp. Ricardo said it will be some time before they “have plumbed the depths” of their time at the Congress. He told his family he wanted to take the week to pray, think, meditate and talk to God about everything He wants to reveal in this experience. He is also sharing his reflections with friends. He said, “The Lord is wanting to give us all these graces we haven’t realized yet. But if we spend the time with Him, we can start to understand and savor them.”
One of those graces is a healing within his own “family dynamics”, starting with himself. He said he is “growing in patience with all members of my family, being a better father and husband.” He acknowledged the pain that his words and actions can cause.
“As we heal from those mistakes, those errors, those sins, we can really heal those relationships and start to live the way God envisioned for our family, because He wants us to be like the Holy Family,” Ricardo said. “That is the desire of our hearts. My wife and I remember dating and sharing that desire. But with our brokenness that desire doesn’t always translate into reality.”
Ana said she found the “Cultivate” track most suited her family. With children ages 12 and 8, she took home practical tips.
“We’ve talked about sharing, writing, journaling and drawing so we don’t forget all we learned,” she said. At Catholic Households on Mission (Catholic HÔM) she learned four keys to living as a eucharistic family – “pray, play, work, and talk.” “The talk really hit home for us,” she said. “It was about family dynamics, and they encouraged us to grow in unity, to honor one another in the family.” She wasted no time in putting the principles into action. Each member of the
family chose to fulfill one element. The first day back home they participated in the celebration of Mass, played board games, worked to put their house back in order, and shared some of their own experiences.
Ana also notices a change in her own daily life. “Today, I noticed, unintentionally, as I was encountering strangers, I felt I was smiling at them more, really seeing them,” she said. “Someone said we find our mission hard to do because we’re trying to do it for God, not from God. When you’re doing it from God, He’s the one giving you the grace, the power. He’s the one doing it.”
Isabella was most touched by the joy of the religious sisters she met, their personal testimonies, and stories of helping others. “The sisters were so happy. They were radiating God’s joy,” said the 12-year-old. Their stories inspired her to further her walk with a friend who is coming back to the Church. “Now, He feels closer than before. I feel the Congress empowered me,” Isabella said. “I’m more prepared to help her grow in the faith.”
Ricardo was grateful his children could witness this palpable joy. “It was beautiful for them to see other young women in religious life that were so full of joy. It just exuded, flowed from them,” he said. “You could see they found their vocation. Living that vocation was the source of joy in their life. It’s one thing to tell our children about that. It’s another
thing seeing others living it and flowing naturally from them.” He said, “I felt an encounter with Jesus, not just in the Eucharist but in everybody attending the conference. I felt God was telling me, ‘You’re encountering me in each of these people.’”
Ana agreed. The five-day congress allowed her children to see other young people, other families and marriages like theirs, living out a life which flows from the love of God, Christ’s sacrifice, and desire for humanity’s redemption, poured out onto others. She said it made them realize they weren’t the only family trying to do this.
Offered to all who made their First Holy Communion in 2024, 8-year-old Isaac dressed in his white suit and joined other young boys and girls in leading the Eucharistic procession through downtown Indianapolis July 20. It was a highlight of the pilgrimage for him. As he walked, dropping handfuls of rose petals in preparation of the arrival of the Blessed Sacrament, priests, religious, bishops, cardinals and thousands of pilgrims followed. Thousands more lined the streets, kneeling as the Lord passed before them on a float. Ana recalled how the people would start clapping, waving, cheering, some even crying, all giving the children big smiles. “It was as though they wanted the children to know they were loved and that they too are an important part of our Church,” she said.
More than 50,000 pilgrims attending the congress walked one mile to the Indiana War Memorial where the Blessed Sacrament, perched above them on the steps of the memorial, awaited their arrival.
At the start of the procession, a large banner read: “These roads lead to revival.” This is the hope of the U.S. bishops. Diocese of Orlando Bishop John Noonan said he hopes parishes will try to recreate parish experiences of the Eucharist as they further “discover the heart and soul of it.”
“The Eucharist came alive with the people,” Bishop Noonan said. “I came away uplifted, truly inspired, and felt the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist had really touched the lives of, not just us as bishops but, the people.” He said, “If your heart wasn’t touched, you weren’t listening. And sometimes, you didn’t even have to listen. You just had to look.”
Click here for a reel on the Eucharistic Congress.
By Glenda Meekins of the Florida Catholic Staff, July 25, 2024